AQUATIC	Growing or living in the water.
AQUIFER	An underground bed or layer of permeable rock, sand, or gravel containing water.
BAY	An inlet of the sea or other body of water, usually smaller than a gulf.
BRACKISH	A mixture of fresh and salt water.
CARNIVORE	A flesh-eating animal or plant.
CONSERVATION	The care, protection, or management of natural resources.
DREDGE AND FILL	Dredge is a method of deepening streams, swamps, or coastal waters by excavating solids from the bottom. Fill is a term used for filling in wetlands.
DUGONG	A manatee relative (sirenian) that is entirely marine. Dugongs have forked tails, and tusks are found in males.
ECOSYSTEM	The interacting system of a biological community and its non-living environment.
EFFLUENT	A discharge of water, which may contain pollutants, into the environment.
ENDANGERED	Any species of wildlife whose prospect of survival is in jeopardy; in danger of extinction due to natural or man-made factors.
ENVIRONMENT	All the conditions, circumstances, and influences surrounding and affecting the development of an organism or group of organisms.
ESTUARY	Areas where fresh water meets and mixes with salt water.
EVOLUTION	The development of a species, from its original or primitive ancestor to its present, specialized state.
EXOTIC SPECIES	Plants or animals that are not native to an area; introduced from another place.
EXTINCT	Plant or animal species that no longer exists.
GESTATION PERIOD	The period of time between conception and birth.
GROUNDWATER	Water below the surface of the ground, often deep below.
HABITAT	The three-dimensional space a species inhabits that includes all the features needed for survival.
HARASSMENT	To bother or annoy peristently.
HERBIVORE	An animal that feed on plants.
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE	The circulation of water in a cycle where water evaporates from the ocean and land and returns to the earth as precipitation. This water then flows over the surface, through the ground, or is used by plants before evaporating or transpiring and starting the cycle again.
IDLE SPEED	Minimum speed that will maintain the steerage of a motorboat.
LAGOON	A shallow, marine waterbody separated from the sea by sand bars or a barrier island.
MAMMALS	Animals that breathe air, nurse their young, have backbones, body hair, and warm blood.
MANATEE PROTECTION AREA	Any area with regulations aimed at protecting manatees.
MARINE	Inhabiting the sea.
METABOLISM	The chemical and physical processes continuously going on in living organisms and cells.
NECROPSY	a postmortem examination performed on an animal.
NICTITATING MEMBRANE	A thin membrane found in many animals beneath the lower eyelid that extends across the eyeball.
NO WAKE	Operation of a motorboat at a speed slow enough to prevent causing a wake.
OMNIVORE	An animal that eats both plants and other animals.
PREDATOR	An animal which obtains food primarily by killing and consuming other animals.
PREY	An animal taken by a predator for food.
REHABILITATION	To bring or restore to a normal or optimal state of health by medical treatment.
RIVER	A natural stream of water of considerable volume.
SALT MARSH	An area vegetated by salt-tolerant plants subject to periodic tidal inundation by salt water.
SALT WATER INTRUSION	The invasion of salt water into a body of fresh water, occurring in either surface or goundwater bodies.
SANCTUARY	A place of refuge or protection.
SIRENIA	The taxonomic order to which manatees belong.
SPRING	A place where water seeps or bubbles from the ground.
SURFACE WATER	Water on the surface of the ground, such as lakes, rivers, or even puddles, and the water in the topsoil.
SURFACE WATER RUNOFF	The portion of rainfall, or irrigation water that eventually is returned to bodies of water.
TAXONOMY	A system of arranging animals and plants into natural, related groups based on factors common to each other.
TERRESTRIAL	Living on land rather than in water.
THREATENED	Any species of wildlife which may not be in immediate danger of extinction, but exists in such small populations that it may become endangered if subjected to increased stress from changes in its environment.
TOXIC	Acting as a poison; poisonous.
VANDALISM	Destruction of public or private property, including deliberate harming of a manatee, wild creature, or natural resource.
VULNERABLE	An international designation similar to the U.S. designation 'threatened'.
WETLANDS	Land where water is the dominant factor determining the nature of the soil and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil or on its surface.

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