1.5-minute read

You might not think that manatees would be a particularly talkative bunch, but according to new research from Florida Atlantic University, the beloved, roly-poly sea mammals have something to say and produce five different, surprisingly high-pitched sounds to say it. Despite their considerable heft, you won’t hear any deep bass bellowing from these gentle giants. Manatee-speak sounds a bit like mouse squeaks on steroids. Have a listen here.

Like other marine animals, how manatees communicate depends on what they are up to in their underwater world. Much the same way the tone of a human voice helps to convey mood, manatee calls provide insight into the motivation and emotional state of the aquatic critters.

So, what is on the minds of manatees as they propel themselves around the shallow waterways of coastal Florida? Here’s a handy-dandy manatee call decoder based on seven years of recorded vocalizations mapped to different behaviors:

Squeaks:
A squeaking manatee is a stressed-out manatee. Close encounters with nets, fishing gear, and boats don’t make for happy sea cows.

High squeaks:
Manatee moms and calves make sure they are always within squeaking distance of one another. High pitched calls signal a baby on board or a calve separated from its mother.

Squeals:
Frolicking manatees are big squealers. Body surfing, barrel rolls, and follow-the-leader qualify as good manatee fun.

Squeak squeals:
A squeak squeal is the sound of a manatee excited about finding food—an “oh, look, seagrass” super-yay.

Chirps:
After a productive day of manatee-ing, these soothing sounds commonly come from manatees at rest.

And why should we care about sea creature communications? Deciphering manatee vocalizations can help us to understand how they interact with each other and their environment, which is critical to keeping them healthily in the swim.

While scientists continue to study the behavior-related songs of Florida manatees, we suspect that if the iconic animals had something to say to humans, it would be along the lines of: “Do you know what happened to our seagrass?” “We eat the seagrass.” “Perhaps you would be kind enough to get us more of the seagrass?” “We thank you in advance!”

As we wrote in June 2021, Florida manatees have been experiencing massive die-offs due to climate change and pollution-related loss of their primary food source. Unfortunately, restoring the health of seagrass beds is a long-term project. In the meantime, wintering adult manatees need about 230 pounds of leafy greens a day to survive, so in January 2022, federal and state wildlife officials embarked on a direct feeding program to help keep the hungry animals afloat. You can see how manatees in the Indian River Lagoon made 160,000 pounds of lettuce disappear here. The squeaky manatee gets the sea salad!

If you’d like to pitch in to protect manatees, whether you’re a local Floridian or just passing through, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has some good ways to help out here.