News

By Wayne Hartley, Manatee Specialist, and Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia & Manatee Research Associate

Thursday, March 23, 2023

The river temperature was 69.8°F (21°C). We counted 46 manatees. Save the Manatee Club adoptees Gator and Annie and her calf were among them. Annie was not only accompanied by her calf, but also by two others and a juvenile. With temperatures heading toward the nineties, the season may soon be over, but we will be taking roll call again tomorrow.

-Wayne & Cora

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

The river temperature was up slightly to 68.9°F (20.5°C). The park staff counted 65 manatees, and I counted 71. They know it is warming up, so all of them were down towards the river. I saw adoptee Aqua and her calf before the count started, but then she was gone. The adoptees who made the official count were Doc, Paddy Doyle, and Gator. After the count was over, Annie, along with her newborn calf and three juveniles, were swimming up the run. She must have been out in the river feeding with the calf and was just coming back in.

~Cora

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

The river temperature was 68°F (20°C). The manatees surprised me with a count of 122. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Philip, Paddy Doyle, Gator, Lily, Annie & calf, and Aqua & calf. More good news: Nato, who was terribly injured by a boat early in the season and then avoided rescue, is back and healing very well. It is amazing how some manatees can survive without assistance. (Nato is not a Save the Manatee Club adoptee.)

-Wayne

Monday, March 20, 2023

The river temperature was at 68°F (20°C) today, but I feel it may have been influenced by the warmer spring temperature and the high winds pushing the spring water to the river. Lots of clear spring water on top of the darker river water. The park staff counted 38 manatees, and I counted 51. The adoptees present during the count were Gator and Annie with her newborn calf. Annie and the calf were in the boil—the calf is adorable! After the count was finished, Philip and Howie showed up.

We had been keeping an eye on a manatee with heavy algae cover over the course of the season who seemed a little off, but not to the point where intervention was deemed necessary right away. He would visit the spring occasionally but then disappear for days or even weeks. His name is “Kasper,” and he was born in 2019 to mother “Isla Bella.” Last season, he spent a lot of time with adoptee Moo Shoo in the spring. He was in the spring this morning and looked awfully skinny with very lethargic behavior, so the decision was made to intervene and rescue him. A team from FWC, SeaWorld, Volusia County, and CMARI quickly responded and captured Kasper to bring him to SeaWorld for rehabilitation. We thank everyone for the quick response and support! 

~Cora

Saturday, March 18, 2023

After what seemed like eighteen months, or more, of pregnancy, Annie finally had her calf at 4:58 p.m. on March 17, 2023, in the boil at Blue Spring State Park. I guess we have another Irish manatee. It appears Annie is exercising the baby by swimming it all over the springhead. The other Save the Manatee Club adoptee present was Gator. I counted eleven manatees, and the Park counted nine—close enough! The river temperature still remains at 69.8°F (21°C). After a warm day today, it should be cooler through Wednesday, although all the forecasts do not agree.

-Wayne

Friday, March 17, 2023

The river temperature remained at 69.8°F (21°C). The first manatees I saw were the inseparables, Amelia and Irma (not adoptees). They were at the fishing dock in the river with the sides of their heads pressed together so they formed a V. By the time I got to the canoe, they were in the run. The sun was so bright, I had to keep it behind me so I could see the manatees without the glare. The manatees were going in and out of the river right at the mouth of the run. Eventually, I counted 35 manatees. 30 by the river, 3 up the run, and two at the boil. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Paddy Doyle by the river and Annie in the boil. I thought to check for new arrivals as I came back down the run, but the wind was up and the manatees were rambunctious. The weather looks bad tomorrow, but I shall try to get out.

-Wayne

Thursday, March 16, 2023

It got quite chilly overnight, but the river temperature was at 69.8°F (21°C), so just slightly cooler than the spring run. The park counted 20 manatees and I counted 26. Annie was the only adoptee in and Philip showed up after the count was finished. The manatee we assisted in releasing yesterday was in today, mingling with some of the wild manatees and one of the releases from last month. Maybe some more will be coming in tomorrow. It has been warm for so long that many manatees may have already migrated to their summer habitat and are not turning around for a small cold front at this point, but we shall see.

~Cora

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

The river temperature was 71.6°F (22°C). We take the river temperature from the fishing dock. Six manatees were cavorting and scratching their backs on the dock. Getting in the canoe, we found the inseparables, Amelia and Irma (not adoptees), and one other near the mouth of the run. Then we had to paddle to the boil to see Save the Manatee Club adoptee Annie with a juvenile friend. Annie continues to be hugely pregnant. If you have not been keeping track, that makes eleven manatees for the count. The same count the park had. Later, a manatee that missed the mass release on February 13 finally made it to the run. The release was so quick, we will have to get pictures from FWC. The cool is due to continue for a day or two, so we hope to see more tomorrow!

-Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

The little cold front started coming in overnight, but it didn’t do enough yet to bring a lot of manatees in. Two manatees were counted this morning close to the river, making their way up the spring run during the count. Those were Amelia and Irma—released at Blue Spring two years ago and still sticking together, which is rather unusual! Usually, when we see one of them, the other one is not far away! Overnight lows for the next two nights are predicted to be in the 40s for Blue Spring, so that may bring a few more manatees in.

~Cora

Monday, March 13, 2023

The combination of daylight saving and rainy weather made for a pretty dreary start of the day, but around 8 a.m. it turned nice with just some thunderstorm clouds in the background.

The park staff didn’t count any manatees, I counted one close to the river by the buoy line. After I had paddled to the spring head and back, another manatee came in and the two socialized. One of them was a recent release, so it was nice to see that.

A huge tree branch has fallen into the water, including a bunch of leaves—another thing for the manatees to feed on besides the floating mat of vegetation right outside the spring run.

Temperatures are predicted to drop tomorrow through Friday so some manatees may be coming in. However, with how warm the river is right now, it is questionable how much it will cool down with just a few short days of colder weather.

~Cora

Thursday, March 9, 2023

It got a little bit cooler overnight, but that didn’t bring the manatees back into the spring run. One of the recently released manatees briefly stopped by the spring early this morning but was already back in the river when I started the count, following a mom/calf pair and a juvenile, which is encouraging to see! A small alligator was sunning itself on a log in the lower part of the spring run—this is rather unusual to see as we usually see the large ones in that area sunning, but I guess it took the opportunity while the bigger ones were not around!

Now on to the sad news. On February 23 we were informed that manatee adoptee “Lesley” had been found deceased in Lake Woodruff, just north of Blue Spring, on February 17. We last saw her at Blue Spring on February 5 during the morning roll call. A cause of death could not be determined.

Lesley had wintered at Blue Spring since 2014 and was rescued in 2018 for a very severe boat strike. After almost 3 years in expert care at SeaWorld Orlando, she was released at Blue Spring in January 2021. Lesley spent the 2021–22 and 2022–23 winter seasons at Blue Spring and was doing very well. Lesley’s legacy lives on through her daughter Lennox and granddaughter Leona, who still visit Blue Spring.

Lesley is an example of the incredible resiliency of manatees who can pull through and fight for their lives against all odds. Her story also shows the extraordinary efforts of the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP) rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing manatees in need. Manatee Lesley was originally named after biology teacher Lesley Argiri, who has put on the Save the Manatee 5K event each year since 2003.

-Cora & Wayne

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

I took the river temperature about two feet down instead of six feet, where it might have been affected by the spring water. The river is on top of the spring water now as it is warmer. I got a reading of 77°F (25°C). The river is up about two inches. It must have rained to our south, or the wind today from the north was pushing it back upstream. No manatees. But I saw a grass carp (non-native, invasive) and the red-breasted merganser Cora saw yesterday. Years ago, I saw a male. That makes two merganser sightings in several years. I am beginning to think the last day of the season was February 22.

-Wayne

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

The river temperature stayed the same at 74.3°F (23.5°C), although the air temperature got slightly cooler overnight. Not much, though. As I started paddling, I was thinking to myself that the “buffet” (big patch of vegetation) right outside the buoy line that I mentioned last week seemed to be growing in size and height. Just as I was thinking that, I heard a very loud exhalation—a manatee in the vegetation! Although I could only see a snout and some vegetation moving, it was clear that someone was enjoying breakfast in there. I stayed off to the side for a bit, and eventually one of our small juveniles from this winter season emerged, briefly swam into the spring run, and back out. That made my count one. The park staff had counted zero. I paddled up to the spring head, but no more manatees were present. On my way back down, I checked by the vegetation again, and at least two manatees were feeding in there. Not wanting to disrupt their breakfast, I hung around on the side a bit, but neither one of them came out to be identified.

