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Manatee Sightings Update: December 2022

Wayne Hartley, Manatee Specialist, and Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate, take "roll call" on a cold winter morning at Blue Spring State Park. Photo courtesy David Schrichte.
Wayne Hartley, Manatee Specialist, and Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate, take "roll call" on a cold winter morning at Blue Spring State Park. Photo courtesy David Schrichte.

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate
All activities conducted under permits DEP #02042213 and USFWS #MA791721-6.

Manatee season officially started at Blue Spring on November 19, 2022, and many manatees have already visited the warm-water refuge. As always in the wintertime, SMC Manatee Specialist Wayne Hartley and Manatee Research Associate Cora Berchem conduct daily morning “roll calls” to count and identify the manatees. Our daily updates can be found on our social media channels and on ManaTV.org where the public can also watch our live webcams from Blue Spring and Homosassa!

Sightings Update: Blue Spring Adoptees

 Annie was seen at Blue Spring during a brief cold spell in October and then again once the season started. Wayne and Cora confirm that she is heavily pregnant! Here she is seen traveling through the spring run on October 23, 2022.

Other Blue Spring Sightings

Manatee Yvonne was recorded on the webcam just before season started on November 8 nursing her own calf and a “freeloader.” It is not uncommon for manatee mothers to nurse their own calf and additional calves or juveniles!
We have already seen over 30 calves this season which is very encouraging. One of them is Mona, recorded on the webcam on November 17 nursing her own calf and another one.
We were happy to see manatee Glenn return to Blue Spring for the second season! Glenn has a known sighting history along the Atlantic coast of Florida, including Brevard County. We are happy he seemed to have chosen Blue Spring as his new winter home which provides better habitat for him than the Atlantic coast.
Learn more about manatee tracking devices in this short video!

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