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Manatees Podcast For Kids · Animals Archives - The Children's Hour

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Coming up on the Children's Hour, we're going to learn all about manatees in a visit with
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Andrea Herman from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. The kids' crew and I will discuss
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the current ecological status of manatees and learn all about their lives in the seas around
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Florida and elsewhere in the world. We're going to hear a baby manatee talking to its mom.
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And we'll hear some great music celebrating these sea cows of the ocean. This episode
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comes with a learning guide. You can find it at ChildrensHour.org. Look for manatees. The
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Children's Hour is an independent production of The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New
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Mexico-based nonprofit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the Native American radio
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network. It's time for The Children's Hour. Kids Public Radio. What do get when you mix
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a manatee and a human? I don't know what. A humanity. It's time for The Children's Hour.
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Kids Public Radio.
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This warm water's just right for me, for me. Beneath the mangrove tree swaying side
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to side for me, for me. Down here. Swimming with my friend We kinda look like cows With
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no legs The shallow sea The only place to be A manatee
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Is there still room for me to live with you? Can it be, oh can it be? Must my species
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fade away so soon? Can it be, oh can it be? Down here So women with my friends, we kinda
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look like cows with no The shallow sea is the only place to be A manatee
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He he
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And we've adapted to fresh and salt water habitats We're just gentle mammals looking among some
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grass But we can't turn our heads to see above, left, right or below Or swim fast, so if your
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boat's in shallow water You'd better go real slow The shallow sea, the only place to be
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The shallow sea, the only place to be The shallow sea, the only place to be A manatee
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That was the Whizpops right here on The Children's Hour singing about the topic of the day
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manatees. I'm Katie Stone. I'm delighted to be with everyone in listener land and all of
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these great kids on zoom. Hello, kids crew. Hello. And who do we have with us today? Hello,
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it's Amadeus. Hi, it's Beth. Hi, it's Sonya. Hi, it's Ethan. Hi, it's Lily Mae. Hi, it's Illuminata.
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Hi, it's Melissa. It is Cade. Hi, it's Thaniel. I'm so glad you're all with us today. You
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know, today we're going to be talking about manatees. Do you know anything about manatees,
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really? Well, I know that they live at some places in the sea and they look kind of like
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cows. Sea cows have something to do with manatees. Anybody else? Have you ever heard of manatees
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or seen manatees? I went to visit one at an aquarium. Out in Clearwater, so that's kind
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of fun. You've actually been to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium? Yeah, right when winter
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was around still and hope. That is so cool. In fact, that's who we're going to be talking
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with today. We're going to be talking with Andrea Herman. She's the senior team lead of the education
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wing of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where you have seen a manatee, Melissa. This is the
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Children's Hour and this episode comes with a learning guide. It meets national education
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standards. Find it at childrenshour.org. Look for the episode called Manatees. Oh the sky
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is a cloudy ocean full of creatures that fly so free But a poor seahorse would be way off
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course and would rather be in the sea
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Oh the desert is a sandy ocean Full of creatures that play hide and seek But a squid in the
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sand can't stay in an end It would rather be in the sea
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Oh, the jungle is a woody ocean full of creatures that swing tree to tree. But a dolphin can't
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swim in the plants and would rather be in the sea. Oh, space is a boundless ocean full of
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creatures that we can't see. But an octopus in weightlessness would still rather be in
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the sea.
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The night is a silent ocean full of creatures that sleep. But a great white shark prefers
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a watery dark and would rather be in the sea.
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That's Casper Baby Pants. You're listening to The Children's Hour and with us today on
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the show is Andrea Herman. She is the senior team lead of the education department of the
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Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is somewhere in Florida. Hello, welcome to The Children's
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Hour. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Where are you guys? So we are on Clearwater Beach.
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We're on the west coast of Florida, kind of middle of the state. So a little more west
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than Tampa. Well, we are so excited to have you on the show today because to be perfectly
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fair, I think most of us don't know anything about manatees. And I've been asking people,
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what do you know about manatees? And people know like this much if they're not from Florida.
