Manatees live in warm, shallow waters across three continents. Three distinct species split the range: the West Indian manatee in the Americas and Caribbean, the Amazonian manatee in the Amazon River basin, and the West African manatee along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Their distribution is shaped almost entirely by water temperature, with manatees needing waters above roughly 68°F (20°C) to avoid dangerous cold stress.
Florida Manatees
The Florida manatee is the most studied of all manatee populations. These animals are found throughout coastal Florida for most of the year, moving through rivers, bays, canals, estuaries, and nearshore ocean waters. They shift freely between fresh, brackish, and saltwater environments. The most recent population survey, conducted in 2021 and 2022 by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, estimated 8,350 to 11,730 manatees statewide, split roughly evenly between the Gulf (west) coast and the Atlantic (east) coast.
In warm months, Florida manatees fan out well beyond the state’s borders. Along the Atlantic seaboard, some travel into Georgia and the Carolinas, with a few individuals spotted as far north as Massachusetts. On the Gulf side, they range west through coastal Louisiana and occasionally into Texas. Heavily used summer areas include the stretch from Fernandina Beach, Florida, up to Brunswick, Georgia.
Winter is a different story. When water temperatures drop below 68°F, manatees migrate back into peninsular Florida and cluster at warm-water refuges. About two-thirds of all Florida manatees rely on heated outflows from power plants to survive the coldest days. Another 18 percent gather at natural warm-water springs, primarily Blue Spring on the St. Johns River and Kings Bay at the head of the Crystal River. Other important spring sites include Homosassa Spring, Fanning Spring on the Suwannee River, and Chassahowitzka Spring. In southern Florida, naturally insulated thermal basins also provide shelter. The Banana River and northern Indian River lagoons on the central Atlantic coast see manatee activity year-round.
The reliance on power plant outfalls is a growing concern. As aging plants are retired, it is unclear whether natural springs and restored sites will support the current population. State and federal agencies have been dredging spring runs, replanting seagrass beds near wintering sites, and even constructing new thermal refuges, like one built along the Faka Union Canal in southwest Florida in 2015, to prepare for that transition.
Antillean Manatees in the Caribbean and Latin America
The Antillean manatee is the other subspecies of West Indian manatee, and its range stretches from northern Mexico through Central America, into the Caribbean, and down to northeastern Brazil. The distribution is patchy, with populations concentrated in specific lagoons, river systems, and coastal wetlands rather than spread evenly across the coastline. Conservation status varies sharply from country to country, with some populations considered vulnerable and others locally extinct.
In Mexico, manatees are now mostly limited to three regions: the states of Tabasco, Campeche, and Chiapas along the Gulf coast; the Caribbean coast of Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula; and the wetland system at Alvarado in Veracruz. Belize supports relatively high numbers in Placencia Lagoon, Southern Lagoon, and the waters around Belize City. Guatemala’s most frequent sightings come from Lake Izabel and the Bay of Graciosa.
Honduras has three key areas: the Caratasca lagoon system, the stretch between the Sangrelaya River and Ibans Lagoon, and the area between Brus Lagoon and the Patuca River. Nicaragua’s manatees are distributed along the entire Caribbean coastline, with concentrations in the Wounta, Pahara, and Krukira lagoons. Costa Rica’s population centers on the Tortuguero region in the northeast, while Panama’s manatees occupy the San San-Pond Sak wetlands and Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal zone.
In South America, Colombia has three main populations along the Magdalena, Atrato, and Sinu rivers, plus the Orinoco River bordering Venezuela. Venezuela’s manatees are found in Lake Maracaibo. The Greater Antilles islands, including Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico, also support Antillean manatees, along with Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas.
Amazonian Manatees
The Amazonian manatee is the only species restricted entirely to freshwater. It lives within the Amazon River basin across Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, and Peru. Unlike its coastal relatives, this species never enters saltwater. It inhabits the main river channels, tributaries, floodplain lakes, and seasonally flooded forests that characterize the Amazon system. During the wet season, Amazonian manatees spread into flooded forests and grasslands to feed. As waters recede in the dry season, they retreat to deeper river channels and lakes, sometimes going weeks with limited food.
West African Manatees
The West African manatee has the least-studied distribution of the three species, but it covers a remarkably wide range. It is found along the Atlantic coast and in inland waterways of 22 African countries, from the Senegal River in the north to the Cuanza River in Angola in the south. Unlike the other species, the West African manatee penetrates extraordinarily far inland. It has been recorded up to 2,000 kilometers from the coast along the Niger River, from Koulikoro to Gao in Mali, and in Lake Debo. It also reaches Lakes Léré and Tréné in Chad. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it occurs about 60 kilometers upstream near the town of Boma.
This species moves comfortably through marine, brackish, and freshwater environments, using coastal waters, river channels, lagoons, and estuaries. Its vast but fragmented range and secretive habits make population estimates difficult, and it remains the least understood of all three manatee species.
What Shapes Where Manatees Live
Water temperature is the single biggest factor limiting manatee distribution. All three species are tropical or subtropical animals with low metabolic rates and relatively little body fat for insulation. When water drops below 68°F, manatees become susceptible to cold stress syndrome, a potentially fatal condition that suppresses their immune system and ability to digest food. This is why Florida manatees retreat to warm-water refuges every winter and why no manatee species has established a permanent population in temperate waters.
Food availability is the other major driver. Manatees are herbivores that eat enormous quantities of aquatic vegetation, consuming roughly 10 to 15 percent of their body weight daily. They need areas with dense seagrass beds, freshwater plants, or both. In Florida, estuaries and freshwater lakes, springs, and rivers provide extensive seagrass beds and abundant vegetation. In the Amazon, seasonal flooding creates temporary feeding grounds. Access to fresh drinking water also matters for species that spend time in saltwater, which is why Florida manatees are often seen near freshwater outflows, hoses, and river mouths.
Shallow, calm waters with slow currents round out the ideal manatee habitat. These animals are not built for speed or rough seas. They favor protected bays, river bends, and coastal lagoons where they can surface easily to breathe and rest near the bottom in water just a few feet deep.