Adopt-A-Manatee®

A playful manatee, Philip is active and curious

Philip was born to Phoebe during the summer of 1982. Phoebe was also a Save the Manatee Club (SMC) adoptee, but she has since passed away. His older brother, Floyd, is an SMC adoptee as well. Phoebe brought Philip to Blue Spring State Park, located near Orange City, Florida, for his first winter season, and he has returned each year since that time. He is an average-sized manatee, which means he is about 10 feet long (approximately three meters) and weighs between 800 and 1,200 pounds (362 and 544 kilograms). Philip is one of the most playful manatees who spends the cold winter enjoying the warm Blue Spring waters. He is very active and curious. He likes to follow the canoe when researchers head out in the morning to count and identify the manatees in the spring run.

Manatee season is usually November through March, but Philip often waits until December to put in his first appearance. However, once he arrives, he puts in an average of 30 to 40 appearances each winter. He is very friendly and often plays with other manatees as well as palm fronds in the water. When not at Blue Spring, he has been known to travel to nearby DeLeon Springs State Park. Philip usually remains at Blue Spring until the very end of the season before heading out for the warm months. Like most manatees in the wild, he bears scars from boat hits. By the time he was a year old, he had already received a serious propeller injury to his back. He also has several other scars on his back near his head, and he lost a portion of the left side of his tail from a boat strike.

During manatee season, check our Blue Spring webcams for updates on the latest news on Philip and other Blue Spring manatees.