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And when I say this much, I mean, barely any. So we're really excited to have you. And I
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know the kids have tons of questions. I'm going to kick it off with, can you describe What
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is a manatee? So manatees are Florida's largest state mammal. They are an awesome animal. Personally,
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manatees are near and to my heart. They're what got me into marine science. And they are an
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aquatic mammal, so they live in water and only in water. But manatees, unlike a lot of other
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marine mammals, they don't need to be in a marine or saltwater environment. They can
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live in freshwater. salt water or they can live in brackish water, which is a mix of both
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fresh and salt water. And they can move super easily in between each type of environment.
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They are herbivorous or they eat only plants and they can eat about 10 % of their body weight
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every single day, which is a lot of seagrass because manatees can get really, really big.
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They're typically going to be about 800 to 1200 pounds. but there are some really big ones
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that can get to be over 3,000 pounds. And they're typically going to be about 10 to 12 feet,
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but we do have some that can get over 13 feet. How long do manatees live? That is a great
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question. So how long can manatees live? Typically we are finding that they can easily get into
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their thirties, but there was a manatee that spent their entire life in human care and was
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born before all of these laws. His name was Snooty. And Snooty was actually 69 years old
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when he sadly passed away. So they can live for a pretty long time. Where do manatees live
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when it's not winter and the water is warmer? They're going to live all across the state.
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So most waterways, especially if they have lots of seed grass or other plant matter, that's
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usually a chance that manatees can travel through there. But like you kind of mentioned, they're
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not going to be all across the state when our waters are really cold like they are right
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now. Interesting. So when it's winter, they're not all across the state. Where do they go?
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So manatees need to be in waters above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. For anybody who lives where it's
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cold, that doesn't sound all that chilly, but here in Florida, that is very, very cold. And
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so manatees go to natural hot springs like Crystal River or Como Sasa. But along the more coastal
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regions, there are warm water areas and they also take advantage of humans and take advantage
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of our power plants. because a lot of Florida's power plants are water-cooled. So they bring
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that cold river water into the building and that water will cool down all of the systems
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and it comes out nice and warm. So manatees will go to these water outflows by these power
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plants to take advantage of that warm water. What do they eat? Most commonly they're going
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to be eating seagrass. So this is a plant that lives in saltwater. There's freshwater seagrass
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plants as well. They're also going to eat whatever other plant matter they find. So they can be
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eating algaes, like seaweed. If the tide is really high, so there's a lot of water in the
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area, they might eat the grass out of someone's backyard if they can reach it. Those are really
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funny pictures. They might eat leaves off of a tree if they can reach that, but they're
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gonna eat whatever plants they can find. You're listening to The Children's Hour. We're learning
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about manatees with Andrea Herman from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Don't forget, we've got a
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learning guide for this episode. You can find it at ChildrensHour.org. Just look for Manatees.
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We have lots more coming up, but first, this is MAGPIE.
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I was snorkeling down in the Keys I came upon two manatees I looked at them and they looked
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right at me As they chewed on their dinner of hydril weeds One came over and said to me
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I'll tell you what life is like under the sea My name is Hugh and I'll show to you Just
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what manatees do You the manatee Swimming around from key to key Oh how I wish that
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I could be like you the manatee Like you, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies
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Oh how I wish that I could be Like you, the manatee You said I like to come here and feed
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Among the hyacinths and the seaweed Rooting around in the seagrass beds Washing out fish
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so the herons get fed I like saltwater I also like fresh I don't mind it cool but warm is
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the best When I get tired I take a deep breath and go down on the bottom to rest Like you,
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the manatee Swimming around from key to key Oh how I wish that I could be Like you, the
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manatee You, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies Oh how I wish that I could be
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Like you, the manatee
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Use amenity Swimming around from key to key wish that I could be like you, the manatee
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You, the manatee Swimming around the West Indies Oh, how I wish that I could be like
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you, the manatee It isn't as easy as you might think Cause me and my kind, are almost extinct
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A lot of the places we lived are now gone making it harder to carry on just look at these scars
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on my back they were made by somebody's power boat or a peller blade with boats and pollution
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and trash in my way it's harder to live every day you the manatee it shouldn't be so hard
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to be he's part of you and he's part of me we're We're all humanity. You, the manatee. It
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shouldn't be so hard to be. He's part of you and he's part of me. We're all humanity.
