5️⃣ Facts about the Manatees Diet. 🌱 Manatees are herbivores, meaning they primarily eat aquatic vegetation. 🌱 Manatees consume nearly 10% of their body weight DAILY. 🌱 They spend up to 8 hours of their days grazing, hence the nickname “sea cow”. 🌱 Calves begin nibbling on plants within a few weeks of birth. 🌱 Manatees do not have front teeth, but behind the lips, on the roof of the mouth, a manatee has ridged pads, which (along with the lower jaw) tear through the sea grass and then allow