Next Horizon: Manatees, and more manatees!

A goal for this trip was to see manatees. What are manatees? Not exotic sea mermaids, as some sailors may have thought (during a very, very, long voyage and, perhaps, after some rum....). Manatees are very large aquatic mammals living in several areas of the world.

The West Indian Manatee live along the SE coastal areas of the United States. This species of manatee average 10 ft long as an adult, weighing about 800-1000 lbs. Being extremely sensitive to water temps (below 68 degrees F is too cold), these wonderful, docile creatures migrate to warmer, Florida inland waters in the winter, but can be found as far north as Massachusetts and Texas in the summer. Even though they appear quite "rotund", they are not protected by a dense fatty layer !

In the past, visual observation of these animals led some to believe they must be related to the hippopotamus. Not so. The manatee are actually closely related to elephants - if you see one up close, note the nails on their flippers (similar to those on an elephant's foot!). Of course, more scientific methods were used to scientifically determine these animals are closely related.

So, even though manatee can live in sea, fresh, or brackish waters, their winter Florida habitat is often warm water springs, or near power plants releasing warm water. Blue Springs State Park is known as a premiere spot to find lots of manatees this time of year, They divide their time in the warm (72 degrees F) springs, and the St. John River (with water input from the springs and more underwater vegetation available for grazing). These fairly slow moving herbivores eat between 10-15% of their body weight daily!

Blue Springs is used by hundreds of manatee as a site for mating and raising their young.

A week before our visit, no manatee were reported - their annual arrival was delayed due to warmer than normal water temps. However, lucky for us, the local temperatures dropped a few days before our visit and the manatee count by rangers the day we went was 318 manatees! (I have not yet determined how they do that count!)

Many manatee resting in the springs

Since they like fairly shallow waters, (about 2 meters deep is optimal) you can spot them in the clear spring water. And they surface to breathe; time underwater can vary from 30 seconds in an active mode to 20 minutes while resting. Their basic lifestyle is eat, rest, travel.

And, even more remarkable, is that a local volunteer group following these manatee have used ways to identify individuals and given them names! So, not only do they have numbers of individuals, but they actually know which individual manatee are present. Some have been returning to this spring for decades. And, some are newcomers and are defined and named.

How are they separated into individuals? Decades ago it was done by a ranger's hand-drawn sketches. Today its through photography and a volunteer group's manatee cam; check it out at savethemanatee.org

Identification is often by the scars on the backs of these wonderful creatures - caused by power boats. Areas known to be areas for manatee are protected - use of low idle motors, etc. And, manatee are Federally protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act and the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Coming up for air

Today those following the population rates of these animals are seeing some upward trend in the numbers. Deaths are caused by natural effects like cold and disease, but also often through human-related reasons such as collision with watercraft and ingestion of fish hooks, litter and monofilament lines. But, the most significant cause has been loss of habitat!

Kayakers heading to river

A couple of decades ago, we kayaked with a guide who said "do not touch the manatee unless it approaches closely to you". Today the message is - do not touch the manatee; when the manatee become used to interaction with people, they are more likely to approach a motorboat and be injured. The rangers observing kayakers were very stern with the latter message!

If you ever get the chance to observe these wonderful "sea cows", perhaps, like me, you will want to see them survive. While they can live up to 60 years, their population growth is slow - maturity is at 5 years, with one calf every 2-5 years (twins are rare). Females care for and nurse their calf one to two years, after a one year gestation. And then throw in the issues above related to their survival.

Mother and year-old calf

Another female and calf

Just cruising around

While at the park, we took a great tour down the St. John's River with a highly trained captain/educator. Coming back into the springs, we observed some manatee swimming downriver, probably feeding. They seemed to be in small groups, and were only seen as they came to the surface for air (the river water was not as clear as the springs).

The cool air temperatures kept the reptiles underwater, or hidden in the vegetation, but we did see some interesting birds.