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T Manatee are large, fully aquatic marine mammals Sometimes known as sea cows They measure up
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to 13 feet long That's 4 meters Weigh as much as 1300 pounds Manatee have paddle-like flippers
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They spend half their days sleeping submerged The rest of their time is spent grazing for
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plants, cause manatee are mostly herbivores.
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They inhabit shallow, marshy coastal areas And the rivers of the Caribbean Sea The Gulf
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of Mexico, the Amazon basin And West Africa is where they're most likely to be
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See They can die if they get too cold Their long term memory is rumored to be highly advanced
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And they can live to be up to sixty years old
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you
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Where are you going? You're listening to The Children’s Hour, Kids Public Radio.
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face
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day
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Save the Florida Manatees giant scares the fishies away. One thousand pounds look scary
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but be not afraid. Cause they eat and they eat and they eat but only the greens. And
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they swim in warm water and sea food
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Be kind We cow, save the Florida manatee It's too cold in Alaska It's too cold in DC
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It's too cold in New Jersey
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is to eat, swim, swim, eat.
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A C You See how safe the Florida manatee of sea See Those... That was Joanie Leeds from her
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What a Zoo release with her Sea Cow song before the break you heard Fire Dog from their Endangered
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Species Project release. Hugh the Manatee was Magpie. This is The Children's Hour. We're
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learning about manatees with the Clearwater Marine Aquarium's lead educator Andrea Herman.
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The kids have a lot of questions. Are manatees related to walruses? This is one of my favorite
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questions personally because looking at them, that's exactly what you'd expect. But manatees
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are kind of weird. They are not related to any other marine mammal except for their cousin
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the dugong. The what? The dugong. That is a very funny animal name, but they are native
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to areas around Australia. There is a Pokemon named after them as well. But they are all
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considered Sirenia or sirens. And they're actually not related to any other marine mammals. So
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dolphins, whales, walruses, seals, otters, they're not related to any of them. The two
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closest cousins to manatees are hyraxes and elephants. Wow, elephants. Elephants. And
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if you think about it, it does kind of make sense. They have very similar skin. They both
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have prehensile facial structures. So elephants have that prehensile trunk and manatee's upper
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lip is prehensile or it means it can move around on its own to hold on to things. So they use
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it to hold on mostly to food. They also have the same number of toenails and they both have
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munching molars or they have teeth that start in the back like our molars and they're constantly
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moving forward because they're wearing down their teeth from chewing on grass. Wow. That's
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a lot to take in there. Now it makes me wonder. Are manatees megafauna, like from the time
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in Earth's history, not too long ago when we had these gigantic mammals, like huge sloths
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and mastodons, are they from that era? I don't believe so. I don't know exactly off the top
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of my head. In today's definition of like megafauna versus microfauna, they would fall into megafauna
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just because they are really big. And they're something that people can tend to picture more
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frequently when they think about animals. And they did have a cousin who is unfortunately
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extinct. That was called Stellar Sea Cow. And this animal was massive. Unfortunately, it
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wasn't very long after they had been discovered that they did go extinct and that was due to
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overfishing. But these animals had a lot of blubber and fat, very similar to like cold
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water whales. And so it was very helpful for like oil lamps and heating sources. And they
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were actually found in the Bering Strait, which is between Alaska and Russia. And remember,
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we're talking manatees that cousins and manatees have to have the warm water. Yup. They were
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really weird. They were very specialized because every other species of sirens have to be in
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warmer waters. Manatees are mammals, so do they lay eggs? There is only one mammal that
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does lay eggs, and that is the platypus. One of the identifiers of a manatee typically is
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going to be that they give live birth. So just like people, these manatees are going to be
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born all alive and ready to go. How many babies does a mama manatee have at once? Typically
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it's one. In some rare cases there are twins. So you'll see two little babies following
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around with her. And of course they're mammals, so they nurse their babies? Yep. So they do
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produce milk and the babies nurse right underneath their armpit of their flippers. So they have
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one on each side. So typically with twins, you'll see them kind of nursing at the same time,
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but with one calf, they'll switch. Do manatees have little families? Like do the, how long
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does the baby stay with the mom? And is there a pod like whales where there's a whole
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bunch of moms or is it a little manatee mom and dad? Unfortunately, once mating happens,
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dad's out of the picture. And you see this a lot in nature. There is parental care though,
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so manatees do spend a few years with mom. Typically it's about four to five years, I
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think. They're typically about five feet long when they leave mom. So you can also kind of
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judge on size. And then they are not social, they're not in little groups? Typically,
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unless it is when they're all kind of piling up in those warm areas or it's a mating herd,
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they are typically fatally anti-social. They're typically by themselves. Occasionally might
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see a couple traveling around together, but that's pretty rare. So it's usually just,
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if it's a mom calf, it's just the mom and calf traveling together. That's Andrea Herman from
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the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. She's the lead educator. There's a lot more to learn about
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manatees, including the conservation efforts that are being done to help save them from
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extinction. But listen to this.
