Several Coastal Adoptees Surfaced Over Winter

June 19, 2025 | June 2025,

Vector rests in the warm water near the Apollo Beach power plant outflow in early February.

Coastal Adoption Update

By Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate

As we move into warmer months and manatees migrate out of their warm-water winter aggregation sites, sightings usually decline. However, our partners from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are still very busy reviewing all the photo-ID data collected during the manatee season. They informed us that adoptee Flicker was seen in late January at the TECO Big Bend power plant in Apollo Beach, and in mid-March she showed up in Tampa Bay. Vector also visited the TECO power plant for two days in late January during one of the more bitter winter cold fronts and then once again in early February. The other coastal adoptees remained elusive except for Millie. While she seemed to have spent the winter at Port Everglades and never made a trip to Blue Spring, our partners from Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute reported her back in the Ocklawaha River at the Moss Bluff Lock and Dam in early April. We shall see if she stays around for the summer!