Noticias

Por Wayne Hartley, especialista en manatíes

April 18, 2018:
It just did not get cold enough for many manatee visits to the park today. The river temp was 70° F (21° C). Cassie and Buckeye, the new releases, were in the spring boil. Then, 17 minutes after the manatee count was over, a small fat juvenile came in at the river. That’s it. Big grass carp today, koi yesterday. Exotics we wish would go away.

April 17, 2018:
We tried, but the river temp was only down to 71° F (21.5° C), and no manatees were in except for Cassie and Buckeye, the recent releases. They are going out in the river to eat but not going far. They are not here for the cold but just hanging out. We will try again tomorrow.

April 12, 2018:
I have been out of energy from a cold and nothing much to report as well. It appears the last day of the manatee season was my last blog update on March 29th. Regular morning appearances by manatees stopped at that time. However, Buckeye and Cassie, the two manatees released in March, are around a bit. Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club Manatee Researcher, was called out to check a high floating manatee at Sanford on Lake Monroe recently. Observers said the manatee had been floating high for three days and all the alarm bells went off. A simple gas problem resolves in 24 hours, but we had three high floaters this season that exceeded that, and one of them died. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission coordinated a successful rescue. The manatee is now at SeaWorld Orlando and treatment is ongoing. Cool next week, maybe a manatee or two will drop by.

March 28-29, 2018:
On the 28th, the river temperature was up two degrees to 70° F (21° C), and we had two more manatees instead of less. In a way, it was the same, as our tagged manatees were testing the river yesterday and came in as soon as the count was over. Today we saw them in the river as we took the river temp and counted them first. So in the end, the count was 17 manatees.

On the 29th, the river temp remained at 70° F, but only two manatees were counted by Cora Berchem, our Multimedia Specialist. Cora has a new title in addition to the old, Manatee Researcher, and I will use it from now on. Among all these manatees, none were Save the Manatee Club adoptables.

March 27, 2018:
The river temperature was 68° F (20° C). We counted 15 manatees. Yesterday Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, counted 19 manatees. Later in the day, caimán was seen on the webcam. Today he showed up late again, but he brought annie with him. SeaWorld reports the emaciated manatee captured recently is eating. That is a good sign, and treatment is ongoing.

March 23, 2018:
The river temperature dropped to 64° F (18° C). Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, counted 160 manatees. Among the 82 manatees she ID’d were the following Club adoptable manatees: Gator, Howie, Lucille, Philip, Lily, Aqua, Annie, y filis.

March 22, 2018:
The river temperature remained the same, 65° F (18.5° C). Cora Berchem, our Multimedia Specialist, counted 73 manatees. Of those, 38 manatees were ID’d in windy conditions that made it hard. The Save the Manatee Club adoptable manatees in were Gator, Howie, Philip, Annie, Lily, y Lucila with her calf. The poor emaciated girl we were looking for came in and was captured along with a juvenile near her in case it was her calf. She was taken to SeaWorld Orlando for treatment. Hopefully she can be restored to health and returned. Thanks to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Blue Spring State Park, Save the Manatee Club, and Volusia County staff and volunteers for their help.

March 21, 2018:
The river temperature was two degrees lower than yesterday at 65° F (18.5° C), but there were half the number of manatees at 12. Manatees love to ruin my predictions. None of the manatees present were Save the Manatee Club (SMC) adoptables, nor was the one we want to help there. It looks like the warmest air temp will be 68° F (20° C), so the river should cool even more tonight. Perhaps Cora Berchem, SMC’s Multimedia Specialist, will have better luck tomorrow than I did today.

March 20, 2018:
The river temperature remained at 67° F (19.5° C), but perhaps the manatees know it will be cooler for a couple of days soon because the count increased from nine manatees yesterday to 24 today. Only eight were ID’d today as it was very windy. None of the manatees ID’d were SMC adoptees. Tomorrow looks bad as well, but I intend to go out in case our emaciated manatee comes in.

March 19, 2018:
The river was 67° F (19.5° C). The count was nine manatees with eight of those ID’d. None of the manatees in were adoptable. The one manatee we wanted to capture that appears severely emaciated was not there either, and it rained on us. But over the weekend things were different. Friday through Sunday, the manatee counts, done by our Multimedia Specialist, Cora Berchem, were 203, 131, and 62. Save the Manatee Club adoptable manatees in were Paddy Doyle, Howie, Philip, Brutus, Lily, Annie, Gator, Doc, Rocket, y Lucila with her calf! Sadly, on Saturday, Volusia’s yearling calf was brought in dead. Cause of death could not be determined. She was named Somber, BS959. She could have given us an eight generation matriarchy

March 15, 2018:
The river temperature was 65° F (18.5° C). I counted 202 manatees and ID’d 188 of them. Among them, I saw the Save the Manatee Club adoptees Howie, Lily, Paddy Doyle, Brutus, Nick, Annie, Gator, Phyllis, y Felipe. Most of our males were part of a group chasing Lemon in circles around the run — Lemon being a female.

March 14, 2018:
The river temp today was 66° F (18.8° C). We counted 102 manatees and ID’d 85. The Save the Manatee Club adoptable manatees in were Brutus, Annie, Howie, Gator, y Cohete. Then the wind came up, and we had to give up waiting to see more late arrivals.

