Yesterday was Manatee Appreciation Day.
Today is April Fool's Day.
But yesterday really was a commemoration of trichetus manatus. I encountered one during one of my bike rides in Florida, when I stopped for a swim in a place where I probably shouldn't have been swimming. The "sea cow" swam close to me: I've since learned that they are very curious, and pose absolutely no threat to humans or most other living creatures.
On the other hand, humans are a threat to them, if inadvertently. Waterfront development has endangered some of the manatee's habitats and, because their ears are attuned to high sound frequencies, the lower ones emitted by motorboats confuse the creatures, who are then struck by the vessel or its propeller.
So...there is no April Fool's joke here: Yesterday really was Manatee Appreciaiton Day!
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| From Redbubble |
