Manatees

Sunday January 24th 

Just a few miles from home is the Lee County Manatee Park. The location was sponsored by Florida Power & Light as they had originally created the canal to moved their discharge water toward the Orange

River. When water temperatures in Estero Bay drop below 68, the manatees seek waters with warmer temperatures. So in the winter, scores of manatees migrate into the Orange River and the FP&L canal to take advantage of the heated waters discharge from the power plant.

So a week ago my daughter Katie and I joined with the snow birds to look for any manatees. It was over flow parking at Manatee Park but still plenty of room at the railings to watch the sea cows. Getting really good pictures is difficult as the water is murky and you need to anticipate were a manatee with make its brief surfacing for a breath of air. We had a count of thirty-six Florida Manatees today