March 13, 2018:
Rocket visits! The surprise of the day was to find Cohete present in the run for the first time this season. We have known where he was, but it was great to see him home. Felipe y caimán were the other two Save the Manatee Club adoptees present. Our river temp was 67° F (19.5° C). That must have been raised by the nearness of the spring water. Only 61 manatees showed up for the count and 52 were ID’d. It was a little windy or we would have stayed on the water longer.

March 10-11, 2018:
It was adoptee city for the Save the Manatee Club adoptable manatees on Saturday. Aqua, Lucille, Nick, Howie, Philip, Doc, Annie, y Bruto estaban dentro. caimán even showed up in the afternoon. I counted 93 manatees for roll call and ID’d 82. The river temperature was 64° F (18° C). As I took roll, Melody Fischer of Sea to Shore Alliance retagged Buckeye with the tag Cora Berchem, our Multimedia Specialist, found in the river on an evening boat outing. The tags are designed to break off if caught on something, and Buckeye must have thought that just over 24 hours of being tagged was enough. The tags will be removed once the orphans, who were raised in rehabilitation centers, prove they can survive out in the world. Cora was also on hand to lend assistance with the retagging. On Sunday, Cora was assisting a retagging of Cassie, another just-released manatee at the park, and was able to do a roll call. Cora found 69 manatees and ID’d 41 of those. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were Brutus, Lucille, Philip, Gator, y Doc.

March 9, 2018:
The river temperature could not be taken from the bank today as the wind was pushing the spring water south where it interfered with the water thermometers. However, with the air temps in the mid-thirties, we had 70 manatees for the count! Of those, 64 manatees were identified. It was good to see Bruto again today, but I had hoped more than floyd would have joined him from the Save the Manatee Club adoptees. Looking forward to tomorrow.

March 8, 2018:
Bruto was in!!! The river temp was still 68° F (20° C), but Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, counted 24 manatees. Of those, 19 manatees were ID’d, including Brutus, Lucille and her calf, and Felipe. Buckeye and Cassie, rescued as orphans in 2015, were fitted with satellite tags and released today to join the party.

March 7, 2018:
The river was up one degree to 68° F (20° C), and there was half the number of manatees — seven. It was a very warm night. I hope for better tomorrow.

March 6, 2018:
The river temp had gone down one degree, and we had one more manatee on the count to make 14. The river is at 67° F (19.5° C). Six of the manatees present were different than the ones that visited yesterday. Only nine were ID’d, and none of those were Save The Manatee Club adoptees.

March 5, 2018:
On Sunday, the river was 70° F (21° C), and there were no manatees. Today the river temp was 68° F (20° C), and I saw 13 manatees for the count. Eleven were ID’d. Eight were cow/calf pairs, and none of the manatees were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. Should be more tomorrow.

February 28, 2018:
A roll call on Saturday turned up as many manatees as today’s —
zero. The river temperature today was 74° F (23° C). Too warm, too warm! Maybe by Monday.

February 23, 2018:
Summer in winter continues here in Florida with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the mid-60s — no cold, no manatees. There is some cooler weather predicted starting next Sunday. In the meantime, here are some preliminary numbers for the season: 562 manatees were seen at least once during the season, previous record 509. We had 62 calves, previous record 56. Manatees returned from last season: 295. Manatees returned from seasons prior to last season: 20. These are also records. We had some fairly severe cold, but outside of that, the manatees continued to travel, so we saw many. I will be interested to see how many manatees can be considered to have stayed the winter. Our highest daily count ever was 485 manatees.

February 21, 2018:
A manatee roll call was done on Monday and had one thing in common with today’s count: no manatees. The river temp was 74° F (23.5° C). This seemed a little high until we saw the dark river water intruding into the spring run on the surface. This means the river water was warmer than the spring water and therefore lighter and floating on top of the heavier colder spring water. As the spring water is just over 72.5° F (22.5° C), it all fit together.

February 15, 2018:
Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, managed a roll call the day after Valentine’s Day. The river temp was 71° F (21.5° C). She counted four manatees and only one could be ID’d. That manatee was not a Save the Manatee Club adoptee. We hope for another cold wave.

February 14, 2018:
Yesterday the river temp was 72° F (22° C), and today it was 71° F (21.5° C). Yesterday we had no manatees, and today we had two — juveniles that were not even recognizable. Channel 6 came out and did a follow up on the new research canoe that arrived Monday and was all fixed up with letters and decals yesterday. It is great. Thanks to all those who were able to contribute!

February 12, 2018:
The river temp was 70° F (21° C), and the manatee count was zero. I could not even find a trace of the 18 manatees the park staff counted yesterday. When the manatees and algae-eating fish leave, the white sandy bottom begins to “brown over” with algae. So if the manatees sleep, they leave nose and tail prints on the bottom. If they move, they often leave flipper drags in the sand. The predicted cool weather is moving further away, but I cannot believe the season is over.

February 9, 2018:
The river temperature was up four degrees to 68° F (20° C) today. The manatee count was up from 14 to 40. This is backwards, as there should have been about seven! Oh well, the manatees know best. I ID’d 19 manatees, none of whom were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. We even hung around for a while hoping one would show up!

February 8, 2018:
The river temperature was 64° F (18° C). I counted 14 manatees and ID’d 8. The only Save the Manatee Club adoptee I saw was Felipe, who did me the favor to come in just as I was about to put the canoe away. The BBC filming has wound up but without that one alligator/manatee shot they had tried so hard for. They did get a lot of good footage.

