Adopt a West Indian Manatee

West Indian manatees are big eaters, consuming nearly 220 pounds of food a day! These slow-moving herbivores feed on sea grasses, and can achieve weights of up to 1,200 pounds. Due to their unique appearance manatees are thought to be the inspiration for several sailor's myths of human-like creatures appearing from the sea—such as mermaids and sirens.

Manatees can spend up to eight hours a day eating, but too often their diet includes something besides aquatic vegetation—plastic. Roughly one in 10 manatee carcasses contains some sort of marine debris.

When you make a symbolic adoption, your donation helps to protect manatees, powering Oceana campaigns to stop plastic pollution at the source — by calling on companies to quit their plastic habit and urging local, state and governments to pass policies that reduce the production and use of single-use plastic.