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That's a mommy and baby manatee talking underwater recorded with a hydrophone. You're listening
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to The Children's Hour. We have so much more coming up. You can find a learning guide for
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this episode. Go to childrenshour.org and look for manatees. And that learning guide meets
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education standards nationwide. So our podcasts can be used in classrooms. In the meantime,
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we've got lots more about manatees. Coming right up. Searching for a manatee Ear on manatee
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uh We climbed up a tree Searching for a manatee Came across a monkey And this is what he told
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me If you're searching for a manatee This is the only way You must think you're all big
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a monkey Here on FANATY FET We went to the beach Searching for a manatee Came across a
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turtle And this is what he told me If you're searching for a manatee This is the only way
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You must groove like a turtle Here on Fanaty
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We jumped in the ocean. We jumped in the ocean. Searching for a manatee. Searching for a manatee.
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We came across a stingray. Came across the stingray. And this is what he told me. This is what he
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told me.
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It must wobble like a stingray. Here on Manatee Bay. To the stingray. To the stingray. Do the
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turtle, oh yeah the turtle Do the monkey, uh huh huh We're dancing kind of silly We're
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dancing kind of silly We're searching for the manatee Searching for the manatee Out came
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the manatee Out came the manatee And started dancing with me Now I'm Dancing with the manatee
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on this hot sunny day I can't believe my luck Here on Manatee Bay uh
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wants a pickle and he wants it now
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He's tired of waiting He's a hungry sea cow
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He wants a big pickle
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Delicious for the meandering He wants a big pickle
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Is the big call for humanity
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Inmanatees, is it okay if I take the next verse? Yes, I am the
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You should not be eating a pickle
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He wants a big pickle
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Don't give him the pickle
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That's Perry Gripp with his Manatee demanding a pickle song and Manatee Bay before that from
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Splash'N Boots. That's the title track of their Manatee Bay release. We're doing a show
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about manatees today. We have a learning guide guide posted at childrenshour.org. We have
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a lot more questions from the kids on our crew. Let's go to Thaniel. You talked a little bit
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about manatee behaviors earlier. So how smart do you think manatees are? Unfortunately with
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animals, we don't have an exact way to test intelligence. It's kind of like comparing different
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people with different learning abilities. And it's not something that we are able to do with
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science currently. A lot of people think that if an animal is trainable, it is intelligent
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and manatees are very food motivated. So they are trainable. So you can train them to do
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specific husbandry behaviors if they are living in human care for a long period of time. And
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husbandry behaviors are those that help with their care. So it helps make doing vet
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appointments easier and it helps them kind of take part in how they're taken care of. Do
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manatees live all over the world? So with all Sirenia or kind of all of the different
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overall groups, they're found in North and South America. They're found in parts of Africa
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and they're found around Australia. the extant or the currently existing species of manatees
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are not going to be found anywhere where there's really cold water. So typically they're going
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to be nice and around the equator. When did manatees evolve and what were some of their
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ancestors? I know it was a few million years ago and their shared ancestor I don't know
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off the top of my head unfortunately but it was the shared ancestor between sirens and
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elephants. It's where they were back on land where they start to branch off into elephants
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being land animals and then your sirens and the sirens break down into your dugongs, which
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included stellar sea cow and then your manatees, which include the West Indian manatee, which
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is the Florida manatee, your Amazonian manatees, which are found in the Amazon river and your
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West African manatees, which are found throughout Africa. Are manatees friendly? Like if I was
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swimming in these nice warm waters around Florida, And I just was so lucky and I swam right next
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to a manatee. Could I like pet it? Are they friendly? That is a great question. So are
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manatees friendly? Could you pet one if you found one? Manatees are very curious. So they
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do kind of tend towards like a friendly disposition if you were to put human terms to it. But
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there's a couple of reasons why you don't want to try to touch one. The biggest reason is
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because they are protected by a lot of laws that say that's illegal. So there's a lot of
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fines, there could be jail time, it's not worth it. But they do tend to be pretty friendly.