February 6, 2018:
The river temperature was 62.5° F (17° C) and with it so much warmer I was surprised to count 144 manatees. The park staff even counted 182, but they counted much earlier. I ID’d 78 manatees, but Lucila, along with her calf, was the only Save the Manatee Club adoptee visiting.

February 5, 2018:
The BBC alligator filming continues. One alligator watched us put out cameras in his regular hang outs, decided we were up to no good, and left. The other alligator was in an area with no manatees and no tree limbs to put cameras on. Later in the day I watched him swim out of the run as if he was late for an important date. As we went, I counted 145 manatees and ID’d 63 of them. Save the Manatee Club adoptees Philip, Aqua, Gator, Doc, y Paddy Doyle were in. The river temp was 61° F (16° C).

February 2, 2018:
Channel 13 came out to film my roll call today, and their program is due to air on February 12th. The river temp was 59° F (15° C). I counted 149 manatees and ID’d 90. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in were filis y Lirio. Then, late in the day, caimán the manatee swam in front of the alligator the BBC was filming. It was kind of a fun day. Another manatee named Gael came in for the first time this season and one named Rodney dropped in. Rodney was born from the Blue Spring population but stays in a refuge to the north. If the season goes on long enough, I will see every manatee in the St Johns River!

January 31 – February 1, 2018:
As I attempted to help the BBC film alligators on Wednesday, Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, did a count. Cora counted 247 manatees after recording a river temp of 60° F (15° C). She ID’d 113 manatees and saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Annie, Howie, Lucille, Floyd, y Lirio. On Thursday, I took the day off. That means I stayed home and worked for eight hours on choosing a canoe (thank you to everyone who donated!), writing blogs, reviewing film of the manatees, etc. So Cora Berchem did the count again. The river was 59° F (14.5° C). Cora counted 237 manatees and the park staff counted 237. Among the 128 manatees Cora ID’d on Thursday were the following Save the Manatee Club adoptees: Phyllis, Lenny, Nick, Floyd, Lily, y Bigotes. The BBC film folks have gone back to Crystal River for the day.

January 30, 2018:
River temperatures are up but about to go back down, so the manatee are conflicted. There were 90 manatees yesterday and 116 today, and the park staff counts are in close agreement. Club adoptee Mella was in yesterday, and Lily was in today. We are helping the BBC film a documentary. But we are spending a lot of time staring at alligators hiding under the bank. They are staring back at us, refusing to come out to be filmed.

January 27-28, 2018: Blue Spring Manatee Festival
On Saturday, the weather looked grey, but “faired” off. The river temp was 61° F (16° C). I counted 249 manatees and ID’d 122 before the wind picked up. The park staff counted 247 manatees. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present were caimán, who was all excited about something, Philip, Deep Dent, Doc, Howie, Lenny, Nick, Phyllis, Paddy Doyle, y floyd. On Sunday, the terrible weather forecast eased off, and the manatee count went perfectly. The river temp was the same as Saturday, 61° F (16° C), but the air temp was rising, so about 100 fewer manatees were counted. I counted 140 manatees and the park staff counted 144 manatees. I identified 87 manatees, but only two, annie y Doc, were Save the Manatee Club adoptees.

January 26, 2018:
The wind forecast was 5 to 15 mph and gusts to 25. But I needed to go. I was lucky. The wind started after I had seen the majority of the manatees, when I was about a quarter of the way up the run. On the way back down, the wind was steady at 19 mph, and I hugged the bank and just tried to get to the beach! No, I do not have a wind gauge, but the St. Johns River Cruises does. The river temp was 59° F (15° C). I counted 276 manatees and ID’d 128. The park staff counted over 300 manatees, but they were interrupted by a “manatee panic.” Humans can cause them, but manatees also do it to themselves. A playing manatee gets shoved against a sharp log, for example, or something produces an alarm call, and away they go. I knew it had happened as many manatees were returning from the river wearing coats of sand. When panics happen, the manatees throw sand up in the water, and it settles on their backs. As this happened just before I started, my count was lower. It makes IDing hard as well as the sand covers many ID scars. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees that I saw in today were Howie, Philip, Deep Dent, Doc, Paddy Doyle, Phyllis, y caimán.

January 24, 2018:
The river temp was up to 61° F (15.5° C) and the count of manatees was down accordingly. I counted 147 manatees and ID’d 74 of those. Save the Manatee Club adoptees Howie, Lucille, y caimán were among them. As the river warms up, the first manatees out into the river are the big, scarred ones. I am left looking at young, hardly scarred manatees that I cannot ID. There are more of those all the time, and that is good.

January 22, 2018:
The research canoe was stolen over the weekend. They took out a big section of the stairs to the canoe beach, where the canoe was secured, to get it loose. We will have to use the aluminum canoe that belongs to the U.S. Geological Survey for awhile. After the fiberglass canoe, it feels very tippy. The river temp was 57° F (14° C) today and warming fast. I counted 205 manatees and ID’d 127 of those. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees in this morning were Howie, Lucille, Lenny, Doc, Floyd, Phyllis, Deep Dent, y caimán. Then I was told that while I was making my way back down the run after the count, that Mella y Paddy Doyle were seen on the webcam.

