Video shows two manatees swimming in a Collier County canal

A new video shows a manatee mother and its newborn calf swimming in a Collier County canal.

The reproductive rate for manatees is reasonably low. On average, one calf is born every two to five years. Moreover, baby manatees tend to stay by their mother’s side for up to two years.

Kevin Swanepoel had a hunch that what he was seeing was special.

“We noticed that this very large manatee just sitting around the area didn’t move much, sitting underneath the dock, and so, we’re always fascinated,” Swanepoel said.

His fascination led him to come back the next day, and he was delighted when he saw a newborn calf not leaving its mother’s side.

“When we came out, the mother was nursing it up to the surface just to get its first, you know, breath of air, and it actually continued doing that the whole day yesterday. It would literally allow to swim a little bit way away, and it would go down, and then the mother would nurse it back up to the surface and get that breath of air,” Swanepoel said.

Swanepoel showed WINK News the canal in his backyard where both manatees are currently lingering and made an appearance for our news crew.

“My son and his girlfriend were both in tears because it was like this remarkable experience of sort of seeing this brand-new little calf being born and then suddenly coming up to the surface, and, you know, the mother nurturing, it is just so incredible,” Swanepoel said.

FGCU Water School professor James Douglass explained what’s next for the manatees.

“They’ll probably move out of the canal at some point to look for food. The baby is nursing. The mother’s nipples are under the arms. So, when you see the baby return to the flipper of the mother, it is looking to nurse, and the mother, though, she needs to eat a lot of underwater plants, and the mangroves are not going to cut it. She’s going to have to go look for seagrass beds,” Douglass said.

It’s important for boaters to follow speed zones and slow down in shallow waters. Manatees spend a lot of time near or at the water’s surface or hanging near seagrass, so simply slowing down can save a manatee’s life.