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But if you do spook a manatee, because they're not expecting you or anything like that, you
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can get really, really hurt. These animals are massive. So it could lead to you getting
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kind of rolled into, you could get hit by their tail and that's the no-no zone. That is where
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the most strength in a manatee comes from and that is the area when any of us are rescuing
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manatees that we want to avoid. Okay, so don't pet the manatees is the advice we're getting
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from Andrea Herman, who is the senior team leader of the education department at the Clearwater
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Marina Aquarium. They specialize in saving manatees. You're listening to The Children's Hour. This
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episode comes with a learning guide. You can find it at childrenshour.org. Look for this
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episode title, Manatees. From time to time I dream that I'm a manatee, undulating underneath
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the sea, unshackled by the chains of idle vanity, a modest manatee, that's me. I look just
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like a chubby brown bananity As I nose along the cozy ocean floor Immune from human folly
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and inanity That's why a manatee is such a happy herby bore I'm a manatee I'm a manatee
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I'm every bit as wrinkled as my granity No difference between my face and fanatee A noble
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manatee That's me
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with the dietary habits of a manatee. I never fail to lick my platter clean. I sprinkle
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seaweed on my raisin brannity. The perfect manatee, cuisine With my wit, sophistication,
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and urbanity I dignify my watery domain No one near will ever hear me use profanity Because
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a manatee has his image to maintain I'm a manatee, I'm a manatee I keep my reputation, spick
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and spannety No difference between my face and fanatee A street humanity, that's me.
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Encombered by my lumbering giganity, oh I'm thought to be an ocean going brrrroo- least
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appealing creature on the planet-y but to a man-ity I'm cute I prefer my world of silence
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and of sanity but my underwater friends don't all agree for whenever I am dreaming I'm a
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man-ity somewhere a man-ity is dreaming that he's me. I'm a manatee, I'm a manatee. Outside
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the fold of boring old humanity, no difference between my face and vanity. I'm a roly-poly,
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jelly-roly, sugar-bully, heart-and-soul-emanatee. That's me! uh
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I'm a Manatee is John Lithgow from sunny side of the street. You're listening to The Children's
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Hour today. We're talking about manatees. We've made a learning guide for this episode, which
39:39
you can find at children's hour.org. You can also see pictures of manatees, pictures of
39:45
baby manatees and what manatees look like from above the water. You're listening to
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The Children's Hour kids, public radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is making
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Hour. Mary Manatee is gentle and she's free She's trusting you and me to keep her safe
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from harm They came to be right after dinosaurs Think back, think back, think back, think
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back some more For years and years and years they ate their greens And did their part to
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keep the water clean But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're driving
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slow down please And watch out for manatees Mary Manatee is gentle and she's free She's
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trusting you and me to keep her safe from harm Two big flippers, a white tail and back
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Help her to get around and get her snack She loves to bodysurf and barrel roll At a thousand
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pounds that's quite incredible But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're
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driving slow down please And watch out for manatees m She's gentle and she's free She's
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trusting you and me To keep her safe from harm And they grow so very large and round
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That some people call them sea cows I think it's funny but they say it's true Although
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I never heard a manatee moo But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you
43:29
drive and slow down, please And watch out for manatees Mary Manatee is gentle and she's
43:46