January 19, 2018:
The river temp was 55° F (12.5° C). We counted 408 manatees and identified 291 of those. This may have been a record day for IDing! In terms of Save the Manatee Club adoptees, we saw Annie, Aqua, Doc, Lily, Lucille with calf, Nick, Howie, Deep Dent, Paddy Doyle, Floyd, Philip, Phyllis, Margarito, y Bigotes.

January 18, 2018:
The river temp was 52° F (11° C). As cold as I was in 26° F (-3° C) air, that did not seem right, but the river comes from the south where it is warmer. I counted 419 manatees and ID’d 175 of them. I saw Howie, Nick, Annie, Gator, Lenny, Paddy Doyle, Phyllis, Whiskers, Deep Dent, y Agua among the Save the Manatee Club adoptees. I keep mentioning that manatees are still coming in for the season for their first visit. Today it was a manatee named Roos. Several times I thought Roos was in, and when I would check the pictures it would be another manatee. Today, when I checked the pictures, I found it really was Roos! Making the manatee ID’s was hard today with the wind coming all the way up the run and frequently pushing me against the bank. The ripples distorted the scars, and I was afraid of being blown onto a manatee that did not expect it, but all went well.

January 17, 2018:
The river temp was 57° F (13.5° C) today. We counted 316 manatees and ID’d 179 of them. Among those sighted were Howie, Nick, Lenny, Lily, Floyd, Annie, Whiskers, y filis.

January 16, 2018:
The river temp was 58° F (14° C). I had a member of the media with me, so my count was rather loose, but the park counted 314 manatees, and that seems right. I ID’d 165 manatees and saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Howie, Nick, Doc, Floyd, Lily, Whiskers, Phyllis, y caimán. My companion adopted filis, so that was nice. On the above water webcam, we’ve seen so many film clips of the manatees playing with an old fallen palm tree. Two days ago, a fresh tree fell in the same place, and the manatees are enthusiastic.

January 12 and 15, 2018:
The river temp was up to 62° F (16.2° C) on Friday the 12th, and so there were fewer manatees in. We counted 188 manatees and ID’d 83. Unfortunately, none of the Save the Manatee Club adoptees were in attendance. But the cold is coming back, and this next week should be something! On Monday, the river temp was 55° F (13° C), and there were plenty of manatees. The wind was up, making it hard to count and harder to identify. We finally came up with a count of 480 manatees and ID’d 126 of those. Unlike Friday, we had some adoptees in. We saw Lucille, Paddy Doyle, Howie, Philip, Lily, Floyd, Gator, Phyllis, Whiskers, y Doc. New manatees are still arriving.

January 11, 2018:
Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club Multimedia Specialist, did the count alone again today. The river temp was 58° F (14° C) and 235 manatees were in. Cora ID’d 103 manatees and saw Annie, Howie, Lily, Gator, Floyd, Philip, y Bigotes. The first week of January, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff photographed Millie, BS133, at Port Everglades. The last time we saw her was at Blue Spring in November 2014.

January 9, 2018:
Ah Florida! On Friday, I was dressed in long johns, two T-shirts, a heavy knit sweater, a heavy knit muffler almost as big as a sweater, a field jacket, a floatation device zipped up to keep out cold, and mittens. On Monday, I was wearing two T-shirts and the floatation device buckled but unzipped to keep cool. The river temp today was 54° F (12° C). We counted 354 manatees and the park staff counted 359. With 191 manatees ID’d, we saw Lucila y su cría, Lenny, Howie, Floyd, Doc, Gator, Lily, Whiskers, y filis. A research note would be that a manatee named Nu was seen at Silver Spring on New Year’s Day. Nu was at Blue Spring two years ago for a day or two and made it into a YouTube video appearance earlier in Silver River, but I did not pick up on the ID then.

January 8, 2018:
The river remains at 50° F (10° C). My count was 426 manatees. Among the 237 manatees I ID’d were these Save the Manatee Club adoptees: Lenny, Nick, Floyd, Annie, Deep Dent, Philip, Doc, Gator, Paddy Doyle, Phyllis, y Bigotes.

January 6-7, 2018:
On Saturday, the river temp came up 50° F (10° C). We doubted the thermometer on that one, but it was still quite cold for a manatee. This was our synoptic survey day, when we participate in an attempt to count every manatee in Florida in a two or three-day period. I was sidelined and so Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, had to go it alone. She did very well indeed. Cora counted 485 manatees and 53 of those were calves. The highest count made at the park to date! Cora ID’d 167 manatees and saw the following adoptees; Nick, Lucille, Annie, Deep Dent, Philip, Lily, Floyd, Whiskers, Phyllis, Doc, Aqua, y Paddy Doyle. On Sunday, I determined that the river temp of the last two days, 50° F (10° C), was correct. The water comes from the south where it can be much warmer. Cora did the count again on Sunday. She counted 446 manatees, and the park staff counted 441 — not bad. Cora ID’d 169 manatees, including Nick, Lucille, Philip, Howie, Lenny, Deep Dent, Margarito, Lily, Gator, Floyd, Whiskers, Doc, Aqua, Phyllis, y Paddy Doyle who was late again for roll call.

January 5, 2018:
The river temp is down to 48° F (9° C).The park staff counted 391 manatees, and Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, and I counted 453 manatees and ID’d 209. The adoptees in that number were Deep Dent, Lucille preñada, Howie, Lily, Floyd, Margarito, Aqua, Phyllis, Whiskers, Doc, Paddy Doyle, y Felipe. There have been higher counts at the park, but I believe this is my highest!

