Winter in central Florida (picture heavy)

[Fueling Around]

Well temps have been pretty chilly for central Florida.


Wife and I took a road trip to Blue Spring State Park NE of Orlando to check out the action.


It took about 20 minutes to get to the gate due to the lineup of traffic. We were worried the park would be full but we got in and they had parking as we got there fairly early in the morning.

For those that haven't been to Blue Spring SP, it is a winter haven for manatees. The spring puts out 1+ million gallons of warm water a day.
The "run" is the creek that flows approximately 400 yards from the spring to the St John's river.
It was rather windy so the chop on the water made the photos a bit rough.


The manatees gathered on the sunny side of the run. Right is north from the spring.


In the upper RH corner under the fallen tree, you can see a small buoy in the water. That is a tracking tag attached to a manatee that has been injured (usually a boat strike) taken to a rehabilitation center, and later released. Wife has a bracelet that is tied into the tracking system.


Even the fish in the run were taking it easy. Many of the fish in the run are not native. Tilapia make up a lot of invasive species.
Most of the black fish are another invasive species. Black pacu I believe


Cow and calf drifting down the run.
After temps warm they need to go out into the St John's river and feed before returning to the springs to warm up.


The run is maybe 50 yards wide

The path to the actual spring is closed.
The bulk of the manatee will gather at the spring as that is where the water is warmest.

Hope you enjoyed this photo tour of Florida Blue Spring State Park and the winter manatee count.

 

[bigfurmn]

WOW that brings back memories of my grandparents. They lived in Lake City I think. My grandpa owned Lake City golf supply or something like that. Took myself and my brother and sister to see the manatee a few times. It's beyond incredible. Wish I could take my son there.

 

[Brokenhandle]

That's neat!

Ryan

 

[civilsmoker]

Yea that’s pretty cool!!! I happened to see a little water today as well……. plumbed in a new shower valve in prep for tile in the new shower…..I would have rather been playing with that water!!!!

 

[DRKsmoking]

Love to see the Manatees when we go to Florida.

Very cool to see when they swarm the warm sun

David

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

So Cool!

 

[mr_whipple]

Cool! One of my ex gf's parents lived on a canal in Islamorada and manatees were a common sight. That and freakin' huge iguanas.

 

[GatorAGR]

My daughter is at UF and my wife and her will visit Blue Springs in Feb. I miss North Florida.

 

[JckDanls 07]

We have a veiwing area a few miles from my house... It's the warm cooling water that is discharged from a power plant (TECO) ...

 

[fxsales1959]

Well temps have been pretty chilly for central Florida.
View attachment 711042

Wife and I took a road trip to Blue Spring State Park NE of Orlando to check out the action.
View attachment 711043

It took about 20 minutes to get to the gate due to the lineup of traffic. We were worried the park would be full but we got in and they had parking as we got there fairly early in the morning.

For those that haven't been to Blue Spring SP, it is a winter haven for manatees. The spring puts out 1+ million gallons of warm water a day.
The "run" is the creek that flows approximately 400 yards from the spring to the St John's river.
It was rather windy so the chop on the water made the photos a bit rough.

View attachment 711044
The manatees gathered on the sunny side of the run. Right is north from the spring.

View attachment 711045
In the upper RH corner under the fallen tree, you can see a small buoy in the water. That is a tracking tag attached to a manatee that has been injured (usually a boat strike) taken to a rehabilitation center, and later released. Wife has a bracelet that is tied into the tracking system.

View attachment 711046
Even the fish in the run were taking it easy. Many of the fish in the run are not native. Tilapia make up a lot of invasive species.
Most of the black fish are another invasive species. Black pacu I believe

View attachment 711047
Cow and calf drifting down the run.
After temps warm they need to go out into the St John's river and feed before returning to the springs to warm up.

View attachment 711050
The run is maybe 50 yards wide

The path to the actual spring is closed.
The bulk of the manatee will gather at the spring as that is where the water is warmest.

Hope you enjoyed this photo tour of Florida Blue Spring State Park and the winter manatee count.

used to go there by boat when I lived up there. put boat in Sanford and up river to the end of the run, then raft(rubber tube) back down. Of course you only wanted to that when it was hotter than hell, because in the summer that water felt cold.

 

[Fueling Around]

We have a veiwing area a few miles from my house... It's the warm cooling water that is discharged from a power plant (TECO) ...

There is a huge power plant near Blue Spring, too. I don't know if there is a viewing area.

used to go there by boat when I lived up there. put boat in Sanford and up river to the end of the run, then raft(rubber tube) back down. Of course you only wanted to that when it was hotter than hell, because in the summer that water felt cold.

All blocked off for any traffic off the river now IIRC.
In non manatee season you can still dive the grotto

 

[pineywoods]

John have you checked out Crystal River and the manatees there yet?

 

[Fueling Around]

John have you checked out Crystal River and the manatees there yet?

No
Is that the place where you can still swim them in the winter?

 

[pineywoods]

There are several places to see them around there. It's been several years since I've been on the water down there but last i knew you could swim with them in several areas. There are a number of springs there and pretty much all of them have manatees. There is a new state park there I think it's state I don't know anything about as I haven't been to it. It surrounds some springs called Three Sister's
https://www.crystalriverfl.org/sisters
I guess you can see them from that park but swimming with the might be harder. There are more than one businesses that run trips to see the manatees. There are several renting kayaks and boats with motors. Years ago Three Sisters was private and as long as you didn't go on the land you could run a boat right up to the springs and jump in to swim with them. The last I knew King Spring was still open to divers and swimmers they did have a large area with bouys around it to keep boats out but swimmers were allowed in. This was years ago not sure what is allowed or not allowed anymore. There are ore areas where you can see them and more than likely swim with them. I don't think there's any way they could shut down all the areas that have manatees they'd have to close down Kings Bay and a good portion of Crystal River. I lived in there for about 45-50 years and it was nice when I was a kid but has gotten to crowded for me. The businesses change in that area so I don't know all of them anymore