Momma manatees will nurse their young for 1-2 years and the baby will be dependent on her during that entire time. She will teach him or her everything they need to know, how to find food, how and when to find warmer water, even how to mate.
They nurse from behind the mother’s flipper. Mom can go up for a breath, swim around and even eat while baby is nursing.
Momma manatees will sometimes adopt an orphaned infant . How cool is that??!! They can sometimes have twins, and nurse both babies at one time, I have seen this myself.