January 4, 2018:
The river was 51° F (10.5° C). Needless to say, many manatees were in. Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s (SMC) Multimedia Specialist, did a count of 418 manatees after the park staff count of 363. The wind made things very difficult, but Cora ID’d 124 manatees. SMC adoptees Lily. Gator, Floyd, Aqua, Phyllis, Doc, Whiskers, y Felipe were definitely seen, and there may have been others.

December 30-31, 2017:
Abolladura profunda is back! To greet him were Annie, Nick, Lenny, Lucille, Howie, Paddy Doyle, Floyd, y Felipe. The river was 62° F (16.5° C). The run was so stirred up with clay and silt on Saturday that Cora Berchem, Multimedia Specialist for Save the Manatee Club (SMC), deferred to the park staff count of 347 manatees rather than the 253 she counted. On Sunday the 31st, the river temp was 60° F (15.5° C). Cora did the manatee roll call again on that day and counted 354 manatees with much clay suspended in the water to hide them. The park staff counted 364 manatees before the clay was so stirred up. Among the 136 manatees Cora ID’d were SMC adoptees Lucille, Paddy Doyle, Howie, Nick, Margarito, Aqua, Deep Dent, Phyllis, Doc, y Felipe. The last two manatees were not seen during roll call, but after.

December 29, 2017:
The river was down to 64° F (17.8° C) and the weather was miserable and getting worse. The park staff counted 385 manatees, and I counted 327. Of those, I identified 171 manatees. The second one I ID’d was howie! Then I saw Lucille, Annie, Floyd, Paddy Doyle, Whiskers, y Agua. Many more than howie made their first roll call of the season today. I was glad I came in spite of the weather.

December 28, 2017:
Cora Berchem, our Multimedia Specialist, did the count. Cora counted 257 manatees and ID’d 102. Agua was seen leaving the run between the taking of the river temperature (it was still 66° F (18.8° C), and launching the canoe, but Agua counts. Also seen during the count were Annie, Lucila y ternero, y Whiskers. Nick showed up too late for roll call, but he showed!

December 27, 2017:
The river temp remained the same at 66° F (18.8° C). But it was a damp cool that seems to bother the manatees as it does us. So today we counted 190 manatees and ID‘d 127 of those. At 10:55 a.m. with the count over since 10:04 a.m., Lucila and calf came in. Especially nice since we were doing a livestream on our Facebook page! At least we had one adoptee.

December 26, 2017:
The river temp today was 65° F (18.8°C). I counted 148 manatees with more coming in. The badly injured juvenile female manatee we are monitoring is behaving normally and shows signs of healing, so we are continuing to monitor. Still with no adoptees.

December 23 – 25, 2017:
Our Multimedia Specialist, Cora Berchem, counted on Saturday through Christmas Day. On Saturday, the river was 65° F (18.5° ) and 67 manatees were in. Of those, 32 were ID’d. On Christmas Eve, the river temp was 67° F (19.5° C). Cora counted 63 manatees and the park staff counted 64. On Christmas Day, the river temp was 66° F (19° C). Cora counted 80 manatees and the park staff counted 77. No adoptees were present on these three days.

December 22, 2017:
The river was at 66° F (18.8° C). We counted 99 manatees and ID’d 82. None were adoptees.

December 21, 2017:
The river went down a degree to 65° F (18.5° C). Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, counted 113 manatees. She ID’d 52 manatees, but none were adoptees. Good news: the situation with our high floating cow resolved itself, and she appears to be okay now. Good thing too as we had a big-time capture scheduled for her today. There’s other news about Una and her calf, Mr. Baby, released on December 12th. Una behaved as if she hadn’t been away. Mr. Baby did not leave the run until yesterday. But today he was found out in the feeding grounds eating and socializing with other animals.

December 20, 2017:
We counted 109 manatees today, and the park staff counted 107. The river temperature was up to 65° F (18.5° C). Of those counted, 58 manatees were ID’d, but there were no adoptees present. We have 55 calves for sure, but there may be six others and more to come. I have decided Amber did not bring her April first calf in. Well, she had at least eight months to nurse it and then wean it. But it does not get on the season count though! Yesterday, one of my unknowns got into the clear water while the wind was down and turned out to be Venetia. She was a rehab manatee released last year, and we all hoped she would be back!

December 19, 2017
Only half the manatees today with a river temp of 66° F (18.8° C). We counted 147 and the park staff counted 148. Conditions were good, so 84 of the manatees were ID’d. The sole adoptee present was Felipe.

December 18, 2017:
The river temp was 64° F (17.5° C). It is warming up. Soon it will be summer again in winter. I counted 278 manatees in a flat calm and less silt. I ID’d 149 manatees and saw Lucille, Annie, Lenny, and late boy Felipe. With the clearer water, I filmed my heart out!

December 16, 2017:
Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, did a count today. She counted 264 manatees with a river temp of 65° F (18° C). Philip, Paddy Doyle, Floyd, Gator, Doc, Phyllis, y Bigotes were among the manatees ID’d. Our orphan seems to be settling in, but now we have a new one. It doesn’t look as fit as the first, so we shall be watching it.