~Cora

Monday, March 6, 2023

The river temperature is still the same as last Friday—74.3°F (23.5°C), and no manatees were in the spring run. While out on the St. Johns River yesterday, I saw quite a few manatees traveling, feeding, and cavorting. A mating herd was reported south of Blue Spring as well, so the manatees are definitely around! However, in the dark water of the St. Johns River, it is very difficult to identify any individuals.
The water level in the spring run continues to go down, making paddling up the run harder every day—but as Wayne mentioned, it is good exercise!

~Cora

Friday, March 3, 2023

The river temperature stayed at 74.3°F (23.5°C) and just like yesterday, no manatees were around. In addition to counting and identifying the manatees each day, we also mark where the darker river water intrudes into the spring run. This oftentimes depends on temperature. In the winter, the colder river water is on the bottom and the warmer spring water on top. For the past couple of days now, the warmer river water is on top of the colder spring water—we usually see this in the summer! Looking at the forecast, we may get a little cold front the weekend of March 11th, so maybe a few manatees will return.

~Cora

Thursday, March 2, 2023

The river temperature is now up to 74.3°F (23.5°C). No manatees, not even a rumor of manatees. Cooler weather may start on Friday, March 10, and continue for the rest of the month. If my forecaster can be believed! Not cold weather, just cool.

-Wayne

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

The river temperature remains at 73.4°F (23°C). No manatees seen by me or reported by the Park Service. The water is so low now that the water is exposing the bottom of the run along the banks. As the water gets lower, the speed of the water in the run increases, scouring the algae at the bottom of the run in places. It also takes more effort to paddle the canoe up the run against the current. Oh well, exercise is good.

-Wayne

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

The warm weather continues, and the river temperature stayed at 73.4°F (23°C). No manatees made the count, but one came in after the count was over. It was the same one that made an appearance yesterday. He seems to like to come in to rest for a little while in the upper spring run before going back out—not a bad idea!
A large floating mat of vegetation was right outside the spring run, containing lots of pennywort, some pieces of water hyacinth and cupscale grass. A manatee buffet, only there were no manatees to feast on it!

~Cora

Monday, February 27, 2023

The river temp was 73.4F (23C) again today. One manatee was in, resting quietly at the boil. The cool weather forecast for the first half of March has moved to the second half of March. All we have predicted for early March now is a couple of cool days that may or may not bring in a handful of manatees. The manatees are in the waterways. Watch for them.

-Wayne & Cora

Friday, February 24, 2023

The river temp took a big jump to 73.4°F (23°C). No Save the Manatee Club adoptees. No manatees at all. There was a big alligator that stared at me and only sank below the water when I got to five feet away. I do not like that. I like alligators that are as afraid of me as I am of them. We want to see manatees but their absence is good. It means all the recent releases are hopefully out in the St Johns River stuffing their bellies at the giant salad bar.

And learning to be wild manatees! -Wayne

Thursday, February 23, 2023

The river temperature stayed at 69.8°F (21°C) but the count dropped to one, which was one of the manatees released last week. After the count was over she was joined by another juvenile, both of them close to the river. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees today and the temperatures continue to look warm. ~Cora

Wednesday, February 22, 2023

The river temp was 69.8°F (21°C). It was foggy but the wind was down and the fog was not close to the water. No glare, it was a beautiful day to count manatees, so of course there were very few there! No Save the Manatee Club adoptees showed up. A manatee released last Monday was there. She has the cutest little face! At least to someone who has been working with manatees for forty-three years. While Cora did roll call yesterday I did numbers. We have seen 787 manatees at least once this season (839 last season). Calves are still uncertain, we have a record by two of 85 but three of those may have to be subtracted if it turns out we counted them twice. 481 have returned from previous seasons, compared to 435 from last season. We have 220 unidentified manatees this season compared to 325 last season. So it is easy to see where the decrease came from. We still have time for more strangers to come in and increase the count, but the warm temperatures are not encouraging. -Wayne

Monday, February 20, 2023

It’s warming up! On Monday the river temperature was 68.3°F (20.2°C) and today it was 68.9°F (20.5°C). Most manatees were close to the river, ready to go out or just stopping in for a bit after having been out in the river. On Monday we counted 45 manatees and today the count was down to 12. No adoptees were seen on either day. Out of the 12 today, 3 were recent releases, 1 was a release from last winter and 2 were releases from 2 winters ago! We’re looking at more warm weather for the rest of the month. ~Cora & Wayne

Sunday, February 19, 2023

It stayed a little cooler than expected and the river temperature this morning was 68°F (20°C). Whatever reading I got with my thermometer yesterday was definitely wrong—oh well. The park staff counted 63 manatees from the boardwalk and I counted 64 from the research canoe—we love it when it comes out so close! The only adoptee once again was Annie. After the count was over I left the spring run for a little bit to work on another project and, upon returning about 1.5 hours later, a whole other set of manatees seemed to be in the run! Although I didn’t repeat the count (it is done between 8 – 10 a.m.), I identified 20 manatees that I had not seen during the count.

Unfortunately, I also observed many kayakers and boaters crowding the manatees coming in and out of the spring run. We want to remind everyone to please give the manatees space and do not approach them. Especially if you see a manatee wearing a satellite tag, give it some distance and do not interfere with it. Most likely this is a recently released manatee that is trying to adjust to life in the wild and the best thing is to observe it from a distance. ~Cora

Saturday, February 18, 2023

It got a little cold overnight with an air temperature of 49°F this morning, but this little 1-day cool spell didn’t affect the manatees much. I measured a river temperature of 65.3°F (18.5°C) which can’t be right as I doubt the river dropped 2 degrees since yesterday. The wind was blowing in gusts, so chances are the spring temperature affected the river.

The park staff counted 10 manatees this morning and I counted 20. It seemed like some more were coming in throughout the morning. Annie was the only adoptee in and she was midway up the run. 4 manatees were in the spring head, including 2 of the recently released manatees.

The forecast for next week is predicting very warm temperatures, so we expect for the manatee numbers to drop even more. ~Cora

Friday, February 17, 2023

It warmed up quite a bit and manatee numbers dropped significantly. The river temperature rose to 68.9°F (20.5°C) and the manatee count dropped to 27. No adoptees were seen today, which was not surprising given the warm weather. Along with our many Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership partners, we assisted rescuing 3 manatees this week for health assessments or to bring them back into rehabilitation. We want to thank all the partners who helped—it was a very busy week at Blue Spring with all the rescues and releases! ~Cora

Thursday, February 16, 2023

It warmed up quite a bit and the river temperature was up a degree to 66.2°F (19°C). The park staff counted 208 manatees, but most of them were by the river, so by the time I did the count from the research canoe I only counted 114. They seemed a bit calmer than the last couple of days and the water was nice and smooth with no wind, so it was easier to count and identify. The adoptees in today were Lenny, Paddy Doyle, Una with her calf and Annie. Annie is still very pregnant, so we are keeping an eye out! Interestingly, we still see new manatees come in each day that we had not seen yet this season. Old-timers that we know from years past, who must have wintered elsewhere, started to move when it got warmer and now visited Blue Spring towards the end of the season. ~Cora

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

The river temp dropped a bit to 64.4°F (18°C). The manatees greeted the small drop by raising the manatee count to 291. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were Lily, Floyd, Philip, Paddy Doyle, Una & calf, and Aqua & calf. Aqua was also in yesterday and Gator was seen on the webcam yesterday. We are having fun IDing all the new releases! We are often asked what are the names of some of the manatees. So here are the names of the recently released, though they are not adoptees: Maximoff, Bianca, Swimshady, Manhattan, Alby, Artemis, Lil’ Peep, Scampi, Inigo, Asha, Finch, and Ferrett.  -Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

The river temp was 65.3°F. Not much colder than yesterday but the air was cold and the manatees were breathing it. What a difference it made. The count went from 70 manatees to 262 manatees. We saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Nick, Lenny, Phyllis, Paddy Doyle, Brutus, Lily, Floyd, Doc, Gator during roll call and Howie and Una after. It was nice Gator came in yesterday but having more than one adoptee was even nicer.

