danf, I read your question a few minutes ago. It's interesting. The answers make sense, the manatee is too big.

Although, alligators will eat people if they're desperate and starving. Remember the human attacks in Florida not too long ago. We were experiencing a horrible drought, the alligators were vicious. I've never been afraid of sharks or gators. Now, I am leery of alligators. Even though I know they are mostly harmless, I don't like them.

Alligators live in fresh water (mostly) and manatees live in salt water (mostly) so there's really not much contact between the two species.

Plus, yeah, manatees are a little too big for gators to consider food...

I thought manatees liked estuaries, though. (Then again, I'm pretty sure I'm basing this on a Zoobooks magazine I read twenty years ago.)

yes, box. Manatees need fresh water too.

Estuaries yes (I didn't realize they needed fresh water, but that makes sense), but gators like the swahmp. Gators are fine in shallow water, but manatees are entirely aquatic and need enough depth to swim comfortably in.

Every year a ton of manatees come into a freshwater spring (Blue Springs) that we visit sometimes. I didn't know until recently that despite their size, they have very little body fat.

Manatees exude an aura of peace and serenity that are anathema to the thinking of the traditional alligator or crocodile. It feels like a rainbow has been crapped into the brain of any gator that comes near a manatee.

Also, they just don't taste that good.

Manatees exude an aura of peace and serenity that are anathema to the thinking of the traditional alligator or crocodile. It feels like a rainbow has been crapped into the brain of any gator that comes near a manatee.

Also, they just don't taste that good.

If this were in the green, I'd have marked it as best answer.

It was an honest question, but of course I wanted to have a little fun with it also.

Eponysterical.