Manatees out of water?

Question

Are manatees able to climb out of the water similar to seals and walruses? I know there are several types of manatees or sea cows, such as dougongs and the manatee native to the Amazon river. Has anyone ever seen anything about any of these creatures merging from the water to "bask" perhaps, even climb on rocks or onto the beach?

Answer 1

Ok, 6 former Floridians here and we have never heard of manatees coming out of the water.  My mom says that she's pretty sure they have to stay in the water more like fish that sea mammals.  Come to think of it, the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa doesn't have any kind of "basking area" for it's manatees, just water.

Looking online, I see nothing about them coming out of the water.

hope this helps

Answer 2

No, are completely aquatic, they do not leave the water voluntarily. However mating herds may occasionally get into very shallow water, possibly linked to the female trying to get away from all the amorous males, so that large portions of their bodies do stick out of the water but they do not as such leave the water. Here's a picture of a mating herd in low water:

http://www.savethemanatee.org/repro_dill...

Like other marine mammals, they do occasionally strand, but again this is not voluntary and is usually related to injury or illness.