Manatee Mania

Closest we go to the gator
Good enough for mini me!

Saturday was a day for exploring.  First off to Boyd Hill Nature Preserve to explore the last bits of native habitat. We had a guided tour in an oversize golf cart looking for raccoon (heard/saw two), extremely endangered gopher tortoises, pileated woodpecker (well we saw the hole he made in a palm tree for his house) and sis hoped for alligators.

Facts to keep in mind . . .

Then it was off to Apollo Beach, to the Manatee Viewing Center (free) at the Teco/Tampa Electric coal-fired power plant.  These wild gentle giants, or sea cows (manatees), are attracted to the warm water outflows from the plant.  As we had two cold fronts this month, the manatees came in to bathe in the inlet.  There must have been 75 or more with a number of babies and we had a grand time in the afternoon sun. The manatees are fairly sedentary, but come up every few minutes for air, nuzzle one another and occasionally roll over on their backs or give a tail or flipper flip.  There were also many fish in the clear water, including some who lept and spun out of the water.

As many people as manatees
Weird sight at a power plant!

Sort of strange to go to a coal-fired plant to view wildlife, but there you have it.

The 'lumps' are the manatees
resting just below the surface
in the water outflow water of the coal plant

Rolling over to catch the sun on his belly