Manatee Webcams

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About the Blue Spring Manatees

Where are the Blue Spring manatees? While the underwater cameras are now live for manatee season (roughly November through March), the manatees on the Blue Spring webcams are wild. When the temperatures are warmer, manatees may venture freely in and out of the spring and return when it gets colder. At night or when the cameras are not working, the feed will switch to a highlights reel. Any people seen in the videos are researchers or other individuals with special permission.

Support for the Manatee Webcams at Blue Spring State Park was made possible by a donation to Save the Manatee Club as a memorial gift in honor of the late Mrs. Norma Norton, a Florida resident who cared deeply for manatees.

Manatee Sighting Blog

By Wayne Hartley & Cora Berchem | December 11, 2024 | Comments Off on Manatee Sighting Blog

The forecast called for warm weather with an air temperature in the 70s early in the morning, 20mph gusty winds, and rain mid-day. It did not sound like a good morning to count manatees, but it was eerily calm at the park—until after the count, when the wind picked up, massively blowing the research canoe back onto the beach. The rain held off.

The river temperature was up to 62.9°F (17.2°C) and I counted 238 manatees. Most were in a huge cluster in the lower transects close to the river. One mother with her calf, trailing two additional calves, was rather erratically swimming around, stirring everybody up. I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed by the additional calves following her or just eager to go out and feed, but it made the count and identification of the other manatees so much harder. We haven’t tallied up the calves yet, but there are a lot. Many of them swim off and play when they enter the run and will reunite with mom when it is time to leave for the river to feed—similar to kids on a playground. We don’t like seeing small calves already hit by boats and showing scars, but we have to admit it does help with the photo-ID research. I saw a recognizable mom with the other manatees in the lower transect, but her recognizable calf was nowhere to be found. I paddled almost all the way up the spring run and there was the calf, now heading down towards the river to find mom.

The adoptees in today were Gator, Lily, and Flash.

Read more updates from the season!

About the Homosassa Springs Manatees

During the winter (November–March), the underwater gates at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park are open, and wild manatees will be seen on the webcams as they come to the natural spring to seek refuge from the cold water temperatures. The permanent residents, Ariel and Betsy, as well as any manatees in rehabilitation, will spend the winter in a different area of the park. Please remember that it is illegal to feed wild manatees.

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Meet the Girls of Homosassa!

About the Silver Springs Manatees

This camera shows a section of Silver Springs, located near Ocala in Marion County, FL. Silver Springs is the largest artesian springs complex in the world and was a famous attraction that was especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is now a Florida State Park.

Manatees roam the Silver River year-round to forage, socialize, and travel, and oftentimes visit Silver Springs State Park. Manatees reach Silver Springs by traveling from the St. Johns River through the Buckman Lock, the Ocklawaha River, and the Silver River. Manatees seek out the springs during the winter months for the warm water; the spring remains a constant 72 degrees, making it a vital warm-water source for manatees. A healthy spring run or adjacent river will contain the necessary vegetation for them to eat. In addition to manatees, occasionally alligators, turtles, and a variety of fish and birds can be seen on the cameras.

Silver Springs Webcams 180 Smc

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