free She's trusting you and me to keep her safe from harm In nineteen hundred and seventy-five
44:00
School children got them classified As endangered species they survived And now they are our
44:11
joy and pride But when a speedboat speeds It can hurt the manatees So if you're driving
44:23
slow down please And watch out for manatees And watch out for manatees. Mary Manatee is
44:38
Dorothy Cresswell from her Pelican Pilot Songs of Florida release. Over the break, you heard
44:44
Piero Umiliani. That's the original Mah na mah na mixtape with Space Manamana. You're listening
44:53
to The Children's Hour. learning about manatees today with Andrea Herman from the Clearwater
44:58
Marina Aquarium. How many manatees are there? So there are a few thousand manatees. For a
45:07
very long time, starting back in the 70s or 80s, manatees were considered endangered due
45:13
to their population. So they were on the brink of extinction. And through conservation, which
45:18
we'll talk about more a little bit later, we were able to help bring their population in
45:22
the wild back up to the point where in 2017, the federal government here in the US decided
45:28
that Florida manatees were considered threatened rather than endangered. There is talk now within
45:33
the last couple of years, especially with the UME or that unusual mortality event happening
45:38
that they may need to reconsider. Other organizations like the IUCN, which comes out kind of with
45:45
the official global status for animals, their research is a little bit old for looking
45:49
at these numbers. They're still considered endangered on their status. But like I said, that research
45:55
is over 10 years old now. So the numbers are a little out of date, but this is something
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that we will need to look into. Unfortunately, last year alone, we lost over 1000 manatees.
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So let's talk about that. I read manatees are dying at an unprecedented rate. What is happening
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with manatees? It's kind of a mix of man-made threats and natural threats. So as we already
46:19
talked about, manatees need to be in warm water. So water is above 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So
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if they get a little turned around, their timeline's a little lost, or we have a random cold snap,
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manatees can suffer from something called cold stress, which is kind of like hypothermia in
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people. So they're gonna get really slow and sleepy or lethargic. They might get some white
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patches on their skin, which is called skin bleaching. And it can even turn into big cuts
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or lesions. And they tend to stop eating as well. So they're gonna lose a lot of weight.
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That's something we've seen year in, year out. And it just tends to be worse in our winter
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months. They're also highly likely to get hit by boats if people aren't paying attention.
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Manatees like to live in shallow waters. Typically when they breathe, it's only their little nose
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that comes up to the surface rather than their giant body. And it's very fast, little breath,
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so you don't see them very often. And they're very slow. It is very common for them to get
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hit by boats. It's actually so common that their boat strikes are how we ID them. You mean, like
47:19
scars from boats hitting them? Yep. Boat scar patterns are typically how we ID manatees.
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Each has their own individual scar pattern. Not all of their scars are from boats. It can
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be from quite literally anything in their life. But more common than not the really identifiable
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ones are boat scars. They are also dealing with a natural algae called red tide. And so it's
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going to affect the seagrass that they eat. So they lose out on their food. It's a respiratory
47:48
irritant. So it makes breathing really hard. And if they eat it, it acts as a neurotoxin.
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So they get a little loopy and also it can get them really, really sick. But what we're seeing
47:59
the biggest increase in is starvation or there's not enough food. So the UME that I've talked
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about is specifically for the East coast of Florida in the Indian River Lagoon area. Unfortunately,
48:11
in the last couple of years, they have lost a lot of their natural seagrass beds. But unfortunately,
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it's to a point now where there is not enough food in these warm water areas. So we're sending
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teams across the state to help out with that, help out the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
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They're kind of in charge of all manatee care throughout the state. So that's where most
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of those numbers are coming from. Last year alone, we lost over 600 manatees just to the
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UME. So you mentioned earlier that there are several species of manatees. Some are now gone.
