Altamaha Basin > Hydrology > Water Quality > Environmental Threats > Human Impacts >
       Cultural Features > Coastal Habitats > Tributaries > Plants > Animals > Sapelo Island

Mammalia

Manatee Trichechus manatus

The West Indian manatee occurs in warm coastal waters and estuaries of the Atlantic coast from Florida to northern South America. These large aquatic mammals are declining due, at least in part, to their habit of floating sluggishly near the water's surface, making them vulnerable to injury from power boats. This species occurs infrequently as a summer visitor to the Altamaha River estuary. Fourteen records are from five quads in Glynn and McIntosh counties.