Yesterday the Florida Park Service, SeaWorld Orlando, Jacksonville Zoo, Living Seas at Disney, Miami Seaquarium, Volusia County Environmental, Cincinnati Zoo, Save the Manatee Club, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, Brevard Zoo, US Fish and Wildlife Service, FWC, Columbus Zoo, and Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters released twelve manatees into the warm water of the spring run. I was at the Park at 6:30 a.m. and had enough light to start the roll call at 7:15 a.m. I was finished at 7:42 a.m. In forty-three years I have never finished a roll call before eight o’clock, but then I have never begun one just after seven o’clock before. With that done, I joined the rest of the group and filmed the releases for identification purposes. The trucks carrying one to three manatees each were scheduled to arrive on the hour every hour from seven am until 2 p.m. The schedule went well considering Florida traffic. The trucks would back up near the run and the manatees would be unloaded onto mats on the ground. After a final checkup, pictures and tagging the manatees would be carried to the run. All involved can be proud!  -Wayne & Cora

Monday, February 13, 2023

The river temp was 68.4°F (20.2°C). I counted 70 manatees and ID’d 15. None were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. Normally we ID nearly half or more of the manatees counted. The glare off the run was impenetrable. I could see no manatees through it. When I maneuvered into a position to see manatees, the ripple from the high winds distorted their scars, if any, to make ID almost impossible. Thirteen manatees were up the run out of the wind and most I ID’d were among them. Late in the day Cora, who was involved in a mass manatee release, let me know she spotted Gator from an overlook. More about the mass release tomorrow.  -Wayne & Cora

Friday, February 10, 2023

The river temp today was 68.9°F (20.5°C). We counted 27 manatees. All of them were barely in the run from the river. None were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. Cora and I were filmed and interviewed separately and together in a way that did not interfere with the roll call at all. Due to be very hot today, the forecast is 83°. Cooling on Sunday and Monday should bring plenty of manatees on Wednesday.

Thursday, February 9, 2023

The river was up to 67.1°F (19.5°C). Manatee attendance was down accordingly. We counted 81 manatees. Annie was our only Save the Manatee Club adoptee in today. We waited around for a while to see if any more adoptees would come in but none did. CMARI was in to do a health check on a couple of recent releases but one was not in and the other could not be located so they left. The one that was out came back in and we located the hard to ID manatee so CMARI was able to return when we called them. The weekend is predicted to be quite cool so perhaps next week will see more manatees.  -Wayne & Cora

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

The river temp was 65.3°F (18.5°C). Counting was easier as there was no mist rising off the run and counted 206 manatees. The wind was down so identifications were easy if we could get near the manatee we wanted to ID. The manatees were in a mob just inside the mouth of the run from the river. It was hard to approach a manatee if it was in the center of the group. Annie, Philip and Merlin represented our Save the Manatee Club adoptees today. I certainly did not expect Merlin!  -Wayne

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

The river temp was 64.4°F (18°C) again. The Park counted 211 manatees and we counted 183 manatees. I think a low mist on the water explained our lower count. The mist was easier to see through from up on the boardwalk than down in the canoe. Save the Manatee Club adoptees Lily, Doc and Phyllis were in the run. -Wayne

Monday, February 6, 2023

The river temp is back to 64.4°F (18°C). We counted 109 manatees today. In the past two days we have confirmed the small manatee with the new hit on Friday was not the calf of the manatee trailing the fish line. (All removed now!) I hate to see any manatee hit but a calf is especially upsetting. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were Phyllis and Annie. We waited around for some time to see if any of the manatees we wanted to assist would show up but none did.  -Wayne

Sunday, February 5, 2023

It was a cool and misty morning with a forecast for rain later in the morning which never came. The predicted wind also mostly stayed out over the river. The river temperature was down to 64.4°F (18°C). The park counted 83 manatees but had a hard time seeing them as most were in the lower transects along the bank making it hard to count each one from the boardwalk. In addition, some major cavorting was going on just inside the spring run. I counted 115 manatees and wow where there a lot of adoptees today (compared to the last few days)! The first one I saw was Lesley, who seemed to be the center of attention in the cavorting pile by the river. I guess spring has sprung for some of them. Shortly after I saw Lenny, Phyllis and Una with her calf. On the way back down a large manatee came up from under the research canoe—adoptee Brutus! The last one to sneak in from the river was Annie.

The manatees have been out in the river during the warmer weather and so have the boaters. We see lots and lots of new boat strikes. Most are superficial and will heal on their own, but it’s a good reminder to please watch out when you are boating—manatees are around! ~Cora

Saturday, February 4, 2023

It got quite a bit cooler overnight and the air temperature at the park this morning was 48°F (8.8°C). The river temperature was 66.2°F (19°C) which seemed a little too low to me as it was 70.7°F yesterday, but that’s what I got. The park staff counted 35 manatees and I counted 44, but more came in after the count was finished. No adoptees made the count today, but Una and her calf showed up after the count was over. Una has a new flipper entanglement that we, along with our partner researchers, are keeping an eye on. The satellite tagged manatee that seemed entangled yesterday was well today. Most likely the line was just wrapped around the tag and today it was gone. It is still a good reminder to always make sure to recycle all fishing line in appropriate bins so it does not blow into the water. We are still monitoring the manatee with the watercraft injury as well. As Wayne mentioned before, we wish we could tell the manatees that all we want is get them help and make it easier on all of us. ~Cora

Friday, February 3, 2023

The river remained at 70.7°F (21.5°C). The Park counted zero manatees. When I got to the run I saw one. As I paddled over to ID it, four more came in. It was a cow with a calf and two hangers on. One of the smaller two had a new boat strike and I wanted to photograph it and see if it was the calf. The wound was not serious. They began to leave and I noticed a red line in the water. I fished it out with the paddle handle and found it was a heavy braided fish line attached to the cow’s tag. There was over thirty yards of line and I managed to cut almost half of it before the cow left the run. Now we will have to watch for her and get someone in the water to cut off the rest. So my count was five manatees and none were Save the Manatee Club adoptees.

Thursday, February 2, 2023

The river temperature was up another degree to 70.7°F (21.5°C), so almost the same as the spring. The park staff counted 2 manatees, I saw none. Even on the way back down and on the webcam I couldn’t detect any manatees. They must have sneaked out before I got there. Sometimes we look for “flipper drags” on the bottom of the spring run which would be an indication that some manatees were there as they “dragged” their flippers through the sand. I thought I saw some in the upper part of the run, but it could have also been from an alligator or from yesterday. Still a beautiful day at the spring, just without manatees. ~Cora

Wednesday, February 1, 2023

The river temp was 68.9°F (20.5°C). The Park counted six manatees around 7–7:30 a.m. I counted zero manatees at 8 a.m. At 8:45 a.m. with the count over I saw five that had come in while I was paddling the run. I found it interesting that three of the five were manatees that had been rescued, rehabbed and then released at Blue Spring. It is February and the season usually ends in March, but I feel like I am still waiting for the season to really get underway. Too many warm days. Boaters take note: the manatees are in the waterways and not in their refuges.  -Wayne

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

How the mighty are fallen. Two days ago Cora and I counted 392 manatees and today we counted 29 manatees! The river temperature was 66.2°F (19°C). the air temperature was in the 80s the last two days so the manatees are in the river grazing for the most part. Looking ahead we will be counting even fewer unless the cold returns. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were present. Sunday with the count over I let the canoe drift as I checked my notes. The canoe drifted to the west bank instead of the east as I expected so I decided I better see where I was going. I was going to greet the very large very obese alligator on his favorite fallen tree. I decided to paddle rather than drift.  -Wayne

Monday, January 30, 2023

It warmed up quite a bit, so it wasn’t surprising that the manatee count dropped significantly. The river temperature was 65.3°F (18.5°C). The park staff counted 120 manatees and I counted 97. However, I had a crew from the BBC with me today filming the manatees, so getting an accurate count and identifications was secondary today. I was still happy with the 97 I came up with. The only adoptee in today was Flash, which surprised me as we don’t see him that often! The first manatee we encountered with the BBC was “Dagney” (not an adoptee). She is a juvenile and extremely curious about the research canoe, which looks cute but can get a little “annoying” when she positions herself right under the canoe and we can not move. We need to stay away from the manatees and of course don’t touch them or lure them to our canoe. That rule does not apply vice versa! The BBC was thrilled to have a manatee that close to film it! A little further up the run we encountered an alligator, that made the BBC folks happy too. It got even better when manatee Dagney decided to leave the research canoe alone for a little while and pose with the alligator! We always tell reporters or film crews that seeing a manatee and alligator close together to film is rare and should not be expected. Well, the crew today got it all!