December 14 – 15, 2017:
On Thursday, Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, did a count. The river was 58° F (14° C). She counted 304 manatees and the park staff counted 314. Of the manatees counted, Cora ID’d 108 of them and found Lucille, Philip, Gator, Doc, y filis. Later, with the count finished, she discovered Lenny. We have been notified that Bruto is warm and comfy in another spring. On Friday, the river was at 59° F (14.5° C). We counted 335 manatees and the park staff counted 321. I love it when we are close that way. Of those, 158 manatees were ID’d. First, we greeted Mella for the first time this season and then saw Lucille, Gator, Paddy Doyle, y annie. It looks like our floater is getting closer to help. A boat, nets, people, and a place to go for treatment may soon be available.

December 13, 2017:
The river was down to 58° F (14° C). The wind and silt were better but still bad. The better visibility was shown as I counted 344 manatees and ID’d 178. Paddy Doyle, Doc, Flash, Lily, y filis were in. All were in the upper half of the run above the aluminum dock. Felipe made his first appearance this season by swimming in during the count. Una and her yearling were in but far apart. If they had stayed in the wild, Una would have weaned him long ago. Our female floater is not looking better.

December 12, 2017:
The river went up a degree and a half to 61.5° F (16.5° C), but we counted 261 manatees again. Conditions were worse with wind and silted water. We ID’d 121 manatees. Margarita was the first adoptee ID’d, and it was his first day this season. Then we saw Phyllis, Gator, Doc, Paddy Doyle, y annie. Una is home from SeaWorld with her yearling. The release went well. Mr. Baby, the yearling, is tagged, so we have two tagged manatees now. The other tagged manatee is Randall, and he is learning to come to the warm water of Blue Spring quite well. Our male floater is unseen for now, but we continue to watch for him. How we will handle the female and her calf is still under consideration. More calves and other manatees are coming in.

December 11, 2017:
The river was 60° F (15.5° C). Steam was coming off the run as we counted 261 manatees. There must have been many more, but they are still so happy at meeting old friends that they are still churning up the clay and silt as they cavort together, making counting more than challenging! Of those, 131 manatees were ID’d. The adoptees in order sighted were Lily, Lucille, Floyd, Paddy Doyle, Doc, Flash, Whiskers, Gator, Phyllis, Lenny, y Esmerejón! As for our two floaters; the gentleman (manatee) from Rivera Beach was not seen. Hopefully that means he has recovered, but we want to see him to be sure. The female with calf was still floating high, and we continue to watch her. At the start of the day, I had seen 248 manatees this season. I think I need to do some more figuring. There are 48 calves now. Amber is in, but we cannot say we have seen her calf (born before the season started) yet.

December 10, 2017:
FLOYD IS BACK! With that out of the way, the river temp was 60° F (16° C). We counted 145 manatees under very poor conditions. The wind was up and the run was silted up by cavorting manatees. Many more must have been in. Of those, 80 manatees were ID’d. As well as Floyd, Lucille y ternero, y annie were in from the adoptees. There have been 248 manatees seen so far this season. I look forward to the next few days as many old acquaintances will be coming in. Yesterday a manatee that made his first appearance at the park on December 8th was floating high. He was reported, and we were asked to keep an eye on him. Today he was very close to normal. Cora Berchem, Save the Manatee Club’s Multimedia Specialist, sent pictures to the USGS Sirenia Project, and he was ID’d as Rivera Beach654. RB654 was ID’d in 2009 and last seen in 2010. Another manatee was floating very high today, and we hope she improves tomorrow as Unknown 28 (RB654) has.

December 8, 2017:
It was cool and drippy yesterday. The river temperature dropped a degree to 68° F (20° C). The manatees knew it and probably know it is getting even cooler. We saw 45 today. And for that matter, we are up to 45 calves seen this season. Annie came in to get on the count, so we even had an adoptee! Where are so many others? I hope by the end of next week we will know. Winter is coming!

December 7, 2017:
The past three days, the park staff counted 12, 11 and 5+ manatees. Today the river temp was 69° F (20.5° C). I counted 12 manatees, and the park staff counted 10. I had six unmarked juveniles, three poorly marked juveniles, one poorly marked adult, and two named and numbered Blue Spring manatees. Because I have missed days and cold weather is coming, I shall try again tomorrow in spite of the weather forecast. Saturday looks really awful, but Sunday may be perfect.

December 1, 2017:
The river temp remained at 68° F (20° C), which was surprising. Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, and I counted 38 manatees and ID’d 26 on that Friday. None were adoptees. Cora was also able to count on Saturday and get some observations on Sunday. The manatee count on Saturday was 20, and though the count was up to 23 on Sunday, the temp was also up to 69° F (19.5° C). Of those, 19 manatees were ID’d, but none were adoptees. Winter is coming, I think.

November 30, 2017:
The river was 68° F (20° C) again today. Also again today, the manatees had the clay in the lower run stirred up. I counted 57 manatees and ID’d 37. Seven manatees were ID’d after some of the clay settled. No adoptees made the roll call, but caimán came in late. We have been informed that Galadriel died of a natural gut upset that was probably bacterial.

