Nouvelles

Sighting updates are provided by Save the Manatee Club’s Manatee Specialist, Wayne Hartley, and Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate, Cora Berchem, after the conclusion of the morning “roll call” at the park. These updates are posted frequently during Manatee Season, which usually starts in November and continues until manatee sightings become intermittent, which is roughly around the middle of March.

Thursday, December 13, 2025

The river temperature was 63.1 °F (17.3 °C), and the manatees had the water pretty stirred up again, especially in the lower transects making counting and identification difficult. I ended up counting 452. The park who counted before I started even counted 670, but told me many were heading towards the river. They probably felt the air warming up for a few days.

Adopté pseudo made his first season visit! In addition, adoptees Brutus, Phyllis, Aqua, Alligator, Lis, Una, Howie, Floyd, Philippe, Annie avec veau, et Fusée were in.

Cora

Friday, December 12, 2025

The river temp was 64 °F (17.8 °C). That is fairly cold for a manatee. The wind was very calm, but a heavy mist was on the run. When the mist lifted, the glare off the water from the sun was blinding. The manatees, meanwhile, have continued to murk up the run with constant movement. If a manatee came close, we could ID them, but if the manatee was over six feet away and not on the surface, we could not even see the manatee. The Park counted 450 manatees and felt they had missed many. From the canoe, a count was impossible, but we saw 211 manatees and ID’d 200. We decided on an estimate of 422 manatees present. After the roll call, we ID’d 28 more for a total ID’d of 228. Among the ID’d were Save the Manatee Club adoptees Margarito, Howie, Lis, Una, Dent profonde, Alligator, Annie & calf, Floyd, Phyllis, Aqua, Philippe, et Brutus.

        Wayne & Cora

Thursday, December 11, 2025

The river temp was 65.3 °F (18.5 °C). Before we began the roll call, the manatees got into some self-inflicted uproar and mucked up over half the run with silt and other debris. As a result, we are sure our count was too low. We just could not see them all! We counted 414 manatees. On the good side we saw Save the Manatee Club adoptees Brutus, Alligator, Una, Philippe, Annie & veau, et Moustaches!

    Wayne & Cora

Wednesday, December 10, 2025

The river temp was 66.2 °F (19 °C). We counted 329 manatees at roll call. Big jump from 163 yesterday. We did better with Save the Manatee Club adoptees today. We saw Lis, Una, Moo Shoo, Annie & veau, et Dent profonde. Deep Dent was late, but it was good to see him again. Alligator was even later and arrived after the count was long finished. Moo Shoo was also in yesterday. Don’t know how I missed that.

    Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

The 45 °F (7.2 °C) air temp last night got some manatee attention. The river was 67.3° F (19.6° C) this morning, and I counted 163 manatees at roll call. Annie, with her calf, was again the only Save the Manatee Club adoptee present. We are getting new returnees, so some are bound to be adoptees.

    Wayne

Monday, December 8, 2025

It was wet today. We had to wait an hour for the rain and mist to let up before we could get on the run. The river temp was 68.4 °F (20.4 °C). We counted 72 manatees at roll call. The same number we counted on Friday. At least they were not all the same manatees. Annie & calf represented the Save the Manatee Club adoptees again.

       Wayne & Cora

Friday, December 5, 2025

La température de la rivière était de 19,5 °C. Elle était un peu plus fraîche aujourd'hui, donc le nombre de lamantins présents pour l'appel aurait dû augmenter. Mais les lamantins, fidèles à eux-mêmes, n'ont compté que 72 individus. Aucun des lamantins adoptés par le Club de la sauvegarde des lamantins n'était présent aujourd'hui, pas même Annie.

    Wayne & Cora

Thursday, December 4, 2025

The river warmed overnight, but only by a tenth of a degree. The manatee roll call count was up by two to 102. The only Save the Manatee Club adoptee again today was Annie and, as always, her calf. Not much else to see. A green heron did a flyby of the canoe. As we left the boil after the roll call, tarpon were parading past the canoe on our right headed toward the river. I kept watching to the left of the canoe and after we had gone about fifty yards here came the tarpon parading back to the boil! Nature is fascinating!

       Cora & Wayne

Wednesday, December 3, 2025

The river temp was up to 67.3 °F (19.6 °C). We counted exactly 100 manatees, which amused us both for some reason. Our sole Save the Manatee Club adoptee present during roll call was Annie and, naturally, her calf. 

    Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

The river temp was 66.4 °F (19.1 °C). Our roll call manatee count was 106. The weather was very windy with a threat of rain, but we still managed to ID one Save the Manatee Club adoptee. It was Annie with her calf. Annie was also on the webcam yesterday after the roll call ended. We have seen adoptees Annie, Deep Dent, Ester, Flash, Gator, Lily, Moo Shoo, Rocket, and Una. That’s nine out of twenty-one. Twelve yet to come in. Frustrating, but they will get here if the weather ever gets colder.

    Wayne & Cora

Monday, December 1, 2025

The river temp today was 65.3 °F (18.5 °C). The number of manatees counted during roll call was 131. Fusée made his first visit this season and was the only Save the Manatee Club adoptee present. However, Lis was on the webcam Saturday. Yesterday Annie et Éclair were on the webcam after the roll call.