As an addition to yesterday’s update—adoptee Phyllis came in at 5 p.m. after the Manatee Festival was over and most other manatees had left the spring run! ~Cora

Sunday, January 29, 2023

The river temp was 62.6°F (17°C). The Park counted 452 manatees and I counted 392 after a big manatee rush to the river. By the time I finished counting, I felt at least half the manatee I saw had also left as the air temp approached 80°F (26.7°C). We noted the following Save the Manatee Club adoptees; Floyd, Annie, Lily, Nick, Margarito, Paddy Doyle, Moo Shoo and Gator. The second day of the festival seemed slower than the first. Folks at our booth liked it as the smaller numbers meant a greater chance to talk to people and as a result get more adoptions! -Wayne

Saturday, January 28, 2023

The first day of the Blue Spring Manatee Festival and the river temp was 64.4°F (18°C) again. The Park counted 397 manatees, and I counted 485 manatees present for duty; more were coming in! There seemed to be more exhibitors than at the last festival and that is a good thing. There seemed to be plenty of them at Valentine Park as well. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees were Doc, Paddy Doyle, Margarito, Annie, Lily, Aqua & calf, Una & calf and Moo Shoo. Most of the day was cloudy and cool, if not cold, so with a low temperature of 57°F (13.9°C) predicted overnight plenty of manatees should greet me in the morning. However, the high predicted tomorrow is 80°F (26.7°C) with lots of sun. Manatees should be leaving through the day. After that it appears that temperatures will be bouncing up and down daily and manatee attendance will vary accordingly. -Wayne

Friday, January 27, 2023

The air temps dropped quite significantly over night, but the river was still at 65.3°F (18.5°C). The park counted 186 manatees from the boardwalk and I counted 159 manatees from the research canoe, but many more came in after the official count was over. I had expected more manatees to be up the run with the cooler temps, but they were mostly congregated in the lower transects by the river. The adoptees seen were Annie, Lily, Flash, Millie and Paddy Doyle. Una with her calf came in after the count was over. ~Cora

Thursday, January 26, 2023

After six days the river temp finally moved off of 64.4°F (18°C). It is now 66.2°F (19°C) but dropping. The Park counted 30 manatees from the boardwalk. We counted 79 from the canoe. Manatees were coming in during and after the count. They know it is getting colder! No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were seen today but I am sure several will be in tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

The river temp is still 64.4°F (18°C). I counted 186 manatees and the Park counted 194 manatees. That is very close. I saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Deep Dent, Doc and Paddy Doyle. Not many! The predicted high temp today is 85°F (29.4°C). The wind I faced today indicates a change in the weather. Tomorrow the high temp should be 66°F and the low after that is said to be 41°F. Friday’s temps should be much the same and should provide a nice group of manatees for the Manatee Festival this weekend! -Wayne

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

For the fifth day in a row the river temp was 64.4°F (18°C). Maybe the thermometers are broken. We counted 214 manatees and the Park counted 189. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Lily, Paddy Doyle, Phyllis, Moo Shoo, Margarito, Una & calf, Lenny, Annie and Flash. Lenny, Annie and Flash were late to the party, but we were still there to see them as an attempt to rescue an injured manatee was under way. The manatee in question was not aware we were trying to help and avoided his rescue. We will try again. Another manatee had his tag removed by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. It was well done. They did not feel he needed to be watched any longer.  ~Wayne & Cora

Monday, January 23, 2023

SMC did not do a count on Sunday, but the park staff counted a surprising 278 manatees—most likely because it never really warmed up on Saturday. Adoptees Lily, Lenny, Moo Shoo, Phyllis, Deep Dent and Paddy Doyle were seen on the webcam.

It warmed up significantly during the day on Sunday, so this morning the river temperature was still at 64.4°F (18°C), but the manatee count dropped to 88. Winds up to 25mph were forecasted, but luckily it was glassy smooth and calm between 8 – 9 a.m. with strong winds picking up at 9:15 after I just remarked to park staff that the wind predictions had been wrong! The only adoptees seen during the count today were Moo Shoo and Paddy Doyle. Lily made an appearance on the webcam in the afternoon.  ~Cora

Saturday, January 21, 2023

The river stayed at 64.4°F (18°C) but the manatee count dropped to 164. Most manatees were congregating in the lower and middle part of the run today and many came in after the official count was already over. The only adoptee seen today during the count today was Moo Shoo, but after the count was over Paddy Doyle swam up the run. A little bit later Philip and Phyllis made an appearance on the webcam!  ~Cora

Friday, January 20, 2023

The river temp remained at 64.4°F (18°C). We counted 231 manatees and the Park counted 238 manatees. Again there were very few manatees in the upper two thirds of the run. We saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Moo Shoo, Paddy Doyle and Deep Dent. We look to the counts getting lower as the week goes on. Hopefully things will cool down as predicted for the Manatee Festival.  -Wayne & Cora

Thursday, January 19, 2023

The river temp jumped up to 64.4°F (18°C) from 58.1°F over night. The Park counted 399 and we counted 349. Most of the manatees were in the lower third of the run. They were crowded together and hard to count from the canoe. The manatees were very antsy and moving all over the place. Only two manatees were in the upper two thirds of the run. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Deep Dent, Howie, Philip, Paddy Doyle, Doc, Gator and Aqua & calf. Lily did not make roll call but she was seen at 07:30 a.m. before the count. -Wayne

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

The river was cold with a temp of 58.1°F (14.5°C). The Park counted 592 manatees and told Cora the manatees were leaving the run in groups. I would say so. Our count was 527 manatees and they were still leaving. The river may be cold but the manatees know warmer days are on the way in the next week. If the manatees can breathe 75°F to 85°F air they tend to ignore the cold water. Our Save the Manatee Club adoptees were Nick, Howie, Paddy Doyle, Philip, Lesley, Una & calf, Gator, Lily, Rocket, Moo Shoo, Deep Dent, Whiskers and Aqua. -Wayne

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The river was down to 55.4°F (13°C). The Park counted a record 729 manatees. Ours was not so high. Our Save the Manatee Club adoptees were Lily, Howie, Paddy Doyle, Philip, Doc, Lesley, Gator, Phyllis, Moo Shoo, Deep Dent, Whiskers and Aqua & calf. -Wayne

Monday, January 16, 2023

The river temp was 69°F (15°C) and the surface of the run was white with mist. We almost needed to wait for it to clear some before we could launch the canoe. We counted 646 manatees and the Park counted 642! Our Save the Manatee Club adoptees were Howie, Margarito, Lily, Doc, Gator, Phyllis, Una & calf, Deep Dent, Whiskers, Lesley, Moo Shoo and Aqua & calf. We may have seen Philip but could not get close enough to be sure. The count was longer than usual due to the mist. We had to be very careful to avoid bumping into a manatee. We only recently saw alligators again during the roll call. Today Cora pointed out the new heavy-weight alligator to me. I am not sure of its size but I believe it is the largest alligator I have ever seen in the run! -Wayne

Sunday, January 15, 2023

It was a very cold morning and the spring run was packed with manatees. The St. Johns River was 58.1°F (14.5°C) and the park staff counted 625 manatees from the boardwalk. SMC counted 491 from the research canoe, but the park was probably closer. It was difficult to see all the manatees who were resting on top and next to each other. Lots and lots of adoptees today! Phyllis, Nick, Floyd, Paddy Doyle, Una with calf, Aqua with calf, Lily, Doc, Gator, Rocket and Whiskers made the count.
After the count was finished Howie, Annie, Millie, Lesley and Margarito showed up. It’s likely that more adoptees were tucked away in the big crowds of manatees in the lower spring run.

Many people ask us about adoptee Lucille. She is the only one we have not seen yet this season, but our research team keeps an eye out for her. Some manatees skip a season and winter elsewhere, which is not uncommon although Lucille has never done this. We are continuing to look for her! ~Cora

Friday, January 13, 2023

The day started out with some pretty heavy rain, but it let up around 8:30 a.m. allowing for a quick count before it started raining again mid-way through.

The river temperature was 65.3°F (18.5°C) and 203 manatees were counted. IDing was difficult especially since my main focus today was to keep an eye out for an injured manatee in need of rescue. The SMC adoptees seen today were Floyd, Moo Shoo, Una with calf, and Lily. More manatees kept coming in as the day went along with temperatures dropping and the wind chill increasing. Along with many of our Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP) partners, we attempted to rescue the injured manatee. Unfortunately he escaped the rescue attempts, so we will continue to monitor him. We want to thank everyone who mobilized out to the park to try, we had partners from at least 7 different organizations. ~Cora

Thursday, January 12, 2023

I am home sick so I have no fresh news, but I have been catching up on past data. Last winter season Blue Spring manatees received 80 boat strikes shared by 76 manatees. Some manatees are hit more than once during the season so the total manatees hit was 76. This is not good but it is better than the 102 hits the season before. A twenty-boat-hit drop seems a lot but two years ago the number of hits jumped from 64 to 109 so I guess it can go down fast as well. This season started well with few boat strikes as the flooding from the storms kept boating to a minimum, but strikes are picking up now. If you boat, wear polarized glasses, stay in the middle of the waterway as much as possible (manatees spend more time near the vegetated banks), obey the posted speeds and watch for manatee footprints. Manatee footprints are eddies on the surface that are made by the movement of the manatee’s tail. Fish make them as well but fish eddies are random while manatee eddies are in a line.