November 29, 2017:
The river temp is up to 68° F (20° C), and the manatee count is down to 80. Of those, 54 were ID’d, and caimán was among them! Calves seen during the season are up to 42. I should have mentioned Randall yesterday. He was released near Satsuma, Florida, in the St. Johns River, and when the cold arrived, he did not get that he needed to move to a warm water source. So staff and volunteers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Sea to Shore Alliance, SeaWorld Orlando, Save the Manatee Club, and Blue Spring State Park went and got him. Randall has been at the park for a few days now, and he definitely seems to get it now. He goes out, feeds, and comes back to the warm spring. Now a new problem. A young mother with a young calf has a line entanglement. I saw this in the film I shot to get her new boat scar. Calves and pregnancies complicate things when it comes to rescues.

November 28, 2017
The river temp was 65° F (18.5° C). We counted 98 manatees today, but it should have been more. At the start, the clay was badly stirred up in the lower part of the run. Then the manatees did a panic (perhaps one manatee shoved another against a sharp tree branch in the water). At that, we moved up beyond the clay and counted from there, estimating we missed 16 manatees, but it was probably more. The research depends on manatee recognition, and the count is almost incidental. We ID’d 65 manatees but again no adoptees. The run was very clear when we came back down from the boil. Cora Berchem, the Club’s Multimedia Specialist, and I also did a livestream to the Club’s Facebook site during the roll call. We are up to 40 calves seen this season and 204 manatees total. Every season now, with so many manatees coming in, we seem to have an orphan or two. This year we have one nicknamed “Brown Calf.” She is very small, and we finally realized she was all about the run by herself and became concerned. I got film of her belly (to see if she is malnourished), and she looks good. Then Cora filmed her nursing, and today she was keeping close company with two other manatees. She will probably be fine, but we will keep an eye on her. We are also looking forward to the return of Una and calf, Mr. Baby, from Sea World where Una was treated for line entanglement on both flippers.

November 27, 2017
The river temp was 64.5° F (18° C). We counted 101 manatees and ID’d 68, but there were no adoptees present. Thirty-six calves have been seen for sure. We are still waiting to see if two of the mothers have calves or are just borrowing little ones. The third mother we were wondering about proved to us she does indeed have a calf. It just does not like to hang around with mom. We are also waiting for Amber to bring her calf in for the season. Amber brought it in off and on all summer, so we are getting a little impatient. After the count, we bid farewell to Galadriel as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recovery team came to pick her up. We should know the cause of her death soon.

November 25 – 26, 2017:
25 de noviembre: El río en Palatka en Racy Point tenía 65° F (18,4° C), pero tenía 68° F (20° C) en Blue Spring, por lo que no puedo usar Racy Point para determinar la temperatura del agua en el parque. Conté 66 manatíes y el personal del parque contó 65. Identifiqué 49 manatíes, ninguno de los cuales era adoptado. Hasta ahora tenemos al menos 33 terneros. Nuestro total de manatíes vistos es 158.

26 de noviembre: Ayer un manatí llamado Galadriel flotaba alto como suele ocurrir con el gas. Fue su primera aparición esta temporada. Les pedí a los guardabosques que llamaran si todavía tenía problemas de flotabilidad hoy. En cambio, esta tarde nos notificaron que habían traído un manatí muerto al parque. Lo identificamos como BS344 Galadriel. Galadriel fue identificada muy joven en 2002. Trajo crías en 2005, 2012, 2014 y 2016. Identificar a los manatíes muertos es la parte más triste de este trabajo. Habrá que determinar la causa de la muerte de Galadriel.

En una nota más ligera. Cora Berchem, especialista en multimedia del Save the Manatee Club, pudo hacer un recuento hoy. La temperatura del río era de 66° F (19° C) y había 91 manatíes. De ellos, 39 fueron identificados y Lucille estaba entre ese número con su cría.

22 de noviembre de 2017:
Racy Point en Palatka y Blue Spring tenían una temperatura del río de 66° F (19° C). Si fuera consistente, haría mi trabajo más fácil y podría obtener la temperatura de Internet en Racy Point. Conté 77 manatíes, pero había muchos más en la arcilla que los manatíes estaban removiendo en el lado oeste de casi la mitad del recorrido. Hay más terneros y más manatíes para su primera visita de la temporada. Ayer, mientras me quedaba en casa, un manatí liberado hace dos semanas fue capturado y llevado a Blue Spring para ayudarlo a aprender sobre los sitios de aguas cálidas. Parece apreciar estar aquí. De los manatíes contados, hubo 47 identificados, y sólo Lirio y Lucila entre los adoptados en la actualidad.

21 de noviembre de 2017:
El clima parecía demasiado malo para contarlo, así que me quedé en casa y trabajé en números. Hemos visto 109 manatíes diferentes como mínimo. Tenemos al menos 24 terneros. Los adoptados devueltos son Lirio, Lucille, Annie, Phyllis, y caimán.

20 de noviembre de 2017:
Hoy el río bajó a 64° F (18° C) y contamos con 43 manatíes. De ellos, 30 manatíes fueron identificados. Casi no había nadie nuevo y los únicos adoptados eran Lucila y Lirio. ¡El tiempo que se avecina parece muy malo para los pases de lista de manatíes! Lluvia y más lluvia.

17 de noviembre de 2017:
La temperatura del río llegó a 66,2° F (19,1° C), por lo que teníamos 38 manatíes para el recuento. De ellos, 21 fueron identificados. Lirio y Lucila estaban adentro. Se han visto veintitrés terneros, y hay tres “quizás” adultos que podrían tener terneros o haber estado tomando prestados pequeños. ¡Cada vez mejor!

