Hey Smarty Pants, trusty narrator here.
I'm still feeling those great birthday vibes from Who Smarted turning five years old.
So many Smarty Pants have reached out to wish us a happy birthday.
I cannot thank you enough.
Even more so.
I am so thrilled that hundreds of Smarty families have taken advantage of our 50 off Happy Birthday subscription sale and have signed up for an entire year of Who Smarted Plus for just 1998.
That's just 166 a month to get all of the smarting, including a bonus episode every single week, plus smart EQs and trusty trivia all completely ad-free.
Not to mention you'll be supporting the show in the best way possible, so we can keep smarting with you.
However, this sale can't last forever.
So be sure to sign up on or before November 15th to lock in a year of Who Smarted Plus at just 1998.
That's just a week more.
So do it now.
Subscribe by going to our website, whosmarted.com and click birthday subscribe.
Again, you can only take advantage of our 50 off sale by going to whosmartedcom and clicking birthday subscribe on or before November 15th.
Thanks again and keep on smarting.
And now it's time for Who Smarted?
Hey, smarty pants.
Hope you don't mind if I splash around in this slow moving river as I record this episode of Who Smarted.
Ah, the water here in Florida is so warm.
Swimming, it's almost like taking a bath.
If only I had my rubber ducky. to keep me company.
Whoa, looks like I might have company after all.
Ha.
Mind if I join you?
Uh, sure.
But who are you?
Or should I say, what are you?
I'm a manatee and a mom.
So I guess that makes me a momatee.
A manatee, huh?
I've heard of manatees.
Have you, smarty pants?
Anyway, I am the trusty narrator.
Hiya, trusty.
Meet my calf, Milo.
Hi, Milo.
Did you say your calf?
Yep.
That's what a child manatee is called.
I did not know that.
So, do you two swim here often?
Yep.
We love it here.
Just doing what manatees do.
And what is that?
The big three.
Swimming. sleeping, and eating.
And that's about it.
In fact, we spend about 12 hours a day sleeping and 7 hours eating.
The rest of the time, we mostly float.
Oh, Mom, you make us sound so boring.
We're actually pretty cool.
Trusty narrator, did you know manatees were the original mermaids?
Mermaids?
What do you mean?
When Christopher Columbus was on his way to discover America, he wrote in his journal that he and his crew saw three mermaids rise out of the sea.
But he said they weren't as beautiful as everyone claimed.
That's probably because they were actually manatees.
You don't say.
Well, you might not be as beautiful as a mermaid, but you're still pretty cute for a giant, oddly-shaped creature.
And now that you're here, I kind of want to know all about you two.
You mean stuff like we eat over 100 pounds of food every day?
And can hold our breath underwater for over 20 minutes?
And... Yes, yes, that's exactly what I mean.
But also, what exactly is a manatee?
And why are you called manatee?
And where do manatees live?
And what can we humans do to keep manatees safe?
Get ready for another big, wet whiff of science on... Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who Smarted?
Who's smart?
Is it you?
Is it me?
Is it science or history?
Listen up, everyone.
We make smarting lots of fun on Who's Smart?
First things first, Mama T, the manatee.
I've heard there are a couple of different names for your species.
Smarty Pants, can you think of another name manatees are sometimes referred to?
I'll give you a hint.
Did you say sea cow?
Mamatis, what would you rather be called?
Manatee or sea cow?
Which do you think?
Gotcha.
Manatee it is.
But you shouldn't take offense.
Cows are noble animals.
Plus, manatees do share a few things in common with cows.
For example, calling your children calves.
Plus, you're both extremely, um...
Large.
I prefer majestic.
When I grow up, I'm going to be 13 feet long and weigh 3,500 pounds.
That's around the weight of a male adult hippo.
Don't you call me a sea hippo.
Nope, nope, not going to do it.
But like cows, manatees do have voracious appetites.
And for the smarty pants, voracious means big or ravenous.
Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom.
You're not lying, trusty.
Manatees can eat up to 15% of their body weight every day.
Hmm.
Wow, that's like a human eating 10 pounds of food at every meal.
Not to brag, but manatees hold the record for being the largest herbivores in the ocean.
Our favorite thing to eat happens to be seagrass.
But I also get a hankering for algae once in a while, too.
Mmm, algae.
Can we have that for dinner tonight, Mom?
Sure.
Okay, trusty narrator.
You made your point.
But while manatees may share some traits with cows, I can promise you we're very different.
For sure.
In fact, manatees are most closely related to a totally different kind of animal.
What do you think it is, Smarty Pants?
Is it the hippopotamus?
The walrus?
Or the elephant?
I know we mentioned hippos earlier, but guess what?
It's actually the elephant.
Manatees have trunks like an elephant, though ours are much shorter and look more like a snout.
But like an elephant's trunk.
Our lips are prehensile.
That means they're capable of grasping food when we lift it up with our flippers.
Like this.
We also have very tough skin like elephants and hair that feels like bristles.
Here, touch.
Wow, that's pretty prickly.
We also replace our teeth like elephants.
We grow new ones in the back of our mouths, gradually move up and replace the teeth in the front.
Ah, maybe I should call you Celephence instead.
Despite being really big, we're also sneaky fast.
Oh, yeah?
Oh, yeah.
Most of the time, we like to casually swim along at about five miles per hour, which means we travel about 50 miles a day.
But if we want or need to, we can do a short burst at 20 miles per hour.
Check this out.
Wow, you can really motor, Milo.