So far this season we have seen 688 individual manatees at Blue Spring. 437 returned from last season, five from past seasons, 163 we have not identified and 83 calves. If that holds it will be a record number of calves. Keeping track of manatee calves at Blue Spring is very like herding cats. Manatee mothers feel safe at the spring and let their calves swim at will all over.

Perhaps Cora will have more to add later.   -Wayne

I do not have much to add as I was not able to do a count at Blue Spring this morning due to other work commitments. I did swing by the park in the afternoon to work on the webcam and get eyes on a manatee we monitor. The park staff had counted 256 manatees this morning and some were still in the spring run. However, the water was ripply due to the wind and the sun was at an angle that made any identification impossible. However I did manage to see adoptees Rocket and Millie! Rocket surprised me as he was in the lower part of the run on the opposite side of everyone else. I did not expect him there!  ~Cora

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

The river temperature was 61.7°F (16.5°C) today and a lot of manatees were huddled together in the lower part of the spring run, making it very difficult to count especially with the steam coming off the water and an air temperature of just 38F. Sometimes it is surprising how many manatees huddle together in one transect rather than using the entire spring run where there is so much room! The park staff counted 300 manatees from the boardwalk and I counted 256 from the canoe, but I’m certain I undercounted as I had to make a lot of estimates today.

The adoptees identified today were Floyd, Moo Shoo, Nick, Millie and Gator. There is a very good chance that more were in the midst of the big huddle by the river and we were unable to see them.  ~Cora

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Today the river temperature was 62.6°F (17°C), but the air during the day warms up quite a bit, so the manatees come and go. I counted 237 manatees this morning, including SMC adoptees Lenny, Gator, Millie, Lily, Moo Shoo and Nick.
With the count over, a known manatee (not an adoptee) with a new boat strike came in. We will be monitoring it for now alongside our partners to determine if it needs to be rescued. We want to remind everyone to please boat slowly and watch out for manatees while on the water. In addition, please do not approach or touch manatees or try to lure them to your kayak, paddle board or boat as it makes them lose their natural fear of people. Passive observation is the best way to observe manatees in their natural habitat without disturbing them.  ~Cora

Monday, January 9, 2023

The river temperature was up to 64.4°F (18°C), which isn’t too surprising as it warmed up quite a bit during the day both yesterday and Saturday, but then it gets a bit cooler again at night. The park staff counted 341 manatees and I counted 266 manatees in the spring run today. By the time I started my count, most of the manatees were congregated down towards the river, probably either coming back from feeding or ready to go out. The adoptees seen today were Nick, Annie, Lily, Gator and Aqua with her calf.

One of the manatees we could not identify last week turned out to be a known manatee from the east coast. He was first seen in the Jacksonville area in the 1990s, last seen in Riviera Beach in 2010, and has now found his way to Blue Spring, which is great news! We thank our partners at FWC/FWRI for making this match and providing us with the sighting information!  ~Cora

Saturday, January 7, and Sunday, January 8, 2023

On Saturday the river temperature remained at 17°C (62.6°F) and on Sunday it was down to 16°C (60.8°F). On Saturday SMC got a count very close to the park: 212 manatees, and the park staff counted 208 from the boardwalk. On Sunday, the park counted 444 manatees (what a great number!) and I counted 339. I had to make a lot of estimates as the manatees were huddled together in some of the transects, making it impossible to see everyone or go over them without disturbing.
On Saturday, adoptees Lenny, Aqua with her calf and Una were seen. Una’s calf was most likely around too, but sometimes the calves go off and play while the mothers rest and it’s hard to tell which calf belongs to which mom! On Sunday adoptees Gator, Lily, Annie, Brutus, Nick, Una with her calf and Aqua with her calf were seen. This time the calf was with Una! Moo Shoo showed up after the count was over.
Also for the first time this season a large alligator was hanging out in the spring run. It is not uncommon to see alligators in the spring with the manatees (they don’t bother each other), but we had not seen one yet this season, maybe due to the high water levels at the beginning of the season. The alligators like to sit on the logs and sun themselves, but there were no logs due to the flooding. They are slowly starting to re-emerge now.  ~Cora

Friday, January 6, 2023

The high temp yesterday was supposed to be 77°F (25°C) but the day was so dreary I am sure it helped the river temp drop to 62.6°F (17°C), along with an overnight low of 44°F (6.7°C). At any rate, I counted 73 manatees and we even had a Save the Manatee Club adoptee show up. It was Una and her calf! The week ahead looks to be promising for increased manatee presence. I saw my first racing shell of the season. The rowing teams of Stetson University are often on the river but northern schools will send their crews down to sunny Florida to get a start on training. What we Floridians consider cold the northerners consider a joke. I sometime worry about the chase boats, which are powered, sticking by the posted manatee zone speeds.  -Wayne

Thursday, January 5, 2023

The river temperature stayed at 67.1°F (19.5°C) and 48 manatees were counted. They were all down towards the river about to go out and feed while some others came in after the count was over, most likely about to take a break in the spring for a bit after coming back from feeding. No SMC adoptees were seen today. So many manatees look alike as they have very similar scars that sometimes we accidentally confuse one manatee with another, until we look at pictures to see it’s a “lookalike.” That almost happened today as I thought I saw adoptee Howie when in fact it was an unknown “lookalike!”  ~Cora

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

The river temperature today was up to 67.1°F (19.5°C) and only 59 manatees were in the spring run. Most of them were huddled together in the lower part of the spring run close to the river. No adoptees were seen today, but manatee adoptee Lily has been making some appearances on the webcam in the afternoon lately! The weekend should bring some slightly cooler temperatures again.

With the warmer weather, we want to remind everyone to watch out for manatees when boating, especially near warm water aggregation sites as manatees are out feeding right now. Unfortunately, we have already seen some manatees come in with new boat strikes since the season started. Nothing severe, but a reminder to slow down and watch out.  ~Cora

Tuesday, January 3, 2023

The river temperature was up to 63.5°F (17.5°C) today. I counted 115 manatees. Most were congregated in the lower part of the spring run. None were SMC adoptees—they must have all been in the river feeding. Adoptee Lily made an appearance on the webcam late afternoon yesterday.  ~Cora

Monday, January 2, 2023

The river stayed at 60.8°F (16°C) which was surprising given that the air temperature yesterday rose to over 80°F. However, the manatee count dropped to 162—most manatees were out in the river feeding. The only adoptees who made roll call today were Gator and Una with her calf.

Manatee ‘Estel’ (not an adoptee) has been in almost daily for the past week with 2 calves of equal size in tow. While ‘cross-nursing’ is very common at Blue Spring or manatee mothers tend to ‘adopt’ other calves, it may be possible that Estel indeed has twins! This is extremely rare in manatees, so we will keep an eye on it! A good indication at Blue Spring for a mother having a calf (or in her case maybe 2 calves) is that they will leave for the river to feed together and return together. Once in the spring run it is not uncommon to see calves by themselves playing or being away from their respective mothers while the mothers rest. That’s why it’s so difficult sometimes to determine who actually has a calf!  ~Cora

Saturday, December 31, 2022—New Year’s Eve!

The river temperatures stayed at 60.8°F (16°C). There was a heavy fog over the St Johns River and throughout Orange City, Debary and Deltona, but it did not affect the spring run! I counted 331 manatees. The adoptees seen were Rocket, Doc, Howie, Gator, Millie and Moo Shoo. Philip and Annie showed up on the webcam shortly after the official count was over. Some of you may wonder what ever happened to manatee “Schwinn” or the “bike tire manatee” as he was referred to a few years ago. Schwinn is alive and well! He has been visiting the spring frequently and looks good as far as his body condition goes. He will always have a significant scar from where he was entrapped in the bike tire a few years ago which makes him easy to identify. We still see new manatees arriving each day!  ~Cora

Friday, December 30, 2022

The river continues to warm with a temp of 60.8°F (16°C) today. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were Lily, Deep Dent, Paddy Doyle, Phyllis, Philip, Millie, Gator, Moo Shoo and Lesley. Another nature observation: I believe I am seeing many more tarpon in the run this season. Manatees are not the only animal that come into the run to be warm in the winter. The blogs are a little short this season I think. No news is good news. Normally we would be describing bad wounds and rescues but the manatees at Blue Spring are very well this season. As Cora pointed out, perhaps the high water from the hurricanes kept a lot of the boat traffic off the river just before the season.  -Wayne