    Wayne & Cora

Saturday, November 29, 2025

The river temperature dropped to 65.8 °F (18.8 °C) and the manatee count jumped to 136! However, the only adoptee seen was Lis! There was quite the commotion in the lower part of the spring run, but it was just two cormorants fighting over some fish followed by two great blue herons fighting over the best spot to view the cormorants. A bunch of manatees were cavorting in the middle of the spring run.

Nous n'avons pas pu effectuer de comptage le 30 novembre, mais le personnel du parc a dénombré 173 lamantins.

~Cora

Friday, November 28, 2025

The predicted cold front arrived overnight and the air was a chilly 42 degrees this morning. The river temp dropped slightly to 68.9 °F (20.5 °C) and 59 manatees were counted, none were adoptees. The 19 mph wind gusts made counting and identification pretty difficult.

Why were there only 59 manatees when it was THIS cold?

The river is a very large body of water and takes longer to cool down (and then warm back up) than the air. Manatee numbers depend mostly on the river and not the air temperature, so an overnight low of 42 degrees will not bring hundreds of manatees in immediately. Also, during warm spells, manatees swim further out to feed and it may take them a little while to return to the warm-water refuge.

~Cora

Thursday, November 27, 2025

The river warmed up even more to 72.1 °F (22.3 °C) today, so it’s almost the same temperature as the spring. The dark water intrusion from the river reflected that, too. Usually, in the wintertime, we see the colder dark water on the bottom and the warmer spring water on top. In the summer months this reverses and the colder spring water will be on the bottom with the warmer river water on top. The past few days that’s what we saw—the warming river water on the top!

I counted 11 manatees in the spring run today, none of which were adoptees. A few more were cavorting in the river. The cold front is predicted to move in later today and overnight. As the river temperature will take longer to cool, we expect to see higher numbers of manatees starting over the weekend and early next week.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cora

Wednesday, November 26, 2025

The river temp was 71.2 °F (21.8 °C). The manatee count was 14. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were present. Next week should be better.

    Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

The river continues to warm. The river temp today was 69.6 °F (20.9 °C). Our count for the roll call was 26 manatees. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were seen. Cooler weather is still in the forecast, so there is hope for early December.

    Wayne & Cora

Monday, November 24, 2025

The river temp is up to 68.5 °F (20.3 °C). The manatee count was 29. No Save the Manatee Club adoptees were present. There were many tarpon in the boil. Hopefully the count will increase in a few days as we get a bit cooler weather.

    Wayne & Cora

Friday, November 21, 2025

Just over half a degree warmer than yesterday, but the count remained the same: 66 manatees. However, today Annie and her calf were back in. No other Save the Manatee Club adoptees were sighted.

    Wayne & Cora

Thursday, November 20, 2025

Beautiful day. The wind was calm, and for the first time this manatee season the water was clear. There were only 66 manatees for roll call, and none were Save the Manatee Club adoptees. The warming river temp was 66.7 °F (19.3 °C). We see no break in the warming trend in the days ahead. We saw another manatee that rarely shows up at Blue Spring yesterday. It was Numa, BS375 (aka Marcelo, MI45). We have seen Numa (not an adoptee) during the 2003-04 season, the 2005-06 season, and the 2021-22 season. Such sightings help refine the survival formulas.

    Wayne & Cora 

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

The morning felt cooler to me today and the manatees seemed to feel the same as their numbers only dropped by twenty to 135. The river temp was up to 66.2 °F (19 °C). Since the manatee season started, we have depended on Annie and her calf to represent the Save the Manatee Club adoptees. Today, with the warmer water and the calf doing well, Annie took the opportunity to spend more time in the river. All other adoptees were absent as well. Sadly, we found a stillborn female calf in the run. There is no way to tell who the mother was. These things happen, but that is small consolation.

    Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

The river temp continues to rise, and the number of manatees continues to decline. The river temp was 65.5 °F (18.6 °C). The manatee count was 155. The Save the Manatee Club adoptees present at roll call were Lis et Annie with her calf. Also in, but late for roll call, was our East Coast adoptee Millie. We have also had a manatee we have not seen for five years make an appearance. That is always good for the research program.

    Wayne & Cora

Monday, November 17, 2025

It continues warmer and the number of manatees counted has dropped from 313 to 179.  The river temp was 64.8 °F (18.2 °C). Our only Save the Manatee Club adoptees were Lis et Annie avec son veau.

    Wayne & Cora

Friday, November 14, 2025

The river temp today was 62.8 °F (17.1 °C). That is almost half a degree warmer than yesterday but still under 63 °F, so manatees kept coming in. Our count was 313 manatees, and it was probably more as the water is still very murky. We had 30 cow-calf pairs today! As we have said before, cows with calves and juveniles are the bulk of the early arrivals. Save the Manatee Club adoptees were down to Dent profonde, Una, Ester, et Annie avec veau.