I could see that coming in handy if you were being chased by a predator.
Speaking of smarty pants, which of these do you think are a natural predator for manatees?
A, sharks.
B, alligators.
Or C, orcas, aka killer whales.
Well, it's actually a trick question.
The answer is none of the above.
Yep, manatees are one of the few lucky ocean animals to have no natural predators.
While I'm sure any of those large, fearsome predators you mentioned could attack us, we generally live in very different habitats so we don't cross paths much.
Ah, speaking of habitats, do manatees prefer fresh water or salt water?
Smartypants, which do you think?
Let's find out.
The answer is both.
Mom and I move back and forth between freshwater rivers and the salty ocean all the time.
Huh, that's pretty unusual, isn't it?
Yes.
Most sea creatures can only live in one or the other.
But manatees' kidneys are able to control the amount of salt in our bodies, so everything stays in balance.
For us, the only thing we care about is that the water is nice and warm.
Yeah, cold water, not a fan.
That's pretty interesting, considering your big bodies are similar to other sea creatures who like the cold, like walruses, sea lions and beluga whales.
What are you saying?
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
So, where can manatees be found?
Manatees are mostly found in Florida and the Caribbean, along the coast of West Africa and in the Amazon.
Sure, you'll occasionally hear about one of us being spotted off the coast of New York or Massachusetts, but only in the really hot summer months.
PHONE RINGS
Otherwise, they must have gotten seriously lost.
Gotcha.
Didn't I read somewhere that manatees migrate?
Yes.
When winter comes, we want to stay in warmer water.
So sometimes we'll swim inland to a warm water spring or go south like the birds.
But lately, we found a shortcut.
What do you mean?
We've figured out that power plants dump out tons of warm water all the time right into rivers and the ocean.
And it's perfectly safe for us, so we can forget about migrating and just chill out there.
More like warm up.
It's like our own personal hot tub.
Um, not to keep bringing up your size, but I'm surprised your big bodies don't protect you from getting too cold, like the blubber on a whale.
Oh, boy.
I'm just saying, you seem to have a good layer of fatty insulation going on.
I can't believe you went there, trusty narrator.
That is not fat.
Oh, no, no, of course not.
Everyone knows that.
Hey, smarty pants, what do you think makes up most of a manatee's massive body mass?
Is it A, air?
B, their stomach and intestines? or C, chewy caramel?
The answer is B, their stomach and intestines.
In fact, a manatee's intestines can be up to 150 feet long.
That is half a football field.
Clearly there's lots of misconceptions or wrong information about manatees.
For example, some people think we're not very smart because we have the smallest brain of any mammal relative to body size.
Yeah, everybody thinks dolphins are such geniuses. but manatees are right up there.
Wait, are you saying manatees are as smart as dolphins?
What I'm saying is... Coming up right after this quick break.
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Now back to Who Smarted?
Okay, my two new manatee friends were just telling me how smart manatees are.
Did you know we can tell the difference between colors?
And we have an exceptional sense of touch?
Also, we're just as good at basic tasks as dolphins, but because we don't beg for fish treats like they do, it's harder to get us to do tricks.
We even communicate like dolphins.
Show him, Milo.
Milo, that's not nice.
What did he say?
I was just expressing my opinion about dolphins.
Still, be nice.
Fine.
Hey, trusty, did you know manatees are great swimmers?
Check out my moves.
I can swim right side up, upside down, do a barrel roll, and even a somersault.
Whee!
Hey, what's that noise?
Milo, look out!
Swim down!
That was close.
That, trusty narrator, was our arch enemy.
Hmm.
Any guesses what that was, smarty pants?
Did you say a boat propeller?
Because manatees swim so slowly and boats travel so fast.
Boat collisions are the leading cause of injury or death for manatees.
Yep, almost every manatee I know has at least one scar from a run-in with a boat.
I almost got my first one.
I'm glad you're okay, Milo.
Thanks.
Unfortunately, boats aren't the only thing manatees have to worry about.
Smartypants, which of these can also be harmful to their health?
A. Toxic algae.
Ew.
B. Hunters.
Or C. Abandoned fishing gear.
Yep, it's another trick question, smarty pants.
But this time, all the answers are right.
Luckily, it's now illegal to hunt manatees.
But back in the 1700s humans did so much hunting of the largest species of manatee, known as Steller's sea cow, it became extinct.
That's terrible.
I'll say.
Fortunately, today most people would rather swim with manatees than hunt them.
It's not easy looking so cute and cuddly.
Tourists love swimming up to mom and me and trying to hug us or jump on our backs for a ride.
Smarty Pants.
It's important to remember that, even if you mean well, not all creatures want to be handled.
In fact, it's illegal in most places to bother manatees.
So bottom line, you can look, but don't touch.
Right on, trusty.
Oh, and never ask them about their weight.
A Seacow-sized shout-out to Hudson and Riker in White House, Tennessee.
You told us you listen every night before bed.
Well, we're so glad to be part of your smarty family bedtime routine.
This episode Manatees was written by Sarah Swetik and voiced by Charlotte Cohn, Jason Williams and Jerry Kolber.
Technical direction and sound design by Josh Hahn.
Whosmarted is recorded and mixed at the Relic Room Studios.
Our associate producer is Max Kamaski.
The theme song is by Brian Suarez, with lyrics written and performed by Adam Tex-Davis.
Whosmarted was created and produced by Adam Tex-Davis and Jerry Kolber.
This has been an Atomic Entertainment production.
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