Thursday, December 29, 2022

The river temp has continued up to 59°F (15°C). We counted 406 manatees. Save the Manatee Club adoptees Nick, Philip, Lenny, Lesley, Gator, Doc, Aqua, Whiskers and Flash were in for roll call. Brutus was late. Note Aqua’s calf is not included. In the area Aqua was in, there were many mothers and many calves. None of them were together but there were plenty to go around. The only adoptee we have not seen is Lucille but new arrivals are coming in every day. If Lucille is stuck in some other refuge, the warm weather on the way could give her a chance to get to Blue Spring. The river has been a little cold for traveling lately. Today, instead of moving to other trees, the vultures just moved down a few floors to lower branches to get away from the eagle perched in the top of the tree. I had not seen that before.  -Wayne

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The river temp was up to 56.3°F (13.5°C). With a better day to count (less wind, and less murky water) we counted 561 manatees. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were Howie, Lesley, Philip, Gator, Merlin, Moo Shoo, Deep Dent, Flash, Whiskers, Phyllis and Aqua with calf. Millie, an East Coast adoptee, was also present. One of the perks of this job is the wildlife. Today the Park eagle was perched in the tallest tree across the river. When he arrives the tree will be filled with black vultures. There is a big bail out as the vultures move several trees away or even up into the run.  -Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

The air temps warmed up but the river continued down. The river today was 50°F (10°C). While the Park count went up by fifty ours went down from 557 to 479. But that was due to murky water, wind and the disadvantage of counting from so low in the canoe. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees seen were Nick, Howie, Brutus, Philip, Lesley, Gator, Deep Dent, Una & calf, Floyd, Doc, Phyllis, Rocket, and best of all Merlin!! Merlin made his first visit of the season. We often have to wonder if he will show up at all. A bonus adoptee was Millie from the east coast.  -Wayne & Cora

Monday, December 26, 2022

The river temp was 55.4°F (13°C). The numbers of manatees showed it. We counted 557 manatees and we missed a few. The hard part of the count was staying to one side of the run, trying not to bump a manatee and cause a commotion. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were Nick, Brutus, Philip, Howie, Una & calf, Annie, Aqua & calf, Whiskers, Floyd, Paddy Doyle, Deep Dent, Lily, Lesley and Phyllis. This was Deep Dent’s first appearance this season. Annie had a small pale calf on her back but we decided it was not hers. It left her and wandered around the run. It looks fine but we want to see it with a mother! Not just the manatees were crowding into the Park. The line of cars full of visitors must have extended over a mile. If you go to Blue Spring go early and be patient!   -Wayne & Cora

Sunday, December 25, 2022

Merry Christmas! The wind had let up a bit and, although the air was even colder than yesterday, it didn’t feel as bad. The spring run was carpeted with manatees resting next to each other, under each other, on top of each other. So it was difficult to get a good count from the research canoe without accidentally running into anyone or bothering them as they really need to rest right now with the freezing temps. A lot of what I needed to do was estimate and I feel I underestimated a lot. The park did not get a count today, so there was nothing to compare mine to.

The river was at 57.2°F (14°C), the air temperature was 30°F (-1.1°C) at 8 a.m., but I believe the low overnight was in the 20s. I managed to count 447 manatees. The adoptees in were Lily, Nick, Annie, Moo Shoo, Aqua with calf, Una with calf, Flash, Gator, Philip, Phyllis, Brutus, Howie, Whiskers, Doc and Floyd! This was Doc’s and Floyd’s first day in. Adoptee Millie was in too. She is not a Blue Spring adoptee per se, but considered an East Coast adoptee. She shows up at Blue Spring, in the Silver River, and at the Port Everglades Power Plant. Sometimes within the same season! Now the only adoptees we have not seen yet are Lucille, Deep Dent and Merlin. We know that Deep Dent and Merlin have in the past been seen at other springs. Lucille loves to rest in the murky water by the river, so chances are she may have been there and we haven’t been able to spot her, but we will keep our eyes out. Chances are also that many of the other adoptees were tucked in somewhere today, but I was unable to identify them in the midst of everyone else.

Many people keep asking if the manatees at Blue Spring receive supplemental feeding. This is not the case. The Blue Spring manatees are faring very well and there is sufficient food in the river nearby. They can leave for short periods of time during the cold weather to feed before coming back into the spring run. They can also go for several days without feeding during freezing temperatures. The manatees on the Atlantic coast are another story and we want to remind people that it remains against the law to feed wild manatees without proper permission. It is encouraging to see that some East Coast manatees are choosing Blue Spring as their winter home.  ~Cora

Saturday, December 24, 2022

The freeze certainly hit with a bang and with a lot of wind! The air temperature at the park was 31°F this morning and the river had dropped to 59°F (15°C). Unfortunately, the wind was too strong to allow for a good count and identification. It was not predicted to be that way or I would have not even attempted a count from the canoe. Between the wind, the manatees stirring up the water and clay throughout the lower part of the run and a juvenile manatee pushing the canoe conditions were less than ideal.

The park staff counted 476 manatees from the boardwalk, SMC counted 343 from the canoe, but there were probably double that. I would definitely go with the park count for today. The adoptees I was able to pick out today were Moo Shoo, Nick, Philip, Paddy Doyle, Aqua with calf, Una with calf, Lily, Brutus, Gator, Flash, Annie and Rocket. There’s a very good chance more were present.  ~Cora

Thursday, December 22, 2022

If the river temp is correct, it went back to 64.4°F (18°C). We counted 395 manatees. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present for roll call were Lily, Nick, Paddy Doyle, Flash, Una & calf, Lenny, Gator and Aqua & calf. Later we saw Philip, Howie and Brutus. The manatee from yesterday with a tracking belt but no tether and transmitter left as soon as we spotted it. Then another came in with only a belt and the researcher from CMARI was doing a “tagger and manatee” dance as I left; the tagger tries to swim to the tail while the manatee keeps an eye on the tagger, leaving them face to face and no chance to retag. They keep going in circles. Tomorrow is predicted to be very windy so it is uncertain if there will be a count.  -Wayne

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

The river temp went up to 65.3°F (18.5°C). That does not make sense so I believe the spring run effected our thermometers. Our count today was 449 manatees. Given the mechanics of the counts of yesterday and today the 366 manatees reported yesterday did not seem right. I did a recount in the quiet of my office in stead of in the hurry of the canoe and found the count for yesterday was 426. Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Lily, Howie, Paddy Doyle, Brutus, Philip, Annie, Lenny, Lesley, Moo Shoo, Phyllis, Flash, Gator, Aqua & calf, Una & calf and Rocket! It was the first visit this season for Flash, Howie, Paddy Doyle and Rocket. The manatee released Monday was cavorting in the boil with thirty or so of his new friends. Good to see him fitting in. Also in the boil was a release from last season that still had a belt but had lost the tethered transmitter. A new transmitter will soon be provided. If we get the predicted temps in the twenties over the Christmas weekend Monday’s count should be interesting. Maybe the five missing adoptees will be in!   -Wayne

PS: Adoptee Margarito was in too—SO many manatees, hard to keep track of, especially in the stirred up murk (we saw Margarito’s tail )   ~Cora

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

The river temp was the same today as yesterday, 64.4°F (18°C). I did not mention that yesterday! We counted 366 manatees today. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in for their first day this season were Brutus, Moo Shoo, Philip, Whiskers and Lenny. They were joined by Lesley, Nick, Lily, Una, Gator, Aqua & calf and Phyllis. We should have a few more in before the week is out! It was a treat to see Eyre (not an adoptee) with a fat, healthy calf. Two years ago her calf Xavier was a stillbirth caught on camera in the spring run. I have just finished a data crunch on the manatee numbers this season. We have seen at least 380 manatees. 235 are known returnees. 92 are new. 53 are calves.  -Wayne

Monday, December 19, 2022

We counted 340 manatees and the Park counted 384. The big gray kids were so happy see their many friends after the summer that they really had things stirred up in the run and it was much easier to count from the boardwalk than the canoe. Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Lesley, Nick, Margarito, Lily, Aqua & calf, Una & calf, Annie and Gator. Lesley was healed when released from Sea World but still had some swelling and redness in her terrible wound. That is all gone. She looks great! This is Aqua and Margarito’s first appearance of the season. Annie and Gator did not make the count but I cannot call them late as we missed so many in the stirred up silt and clay. I call notice to Aqua’s new calf! When the count was over we had to rush back to the river area to participate in the release of Miles. Miles was a rescue from the East Coast in a starving condition who was fattened up and brought to Blue Spring. Many others are due to follow as there is little vegetation regrowth in the Indian River area.   -Wayne

Sunday, December 18, 2022

The river temperature dropped to 66.2°F (19°C). The park counted 187 manatees and I counted the exact same number, which is always nice! However, gusty winds and cavorting manatees made counting, let alone IDing, very difficult. The only adoptees spotted today were Nick, Lily, Gator and Una with her calf but I feel there may have been others. The water was very murky due to the wind and the manatees moving around and playing. At the beginning of season they have a lot of energy and move around a lot. At least 10-15 were cavorting in a big pile just slightly up the spring run from the aluminum deck. I tried to stay as far away from the pile as possible as I didn’t want the research canoe to tip or disturb the activity. On the way back down they had settled a bit, but the wind was blowing ripples across the spring run. Maybe conditions will be better the next few days.   ~Cora

Saturday, December 17, 2022

It certainly got chilly overnight with air temperature in the low 40s and the river was at 68°F (20°C), which seemed a bit high, but water takes longer to cool down than the air. The manatees were certainly reacting!

