Get Up-close and Personal with Manatees

Those who enjoy Longboat Key Club and Resort and our Florida monthly rentals are always fascinated by Sarasota’s Mote Marine Aquarium, home to a variety of species of coastal wildlife.

It’s of little surprise that among Florida monthly rental and resort guests, a favorite Mote inhabitant is a giant, peaceful creature that’s unfortunately on the endangered species list.

Hugh and Buffett are manatees that were born at the Miami Seaquarium and brought to Mote Marine Aquarium for the viewing pleasure of Florida monthly rental and resort guests – and more importantly, for research – in May 1996.

While their move to Mote was originally temporary, state officials decided that they could help teach the public – including Florida monthly rental and resort guests – about sea cows by keeping the Hugh and Buffett at Mote Aquarium.

Today, Hugh and Buffett are the only manatees in the world that are trained to participate in research – an interesting fact to Florida monthly rental and resort guests, as well as scientists everywhere.

Through their work with these mammals, scientists have learned much about how well manatees hear, how well they see and how sensitive their vibrasse – the hairs on the end of their snouts – are. Answering these important biological questions can help scientists understand more about Hugh’s and Buffett’s wild counterparts and give that information to the agencies that monitor this endangered population.