News

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

We usually don’t get a lot of summer sightings of our adoptees, but this summer has been a bit unusual so far!

Blue Spring State Park Sightings

Phyllis made a brief summer visit to Blue Spring on June 16th and was followed out by a recently released, tagged manatee. A good sign, as Phyllis is a very experienced manatee mom who may show the “newbies” the ropes! Phyllis was also seen on July 11.

You may remember the very large mating herd that was sighted at Blue Spring in May 2023. The focal female was a well-known Blue Spring manatee, named “Mata Hari” (not an adoptee). She was pursued by over 20 males, including several adoptees.

We were excited to see Mata Hari on our webcam on June 14th with a little newborn calf in tow!

Lake Monroe Mating Herd Sightings

Speaking of mating herds, spring and summer are the prime times to see manatee mating herds in Florida. They usually consist of one focal female in estrus (heat) and a large number of males following her. Mating herds can last from several hours to several days or even a week, which was recently the case in Lake Monroe in Central Florida. Our research staff was alerted to the mating herd by our partners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and what a mating herd it was! We were able to identify over 30 of the males as well as two focal females. Among the males were adoptees Howie, Brutus, Doc, Margarito, Philip, and Paddy Doyle!

Always remember to give manatees space and do not interfere with mating herds. If you are concerned about a mating herd in shallow water or stranded manatees, immediately report it to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 1-888-404-3922.

Here are some photos of the adoptees from the recent mating herd:

Brutus

Doc

Howie

Margarito

Paddy Doyle

Philip

Additional Sightings