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Some are still here. Does the endangerment of manatees, does that apply to all of the
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species or a specific few? Each species is actually threatened or endangered at this point. They
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all kind of suffer from the same threats throughout the world. But here at the aquarium, we specifically
48:59
work with the two subspecies of West Indian manatees. So that's the Florida manatee here
49:05
around the state and even up the coast a little bit. And then there are other subspecies, the
49:10
Antillean manatee. So they are all dealing with the same types of threats. It's just what
49:16
are more prevalent in each country. So motorboats not being as common in some of these areas,
49:21
it's a lot less common for manatees to have boat strikes, for example. What can people
49:26
do who don't live anywhere near the manatees habitats? You definitely can kind of make
49:32
changes yourself at home. So no matter how far away you are from an ocean, a river doesn't
49:38
matter. The way you affect your own water in your area can actually affect the oceans. So
49:44
making sure you're taking care of your environment and that will help the environment around you.
49:49
So making sure you're throwing out your trash properly. It's not just going to blow around.
49:53
If you're recycling, making sure you're following your local recycling rules. So some places
49:58
can take only very specific. materials, others are a lot more generous in what they can take
50:03
because they do have the resources to do that. So making sure you're recycling responsibly
50:08
using multi-use materials instead of single use. So reusable grocery bags, reusable
50:13
water bottles, things like that. Where you're making those little switches to stop
50:18
using as many single use products that will end up in a landfill, hopefully, if not, unfortunately
50:23
waterways, little changes like that alone can make big changes out here in our coastal regions.
50:28
What got you interested in marine science and working with manatees? So when I was a
50:35
little kid, I went to Florida. originally from outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. And
50:41
I saw a manatee missing most of its tail, living in human care. And from then on, they've been
50:47
my favorite animal and I have wanted to work with them ever since. Wow. Thank you very much
50:54
for taking the time to be with us. Andrea Herman is the senior team lead educator at
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the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. You can learn a lot more about the aquarium at cmaquarium.org.
51:10
Thank you so much for taking the time and being with us on The Children's Hour. Yeah, thank
51:15
you so much for having me. Thank you for all of your amazing questions. Vanity, manatee,
51:31
living peacefully Where the river meets the ocean estuary Down in Florida by the Everglades
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You can find her munching on the grassy place Go pink, green! She's team in a team living
51:49
in the sea Doesn't need money or a pedigree All she really needs is a safe habitat Where
51:56
the water is warm and the land is flat
52:05
you Manatee, manatee, swimming in the sea Let her live her life, we can all agree Slow
52:28
her boats down and try to help her out So there will always be some manatees about
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Swim on, manatee! Oh, there's some good-looking manatees over there! Mmm
53:36
and the sky.
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I you swim so beautifully
53:56
same ways I've seen you jump through the sea
54:10
Just a pirate like me
54:19
I thought
54:27
See once I thought you in the sea.
55:28
That's Captain Bogg & Salty from Bedtime Stories for Pirates with Manatee. And you're listening
55:36
to The Children's Hour. We learned so much today and I hope you did too. You can see pictures
55:43
and so much more at childrenshour.org under this Manatee episode, including our learning
55:48
guide. Tell a teacher our podcasts are available everywhere. We're going to go out with one
55:55
more. This is. Batters Be Duo from a CD called A Baker's Dozen right here on The Children's
56:01
Hour.
56:10
I'm singing my song I eat river grasses all day long oh
56:30
I swim all day
56:39
I'm a man, man, man of deep
56:53
you
56:58
Say I'm cute, I'm ten feet long Adorable when I'm swimming along I never tire of wild and
57:11
free I'm a well-known singer down in Tennessee
57:40
Giant
57:47
Cindy Dump!
57:53
you
57:58
The Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico nonprofit.
58:04
You can find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at ChildrensHour.org.
58:11
This episode of The Children's Hour was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with production
58:15
help from Christina Stella, Sarah Gabrielli, McKenzie Graunke, and Thaniel Lentz. Our learning
58:22
guides are written by Amber Shiel. You can find this one at ChildrensHour.org. Look for Manatees.
58:29
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58:36
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58:42
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