I also have a photo of me with the Manatee but Bev is so much better looking than I am so I deleted my picture.
Manatees are usually found in shallow, slow-moving water. They are known to travel between freshwater rivers, brackish water estuaries and coastal saltwater ecosystems for mating, breeding, birthing and feeding.
Manatees need warm water to survive. When water temperature drop below 68 degrees manatees leave their usual feeding grounds to search for warmer waters. Although they are very large marine mammals, they have little fat to keep their bodies warm and are susceptible to cold stress.
Many manatees in Southwest Florida come to Manatee Park to keep warm during cold spells. The warm water in the discharge canal from the Florida Power & Light Plant provides a refuge from the cold.
See the power plant in the distance. The discharge is under state road 80 into Manatee Park.
The Manatees just lounge around in this area enjoying the warm water.
There is a concrete path that runs along the canal along with covered viewing areas. We enjoyed walking slowly along the path checking out the Manatees. They are just below the surface and every few minutes they stick their nose out to get air. Occasionally they let their back stick out of the water which seems like they are letting the sun warm their back.
There is a fence at the end of the canal where it joins the river, this keeps the boats out protecting the Manatees. There is a board walk along the river at the edge of the park for fishing or viewing the Manatees in the river. Bev and I watched a couple of kayakers on the river as they paddled among the Manatees. It was very peaceful and relaxing just leaning on the railing of the board walk watching the Manatees.
Canoes and kayaks can be rented at the park for viewing the manatees up close and personal on the river but Bev and I didn't rent any. The park also has large "War Canoes" for groups to rent out. You can see the war canoes on the left side of the pictures above.
We walked down a path the check out the War Canoes up close.
The park has planted an area along the river with Mangroves. Mangroves are tropical trees that grow along the coastline in mixed salt and freshwater. They live in wet soil, are highly salt tolerant and flourish in areas periodically submerged by tides. Coastline development, exotic plant invasion and poor water quality threaten Florida's mangrove populations. As a result, mangroves are protected by law.
The park is quite scenic and just a joy to walk around.
They also have a Butterfly Garden which is usually loaded with all types but I guess it was to cool for them because I didn't see any. Bev said she saw some though. They also have a great selection of wildflowers, shrubs, vines, trees, and ground cover.
It was a very enjoyable day including the scenic ride down State Road 31 to get there.
On the way back home we passed Chili's in Arcadia so you know we had to stop for supper. While we were in the restaurant the rains came and it pored. It has been very dry in Florida and they really needed the rain. I was also glad to see it, our car was getting dirty and the rains cleaned it off.
It was a great day but we were glad to get back home and put our feet up.
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