I counted 114 in the spring run this morning with more and more coming in after the official count was over. Nick and Lily represented the adoptees during the count and Una came in with her calf after the count was over.

Two manatees, Glenn and Northleaf, who visited Blue Spring for the first time last winter season and were matched via photo-ID with known manatees from Brevard County, are both back at Blue Spring. This is encouraging to see as they seem to have chosen Blue Spring as their preferred winter habitat now, which is better habitat than the Indian River Lagoon at the moment.

Should be many more manatees coming in over the next few days!   ~Cora

Friday, December 16, 2022

No Save the Manatee Club adoptees but we counted 36 manatees. With lower temps coming we should have crowds next week. The river temp was 68°F (20°C). The natives were restless. Cavorting in the river, coming into the run, going back out circling in the run and two youngsters were trying to rub their backs on the bottom of the canoe. If the manatees had settled down I am sure we would have counted more!   -Wayne

Thursday, December 15, 2022

It was a warm and humid morning with a tornado watch for the area, so not the best day to count manatees, but since some work on the webcam needed to be done it was worth it going out to the park. The wind was picking up already making counting and identification difficult. Luckily, the rain held off until 10 a.m. when the count was finished.

The river temperature was up to 69.8°F (21°C) again. The park staff counted 7 manatees and I counted 10. They were all down by the river and most were unscarred juveniles. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were present, but that should change starting tomorrow with a cold front coming through!

One of the previously released and tagged manatees “Plantaina” decided it was time to graduate on Tuesday by losing her tracking equipment in the spring run. The equipment broke off at one of the weak links, just as it was supposed to if it got stuck on something – in this case a submerged log in the lower part of the spring run. Plantaina had been released at the park at the end of last winter and was monitored by researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI) since then. Our valued manatee observer volunteers helped all summer long to keep an eye on Plantaina and educate park visitors about manatee tagging and tracking and make sure nobody was getting too close to Plantaina. Plantaina adapted well to life in the wild and it looks she has made Blue Spring her permanent home – coming in when it gets cold and going out to feed with the other manatees when it warms up, which is exactly what she is supposed to do!   ~Cora

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

The river temperature this morning was 68°F (20°C), which seemed a little cold to me given that it was 73 last Friday, but since we hadn’t measured it in a few days and it got a little chilly overnight, maybe it was correct after all. The park staff announced they counted eight manatees but that there seemed to be “more” right by the river. I counted about 30 minutes after they finished their count and saw cavorting manatees in the river that then moved into the spring run. So my total count ended up to be 28! A lot more than I had expected. None were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. The manatees were all very active in the lower part of the spring run and many were unscarred juveniles, so it was hard to keep track. “Buckeye,” a manatee that was released at Blue Spring a few years ago, was vigorously pursuing “Carrie,” a big female. He was joined by a number of other juvenile manatees. It is always nice to see released manatees doing so well and looking like they feel “right at home” at Blue Spring!   ~Cora

Friday, December 9, 2022

The river temp today was 73.4°F (23°C). I saw seven manatees going up the run and two coming down, the other five must have left. The Park count was zero. Evelyn (not an adoptee) was in with her calf. Evelyn was ID’d in 2018 with a calf. She had another in 2020 so that makes three. A calf every two years is very good. Evelyn was accompanied by an unmarked manatee and Amelia. Amelia was a rescued orphan released at the Park on February 15, 2021. Half way up the run I found U22/22 with her calf and an unmarked juvenile manatee. U22/22 is the twenty-second identifiable scarred manatee to be seen in the 2022-23 season. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees in today.   -Wayne

Thursday, December 8, 2022

The river temperature stayed at 70.7°F (21.5°C). The park staff counted 3 manatees that were apparently all close to the river. By the time I counted a half an hour later, they were all gone and my count was zero. When I paddled back, one had come in and was right by the buoy line that connects the river and the spring run.

People oftentimes ask us why the SMC count sometimes differs from the park staff count. The park staff counts a bit earlier than we do—usually between 7:15 – 7:45 a.m. from the boardwalk, so they have a count when they open at 8 a.m. and the visitors come in. SMC usually starts the count shortly after 8 a.m. and we count from the canoe. Sometimes it is easier to see the manatees from the boardwalk, depending on weather conditions and where they are located, and sometimes it is easier to see them from the canoe. Also, manatees move around, so some may have left or come in between the two counts. We always love it when we come up with the same count as the park staff.

A cold front is predicted for the end of next week which should bring quite a few manatees in.   ~Cora

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

By all indicators the river temp should have gone up, but instead it was down a degree according to the thermometer to 70.7°F (21.5°C). The same juvenile that rushed to greet me yesterday did the same today. Only today I filmed him. Only tiny little marks but he is documented for the season. He was the only manatee in. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees.   -Wayne

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

The river was up to 71.6°F (22°C). With the canoe launched (it is not easy with the high water, each day it goes down a little and changes how you have to do it) a juvenile manatee rushed to greet us. We thought that would be it, but about fifty yards up the run we found Peek-a-boo. We did not name her but I call her Peek. Easier to write in the field notes and it fits the attendance sheets. She is not an adoptee.   -Wayne

Monday, December 5, 2022

It’s been a warm weekend and warm morning. The river was up to 70.7°F (21.5°C). The park staff didn’t see any manatees, we counted 1. On the way back down, we saw 2 more that had joined the one we had seen earlier. All three were just inside the spring very close to the river. None were adoptees. Cooler weather is predicted for next week, so we shall see.   ~Cora

Sunday, December 4, 2022

On Saturday, the park staff counted 24 manatees and we saw a lot on the webcam, so we thought it might make sense to count them today. Well, the park staff counted 5, we counted 6. None were SMC adoptees and, except for one that we could identify, all were unscarred juveniles. The river was 68.9°F (20.5°C). It gets a little chilly overnight, usually in the 50s (air temperature) at the moment, so the manatees are around and some stop by the spring only to briefly warm up but leave again quickly. Plantaina, one of the releases from last year, was seen yesterday. The park staff saw her this morning, but she had left by the time we counted. Shortly after, park volunteers and researchers from CMARI informed she was in again and apparently stayed around most of the day. Clearly, she does not want to make the Save the Manatee Club roll call.   ~Cora

Friday, December 2, 2022

The wind had calmed down and it was a beautiful morning to count manatees. The river temperature was 68.9°F (20.5°C) and the park announced they had counted 24 manatees when we arrived, which surprised me since the temperature didn’t seem to have dropped very much. We started the count and soon we knew they were right! We ended up counting 30 manatees, most of them in the lower transects by the river. Only four manatees were in the upper transects – one cow/calf pair that we saw coming in as we started the count decided to swim all the way up the run to rest. No SMC adoptees were in and most of the manatees were unscarred juveniles. A very low flying plane irritated the manatees, and they started swimming back and forth making it harder to keep counting. In the midst of this a large mother manatee with two juveniles in tow decided the red research canoe was the perfect toy and kept pushing it and going under it. Her calf was further up the run. Eventually she let go of the canoe letting me finish the count.   ~Cora

Thursday, December 1, 2022

Too windy to go out today but the Park counted two from the boardwalk. We kept busy consolidating numbers. 118 have returned from last season, 2 from previous seasons, 23 are easy to ID unknowns, 37 are hard to ID seasonals and 39 are calves for a total of 219 for the season so far. Unknowns we name and number and hope to ID next season. Seasonals we doubt we will know it they return next season.   -Wayne

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

The river temp was 70.7°F (21.5°C). We counted four manatees and the Park counted ten. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were sighted. We said Manatee weather was due to return on the fourth of December now it is the seventh. As we approach cooler weather it retreats from us! We participated in a statewide abundance survey today. The manatees were not abundant!   -Wayne

