Manatees are herbivores and eat marine and freshwater plant. They eat plants like manatee grass, turtle grass, hydrilla, water hyacinth, and water lettuce. Sometimes they also eat small snails and water animals along with the grass accidentally. This gives the manatees extra protein. Since manatees eat over 150 pounds of grass a day, their teeth wear down quickly. Because of this, manatees are always growing in new teeth in the back, so the old ones just fall out the front!

Florida manatees do not live in the same place all year. When it is warm, they move into the ocean or the Gulf of Mexico to eat sea grasses. In cold weather, manatees must move to a spring, a place where warm water (72 degrees) comes up out of the ground and makes a river. The manatees stay there all winter long. Sometimes, the food runs out before winter is over, and the manatees are hungry until the weather warms up again. Manatees can live in salt water or fresh water, but if they are in salt water too long, they must find fresh water to drink. Sometimes they will drink from a garden hose!

Well known for their gentle, slow-moving nature, manatees have also been known to body surf or barrel roll when playing. Normally they rest and feed often. Manatees communicate by squealing under water to demonstrate fear, stress or excitement.