I'm Crazy about Manatees!

So, as I mentioned in my blog Adopting an Animal - a dilemma, I'm a big fan of helping endangered species. I don't think that any creature on this earth should go extinct because of the selfishness of humans.

Growing up my favorite animal was the elephant. I was infatuated with them. To this day I still find them incredibly fascinating. For instance, did you know that the only known predator for a healthy adult elephant is humans?

Did anyone see that 60 Minutes episode focusing on American scientist, Angela Turkalo's research into a Secret Language of Elephants? If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend clicking the link right now. Ms. Turkalo has been studying a group of wild African elephants for twenty years. While observing their behavior, she has learned about how they communicate, and is beginning to compile a "dictionary of sounds." No joke - check it out. These animals are just INCREDIBLE.

My love of wildlife continued with age. As I got older, I became more and more fascinated with our oceans and the rich life living there. One animal really stood out to me - the Manatee. From the moment I saw these strange looking creatures, I was fascinated. I fell in love. Would it surprise you to learn that they're related to elephants? No, cause they're awesome. My love has a focus!

My family has been going to Sarasota, Florida for over twenty years. While we were down there, my parents learned about the Parker Manatee Aquarium, home to Snooty the Manatee. You can help support Snooty and visit this fascinating animal. Can't make it down to Florida? Check out the Snooty Live Cam. This is definitely a time sucker. I'm obsessed.

Last year, we teamed up with Save the Manatee Club. Through this organization, you can Adopt a Manatee and help protect manatees and their habitat. This program allows you to choose between a bunch of manatees that you want to symbolically adopt. You can read a little bit about them and see which one calls out to you. They have manatees from a number of different places one of which is Homosassa Springs State Park in Florida. And like Snooty, if you're near Homosassa Springs - you can visit the very manatee that you adopted.

So join me and adopt a manatee today. I'm choosing Brutus cause he reminds me of Atticus (my pooch is the biggest poodle I have ever seen). (***This photo isn't actually of Brutus. His photo was too small, but I thought this one was too cute!)

A symbolic adoption is a great addition to an Easter Basket. Who wouldn't want a manatee with their chocolate bunnies?

Help save these amazing creatures! Let's get them off the endangered list. Let's show them What We Can Do.

Alicia