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Manatee Sightings Update: June 2023

June 1, 2023 | 2023, Paddle Tales eNews

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.

Sightings Update: Blue Spring Adoptees

Adoptee Annie and her little calf have been visiting the spring a few times since manatee season officially ended on March 24. The pair is usually accompanied by another calf and a juvenile.

Adoptee Brutus made a brief, unexpected visit to Blue Spring on April 26, 2023.

A large mating herd was seen on May 6, including adoptees Brutus and Howie.

Howie made a brief surprise visit on May 6 and 7.

Nick made a brief, unexpected summer visit on May 15.

Sighting Update: Tampa Bay

Our partners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) informed us that they saw Tampa Bay adoptee “Flicker” during their photo-ID work at the warm-water outflow of the Bartow power plant on January 30 and February 20.

Tampa Bay adoptee “Vector” was also seen by our partners from FWC on February 8 in Boca Ciega Bay, which is near St. Petersburg, just a little southwest of his winter home at TECO Apollo Beach. The only photo obtained was of Vector’s tail, but his scars gave him away shortly before he submerged

Updates on released manatees

The 12 manatees released at Blue Spring in February have spread out to explore their new surroundings. Scampi, Artemis, and Finch have occasionally stopped by Blue Spring.

Artemis

In this video, Artemis (bottom) can be seen following some wild manatees, which everyone had been hoping for. She had temporarily lost her satellite tracker, but researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI) were able to re-attach it.

Andy

While they are few and far in between, we do get some sightings of our “winter regulars” from Blue Spring during the summer. On April 25, manatee “Andy” (right) made a brief visit to Blue Spring alongside recently released manatee “Artemis”.

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