16 de noviembre de 2017:
Cora Berchem, nuestra especialista en multimedia, hizo un recuento hoy. También hizo uno el 11 de noviembre. El día 11, contó tres manatíes y luego identificó a uno no adoptado una vez finalizado el conteo. El río estaba a 70° F (21° C). Desde entonces, el parque ha tenido un promedio de cinco manatíes por día. Hoy la temperatura del río era de 68° F (20° C) y el recuento de manatíes era 26. Cora identificó a varios manatíes y seguiremos a más mientras miramos su película. ¡Lucille y su cría estaban dentro! Mirando el pronóstico para Orange City y sabiendo que a menudo hace más frío (o más calor) en el parque, estaba, y estoy, planeando contar mañana y el lunes. Después del sábado, el resto del mes parece un clima de manatíes.

4 de noviembre de 2017:
La temperatura del río era de 68° F (20° C). Me sorprendió que fuera tan bajo, pero los manatíes parecen saber que la temperatura del aire será de 80 grados (y fue ayer), ya que solo había 11. Se identificaron seis manatíes, pero ninguno fue adoptado. Estaré atento a la cámara web y al termómetro.

3 de noviembre de 2017
Cora Berchem, nuestra especialista en multimedia, hizo el conteo hoy. La temperatura del río era de hasta 70° F (21° C). Contó 10 manatíes y el personal del parque contó nueve. Cora identificó nueve manatíes y uno de ellos fue caimán — el único adoptado.

2 de noviembre de 2017
La temperatura del río es de 67° F (19,5° C) hoy. Conté 44 manatíes y el personal del parque contó 32. La mayoría de los días tengo la ventaja de estar en una canoa. De ellos, 36 manatíes fueron identificados y el único adoptado fue caimán. Ya somos 15 terneros y estamos esperando que aparezcan cuatro que vimos en pretemporada. La temporada comenzó el 31 de octubre. Ahora espero ver que el número de manatíes caiga a casi cero a medida que el clima cálido regrese por un período prolongado. PD: Acabo de echar un vistazo a una imagen fija de una película que Cora Berchem, la especialista multimedia del club, filmó el martes y annie ¡esta embarazada!

1 de noviembre de 2017
Hoy contamos 39 manatíes y el personal del parque contó 31. Dada la alta opacidad del agua, ese es el mismo recuento. El río estaba a 69,5° F (20,9° C). Para aquellos que no lo saben, una temperatura del río de 68° F (20° C) hace que entren los manatíes, y cuanto más baja la temperatura del río, más manatíes vemos. De los 34 manatíes identificados, sólo uno era adoptado. caimán está de regreso y estuvo corriendo jugando con todos, quisieran jugar o no. filis apareció más tarde esa misma tarde y fue descubierto por Cora Berchem, especialista multimedia del club. Pero Phyllis no tenía un ternero con ella. Si la temporada empezó ayer, y eso se determinará mañana, hemos visto 10 terneros. Estamos esperando volver a avistar cuatro manatíes vistos durante la primavera y el verano. Muchos terneros para dos días.

31 de octubre de 2017
Cora Berchem, la especialista multimedia del club, salió conmigo hoy. Obtuvimos una temperatura del río de 67,9° F (19,9° C). ¡Vimos 54 manatíes! Así que mañana también saldremos. Lucila Estuvo allí con su cría durante el verano y Annie vino cuando terminamos. Se identificaron veintiocho manatíes. Como es habitual al comienzo de la temporada, son las parejas vaca/ternera y los juveniles los que tienden a aparecer primero. Es frustrante, ya que tengo tantos que no puedo identificarlos. Si este es el comienzo de la temporada, es posible que tengamos un mes sin muchos manatíes, ya que se pronostica que regresará el clima cálido.

27 de octubre de 2017
Hizo frío durante unos días y de todos modos tenía que estar cerca del parque, así que al mediodía pasé por allí para ver los manatíes. La temperatura del río era de 72° F (22,2° C) en Racy Point en Palatka, que está demasiado lejos del parque, pero es un indicador. Ayer se avistaron 10 manatíes en la carrera de primavera en el parque. Hoy calculo que seis se reunieron para verme recuperar la canoa del agua alta. El parque había reportado tres manatíes. El agua estaba demasiado oscura para identificar a los manatíes. Más tarde vi una pareja de vaca y ternero amamantando cerca del río, pero todavía no tuve suerte con una identificación. Hay 20 marcadores numéricos a lo largo del recorrido en juego. Sólo ocho marcadores numéricos eran visibles donde deberían estar, uno estaba en el fondo y 10 faltaban o no eran visibles debido al nivel alto del agua. Espero volver a salir el martes. Este es el momento en que los manatíes pasan por el parque mientras el río se enfría, solo para descubrir que aún no hace suficiente frío para comenzar la temporada de manatíes. Pero se tranquilizan al encontrar el manantial todavía allí a 72° F (22,2° C).

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Wayne Hartley es especialista en manatíes para Save the Manatee Club. Antes de unirse al Club, fue guardaparques y luego especialista en servicios de parques en el Servicio de Parques de Florida. Wayne se desempeñó durante más de tres décadas como investigador principal de la investigación sobre manatíes realizada en el Parque Estatal Blue Spring.