However, it can be up to five years between times when she will have a calf due to the conditions of her environment. Cold-water exposure is actually the largest killer of manatees. Their front flippers help them steer, or sometimes crawl, through shallow water. The Florida manatee, Florida’s state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant. The manatee mating period starts around March and can extend until November. As the manatees swim south to stay warm, they end up in South Florida. The mating … All About Manatee Season & Where to See Sea Cows The Florida manatees you’ll see here are a subspecies of West Indian manatees, which live in the waters around Florida, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. Gestation takes 1 year, and they produce one offspring, (calf) at a time. Manatee sex involves rendezvous points, large mating herds and aggressive shoving. However, it can be up to five years between the times the female will have a calf, due to the conditions of her environment. Manatees do not have a specific mating season. They are able to mate all year. Animal Sex: How Manatees Do It. By Joseph Castro 20 December 2015. During that time, the female can mate with one or more males in what is known as … When a manatee is stressed or food is scarce she will not want to take part in the mating process. When a manatee is stressed or food is scarce she will not want to take part in the mating process. Manatees are grayish brown in color and have thick, wrinkled skin on which there is often a growth of algae. Beachgoers were treated to a mass of manatees at Wiggins Pass on Sunday.The creatures were just a few feet from shore, and were a visual reminder that it is manatee mating season. The winter season for manatees is in January and February for the most part. Females only mate every other year due to the long gestation period. When a female manatee goes into estrus, she is soon detected and pursued by numerous male manatees throughout the cycle (perhaps for a duration of up to three weeks). Females only mate every other year due to the long gestation period. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reminding Floridians to be mindful of manatees while they're mating. You can find them usually south of Fort Myers on … FWC reminder: When manatees mate, stay out of the way.