Sea cows, or sirenians, are gentle, slow-moving individuals who graze in warm, shallow waters. Like elephants, their close relatives, they form bonds, care for their young, and live rich lives guided by memory and routine. From the Amazon River to the coasts of Africa, Florida, and Australia, manatees and dugongs spend their days peacefully foraging on seagrasses, navigating vast aquatic landscapes, and surfacing calmly to breathe.

But human activity has made their world increasingly dangerous. Boat collisions, fishing gear, habitat destruction, plastic pollution, and climate change are pushing them toward extinction. Even in countries where hunting is illegal, sirenians are still poached for their body parts or captured for display. In places like Cuba and West Africa, manatees are treated as remedies, pets, or pests – anything but the sentient beings they are.

Steller’s sea cow was wiped out within decades of their discovery. Their relatives now face the same fate unless we change course. Sirenians aren’t commodities. They’re not curiosities, threats, or medicine. They are someone, not something – and they deserve freedom, not survival on our terms.