📸 + 💭: jayclue “Am I the only one that thinks manatees are incredibly adorable? Spending time in the water with them is one of my favorite memories. Watching how they interact with their calves and their playful, curious nature was really special. They’re considered to be highly intelligent and demonstrate impressive cognitive abilities with some studies even comparing them to the intelligence level of dolphins. Manatees are a keystone species, meaning their health reflects the overall health of their ecosystem. Which makes it even more heartbreaking, when you begin to notice how many of them have scars and injuries from boats. The young calf of the mother in this photo had already lost one third of its front flipper from a boat accident. The decline of their population can have long lasting, and potentially irreversible, cascading effects on other species in their habitat. So it’s of great importance that we help these beautiful floaty potatoes to continue to thrive in our waters....