Winter home of the Manatees – Florida

Blue Spring State Park in Florida is the winter home for the manatee, because a hot spring feeds the stream. The manatees in Florida “flock” to the area when the weather is cold and they need to keep warm. There can be nearly 500 manatees in the park on a very cold day. Before going you can check the count online if you want.

There are also many birds there year-round.

During the breeding season, the normal water recreation activities at the park are curtailed. Because the kayaking, swimming, etc, can scare the manatees, and may result in their death. If they leave the area, they may die because it’s too cold for them outside the hot spring area. The springs are 72 degrees year-round, and the manatees can’t survive long under 68 degrees. In the winter months it can often get below that, so in the winter the warmth is needed.

And if your timing is right, you may even see a baby manatee.

And here’s an interesting fact about manatees:

While most aquatic creatures stay at the level of depth they want by using swim bladders, or fins that stabilize their depth, manatees have neither. So how do they go down to the depth of their preferred plants without expending a lot of energy swimming? The answer is that they fart. They release gas (from the digestion of the plant matter) so that they sink down to the level of their food source.