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

The air temperature cooled down a bit over night, but the river was still at 69.8°F (21°C). The park staff counted 17 manatees and we counted 11. Most were near the river and most were unscarred juveniles. No SMC adoptees were seen today. It seems that the darker river water is being pushed out by the stronger flow of the spring water now that water levels from the storms are receding a bit. That, along with no wind gives us perfect conditions for manatee counts—all we need are the manatees!   ~Cora

Monday, November 28, 2022

The river temp was 70.8°F (21.5°C). Save the Manatee Club counted one and the Park counted five. Going to be slim pick’ns the next few days. If the extended forecast is correct, we should start getting more manatees from December 4. Perhaps not several hundred a day but at least some manatees.   -Wayne

Saturday, November 26, 2022

The river temperature stayed at 70F (21.1C) and the manatee count dropped down to 14. The park counted 12 and many of the ones we counted were heading towards the river, probably joining the others to feed. No SMC adoptees were seen today. During the recent hurricanes more palm trees fell into the water. The manatees like to play with them by swimming over and under the stems and playing with or eating the leaves! Almost every morning, we can be sure to find at least one or two near one of the fallen trees. Today manatee JJ with two juveniles was having fun with the tree. We know JJ has a calf, so we paddled on looking for the calf, which was a bit further upstream. It’s not uncommon for calves at Blue Spring to leave mom for a bit and play elsewhere, knowing that this is a safe place for them. Once it’s time to go into the river to feed, mom will ‘call’ the calf to her side and they leave together.   ~Cora

Friday, November 25, 2022

The river temp was 69.8°F (21°C). We counted 12 manatees, no Save the Manatee Club adoptees. With so few here to write about I’ll do a little life history. After all it is the research we are doing. Corinn and yearling made the count today. They were late for Cora’s roll call yesterday. We believe that was their first visit this season. Corinn was ID’d as a yearling in 2015. She was U9/15 (the ninth unknown of the 2015-16 season) until she was named in a Save the Manatee Club naming contest. Most female manatees have their first calf at five or six, so Corinn was a little late. It was good to see her. I’ve always had a soft spot for Corinn and also several hundred other manatees!   -Wayne

Thursday, November 24, 2022

The river temperature was 67.1°F (19.5°C), at least that’s what my thermometer said. We assume it was probably a bit higher given that the air temperature is warming up too.

The park staff counted 84 manatees and we counted 67. A few seemed to be heading out, but once we were done with the official count and paddling back down towards the river, a bunch kept coming in! They’re probably around, deciding if they want to rest a bit more or spend Thanksgiving Day out in the river feeding. The SMC adoptees seen today were Lily, Gator and Annie. Lily and Gator were in the same transect, almost next to each other while Annie was a bit further up the run. We’re still seeing new arrivals each day.

Manatee “Paprika” who was rescued last spring for a watercraft injury near Welaka Springs, rehabilitated at SeaWorld Orlando and released near Blue Spring this summer returned to Blue Spring a few days ago as well. She was heavily pregnant on the day of her release, and everyone is happy to report that she has a healthy calf in tow. She is outfitted with a satellite tracking device so researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Institute can monitor her movements.   -Wayne

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

We expected the river to be warmer today. After some consultation around the thermometers we decided it was! The manatees agreed as the count went down from yesterday’s 172 to today’s 97. The river temp was 68°F (20°C). The adoptees in were Lily and Nick. The folks from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute want to share the following information about the manatee with a belt but no floating transmitter. His name is Fezzik. “He was tagged for the CMARI’s North Atlantic manatee movement study and to assist with the understanding of how manatees are using habitat due to the loss of habitat on the east coast. We offered to tag Fezzik for our project in hopes he might go to Georgia but also as an experiment for future release candidates to see if we put an animal in the upper St Johns River they might use the St Johns River for winter refuge. Glad he gave us some great starting point data.” By the way Fezzik was in again today.   -Wayne

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

The river temp continued at 66.2°F (19°C). We counted 172 manatees and the park counted 174. We love it when it works out that way! We saw adoptees Lesley, Gator, Nick and Phyllis. Almost at the boil we saw a manatee we did not know* with a transmitter belt but no floating transmitter. In an exchange with Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI) personnel we found that it was rescued in February on the East Coast during the Mass Die off Event. It was having buoyancy problems. After rehab at Jacksonville Zoo the manatee was released in April at Welaka. We were given a heads up in case it came to Blue Spring and now it has!   -Wayne

*The manatee’s name is Fezzik and he was tagged for CMARI’s North Atlantic manatee movement study and to assist with the understanding of how manatees are using habitat due to the loss of habitat on Florida’s east coast. CMARI researchers offered to tag Fezzik for their ongoing research project in hopes he might go to Georgia but also as an experiment for future release candidates to see if when releasing an animal in the upper St Johns River they might use springs along the St. Johns for winter refuge.

Monday, November 21, 2022

The river temp was still 66.2°F (19°C) and the dark water about the same distance up the run as well. We counted 149 manatees including adoptees Lesley, Lily, Una, Nick and Gator. Then with the count over Annie and Phyllis showed up. Lily was in before the season but now she’s official! Phyllis’ visit is her first for the season. Seven adoptees seen and sixteen to go.   -Wayne & Cora

Sunday, November 20, 2022

The river temperature was 65.3°F (18.5°C), which made sense! The wind was pretty gusty at times making it hard to count and identify the manatees, but some of it was do-able in between gusts! The park staff counted 79 manatees and we counted 95. We saw adoptees Nick (almost all the way up the spring run, which is the furthest we have ever seen him!), Annie, Lesley and Una with a calf! We were especially happy to see Lesley and Una as they were both previously rescued and released at Blue Spring. Lesley for a severe boat strike and Una twice for flipper entanglement with monofilament line. We were waiting off to the side for Una to surface so we could see her flipper and make sure there were no new entanglements—there weren’t, which is wonderful. Buckeye and Irma, also previously released at Blue Spring, made the count today too. Unfortunately, one of our other regular females, Jaden, not an adoptee, lost a large part of her tail from a boat strike over the summer. She seemed very active though, so she should be fine. With all the flooding in the St. Johns River the only good thing is that the manatees currently do not have to content with boats.   -Wayne

Saturday, November 19, 2022

We have a ½” by 8″ bolt attached to my thermometer so it stayed deeper than Cora’s. My take on the river temp was 66.3°F (19°C). The heavy cold river water was about a quarter of the way up the run. The run gets shallower there and when temperatures were colder on average that was where the dark water came and where most of the manatees hung out. So the Park built an observation deck there. It is a good and useful deck but the manatees don’t congregate there anymore. The first manatee we came across was adoptee Crazy Nick about a third of the way up the run. We would go on to count thirty-six manatees and see adoptees Annie and Gator. A panic caused by the clank of a lose gate on the board walk near the boil made identification difficult during a mass manatee exodus down the run. we did recognize thirteen. If we see twenty manatees between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. the next two days, we will declare the season started! Meanwhile the gate is being tended to.   -Wayne

Friday, November 18, 2022

The river was 64.5°F (18°C), or at least that’s what the thermometer said; it seemed low. The current of the river is very strong at the moment so the thermometer was floating under the dock, then on top of the water before we could retrieve it, so the colder air temperature may have influenced the reading. Water levels are still very high from hurricane Ian and launching the canoe is an adventure, but it’s do-able. The swim deck is still about a foot underwater!

The park staff counted 14 manatees and we counted 9. Two of the ones we counted (Amelia and Matthew) were manatees that had been released at Blue Spring in past seasons, so it was nice to see them returning and looking good! Amelia was released 2 seasons ago and Matthew was released at Blue Spring last year after he had already been released along the Atlantic coast once before. Both of them were hanging out together in the upper part of the spring run today and Amelia came over the greet the research canoe. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees made the roll call today, but on my way back down the spring run Lily showed up! Later when we reviewed the webcam footage, we saw that Gator had come in at 6:40 a.m., but had left again at 7 a.m. Sneaky guy trying to avoid roll call, but the webcam catches everything! Our above water camera is up and live streaming again and we hope to install the underwater camera over the next couple of days. Since the water cools slower than the air, we expect to see more manatees over the next days.   -Wayne

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Wayne Hartley is a Manatee Specialist for Save the Manatee Club. Before joining the Club, he was a Park Ranger and then a Park Service Specialist with the Florida Park Service. Wayne served for over three decades as Principal Investigator for manatee research conducted at Blue Spring State Park.

Cora Berchem is Save the Manatee Club’s Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate. She was born and raised in Bonn, Germany and moved to the United States in 2002. Cora oversees the club’s live webcams, social media, and video production projects, and assists Wayne Hartley with research at Blue Spring.