We took a short trip to Blue Springs State Park yesterday. This is where a spring flows continuously with water temp of 72 degrees. It's just perfect for the manatees who live there during the winter because of the warm water temp.
We saw a lot of manatees so I did get some pictures, but the best picture opt escaped me because my camera's batteries went dead and I did not have new ones. But I did buy some new ones and was able to get other pictures, just not the best ones I could have had if I had batteries at just the right time.
Manatees are mammals. They are sometimes called sea cows or sea elephants. They have a thick skin but little blubber or hair. They remind me of hippos. They go under water for a while and then surface to breathe. They can stay under for about 20 minutes, but ususally they come up for air about every 5 minutes or so. They share the care of the calves, they are social and help each other out as needed (ex. if one is sick or injured), and they can survive in fresh water or sea water. In fact as they go from salt water to fresh water and back and forth, the organisms that collect on their bodies are killed because the salt water organisms cannot survive the fresh water and the fresh water organisms cannot survive the salt water. Anyway they are so ugly only their mothers could love them I guess.
Here are some pictures:
Bob and Lucy on the boardwal
k at Blue Springs State Park.
Origin of the spring at Blue Springs
Since the water at the springs is so clear you can see the manatees quite well.
This is what manatees like to do most, just float and be lazy.
Buddies hanging out together. Sometimes as many as 150 will huddle to share the warm places.
Coming up for air.
A bunch of manatees were hanging out by this island with a palm tree, and they were coming up and eating the leaves. Yum Yum.
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