In this weeks featured video, we celebrate Manatee Awareness Month by visiting Sisters Springs in Crystal River, Florida, a protected lagoon for Florida manatees.

Manatee Awareness Month was established by the state of Florida in 2005 to help raise awareness of the threats facing the state’s official marine animal and urge citizens, government organizations and lawmakers to help protect these gentle beasts of the south. Florida manatees, part of the Sirenia family, are an endangered species, threatened by such things as habitat loss, human harassment and most notably, watercraft collisions.

If you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of one of these magnificent creatures, be sure to keep your distance and respect their natural habitat. The greater the awareness and the more humans learn to coexist with manatees, the better the chance for their population to rebound.

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