    Wayne & Cora

Thursday, November 13, 2025

The river temp continued to fall to 62.4 °F (16.9 °C). The manatee count was 269. That leads me to declare the manatee season started on 11 November. Today our Save the Manatee Club adoptees at Blue Spring were Lis, Dent profonde, Alligator, Annie & calf, Éclair, et Una. Éclair et Una were seen after the count, but they showed! We also had another Save the Manatee Club adoptee in from the East Coast, Millie! It is getting warmer now, but hopefully more manatees will keep coming in to check out the spring. The count is still more of an estimate, as the run is still clouded up by so many active manatees as Cora reported yesterday.

    Wayne & Cora

Wednesday, November 12, 2025

The river had dropped to 63.3 °F (17.4 °C) and I counted 194 manatees. The wind had died down but the water halfway up the spring run was extremely murky making it impossible to see the manatees. I had to count snouts as they came up for air. This early in the season, the manatees are very active and stir up the bottom. Good for them, but tough for us researchers!

The adoptees in today were Annie and her baby, Ester, Una, et Moo Shoo. More may have been hiding in the murky water.

Cora

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

The wind was very bad. I would not have made it into the run from where we are keeping the canoe, but I received help from the concession rental folks. Very difficult to ID or even see manatees due to the wind. We persevered and counted 60 manatees. Annie and calf were there, and Lis appeared again to represent the Save the Manatee Club adoptees.

    Wayne

Monday, November 10, 2025

Annie was the only Save the Manatee Club adoptee in again today. Annie does go out in the evening to feed in the river; she is not in twenty-four seven. Thirteen other manatees were in for roll call as well. The river temp was 71.6 °F (22 °C). Air temps are predicted to be in the thirties tonight, so many more manatees are expected soon!

    Cora & Wayne

Friday, November 7, 2025

The river had warmed up to 70 °F (21.1 °C) and the manatee count dropped to 17, which wasn’t surprising. Most manatees were located close to the river, probably ready to go out and feed for the warm weekend before we get a major cold front next week. The two adoptees seen today were Lis et Annie with her little calf.

~Cora

Thursday, November 6, 2025

Annie with calf was again our only Save the Manatee Club adoptee. She and the calf had 30 other manatees for company. The river temp was 69.3 °F (20.7 °C). Very calm, pleasant day. It is supposed to get very cold sometime soon.

    Wayne & Cora

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

The river was cooler today, 68.7 °F (20.4 °C), but the manatees must know it is getting warmer for a bit, as we only counted 26. As for Save the Manatee Club adoptees, we saw Annie with her calf during roll call and when it was over, Lis came by being pursued by Mr. Mann (not an adoptee). 

Saw two green herons today. The first I did not see until it flew, even though Cora tried to point it out. The next was easy as it was beside the canoe and moving its head. Normally, they crouch down very still and seem to say, “You can’t see me!” even though I tell them I can. Yes, I talk to the animals. Even though they don’t talk back.

    Wayne & Cora

Tuesday, November 4, 2025

I did not know how cold it would be today until I stepped out of the house. But the manatees knew. The count went up from 13 yesterday to 39 today. The River temp was 69.1 °F (20.6 °C). Annie is still the only Save the Manatee Club adoptee in. Had a bald eagle across the river today, there were two yesterday. I was hoping the black vultures had found a new place to roost, but they were in force today. Thirty to forty watched the roll call.

    Wayne & Cora

Monday, November 3, 2025

The river temp was back up to 69.4 °F (20.8 °C). The count was 13 manatees. Our Save the Manatee Club adoptee Annie was in with the new calf again today. Manatees will be easier to spot once they and the tilapia clean the algae off the bottom to reveal the light-colored sand. The high water does not help either.

    Wayne & Cora

Sunday, November 2, 2025

The air temperature warmed up quite a bit, but the river, which always takes longer to cool and then to warm back up, was a bit cooler than yesterday at 68.7 °F (20.4 °C). The park staff counted 35 manatees, and I counted only 20 about an hour later. The only adoptee in was Annie with her newborn calf. They had moved down from the diver entry where Annie had given birth yesterday, to the refuge. Visitors along the boardwalk were thrilled to see them. It is also nice to see some of the manatees, who we helped release over the last several years, return, and everyone so far looks good. We are always surprised to see manatees Amelia and Irma return together. They were released together in 2020, and it’s highly unusual for them to still hang out together almost 6 years after release!

We have also already seen a few new cow/calf pairs. Moms and calves usually come in first when it gets cold.

The next days look like some warmer weather again.

Cora

Saturday, November 1, 2025

Annie was our only Save the Manatee Club adoptee again today. Then with the roll call over, she gave birth at 3:15 and Cora was there! This is Annie’s seventh calf. She prefers to have them in Blue Spring run!

More prosaically, the river temp was 69.4 °F (~20.8 °C) and we counted 32 additional manatees. I predicted we would see 46, oh well. 

    Wayne & Cora

Friday, October 31, 2025

With air temps near 46 °F (~8 °C), we decided to do a roll call. The only Save the Manatee Club adoptee that answered was Annie. Annie is so pregnant she is about to burst! Twenty-three other manatees were in as well. Not enough to declare the season started. Two very calm deer were also along the run.

    Wayne & Cora