News

Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park Adoption Update

It seems that we’ve skipped spring and moved straight to summer here at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Cool winter weather has been replaced by hot days, but our resident manatees continue to keep comfortable in that year-round, perfect-temperature spring water.

Ariel, Betsy, Piper*, and Heinz remain in the two manatee paddocks. Don’t fret, though; they will be out in the main spring later this summer once maintenance on the Underwater Observatory is complete. Betsy’s favorite place to rest is in the channel to the in-ground pool. Ariel is always seen not too far behind Betsy in the channel and quickly spins around to be the first at the feeding ring. Heinz is frequently observed resting in the shallow waters of the paddock near the Long River Bridge, much to the delight of visitors passing by. Piper, the most active of the four, swims with gusto around both paddocks, barrel rolling and only slowing down to munch on algae growing on the fence and consume lettuce at feeding time.

We hope that your summer travel plans include a visit to our beautiful state park, where manatees can be seen year-round. But you could possibly see wild manatees at other parks, such as Blue Spring State Park, Manatee Springs State Park, and Fanning Springs State Park.

*Piper has been transferred to a different facility since this article was written.