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Myth: Manatees fart to control buoyancy.

Many people mistakenly think manatees fart to control their buoyancy, which refers to their up-and-down movement and positioning in the water. Manatees have very large intestines and a slow metabolism. In some cases, after they eat a lot, they can indeed get gassy, and they may float on the surface of the water until they release that gas and are able to sink back down. For researchers, it’s sometimes difficult to discern whether a manatee is just gassy or they float on the surface due to an injury that may require intervention.

Manatees also have large lungs, a hemidiaphragm, and heavy bones. The hemidiaphragm allows them to control the air volume in their two lungs separately, and the heavy bones serve as ballast.  Between controlling the air volume in their lungs and their heavy bones, they are able to control their buoyancy.

Myth: Manatees live in family units.

You may see two larger manatees and a smaller one together and think it looks like a manatee family; a mom, a dad, and a baby. However, the responsibility of raising a baby, known as a calf, is just the mother’s; the father is not involved in raising a calf. Manatees are semi-solitary animals, so sometimes you see them in smaller groups or hanging out in pairs, but the only long-lasting bond is between a mother and her calf.

Myth: Manatees can only move slowly.

For the most part, manatees move pretty slowly at around 3 to 5 miles per hour (roughly 4.8 to 8 kilometers per hour). That’s because they don’t hunt for their prey; they feed on grasses and other vegetation so they don’t really have a need to move very quickly. However, if they’re spooked by something, they can actually speed up to about 20 miles (32.19 km) an hour for a short period of time. So, if they want to, manatees can actually get pretty fast. In order to avoid spooking manatees, it’s very important to observe them passively and from a distance.