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Manatees Seek Refuge From Cold At Three Sisters Springs

Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Cold weather is forcing more than 500 manatees to huddle for warmth at Three Sisters Springs, part of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

It is the first time so many manatees have spent so many days at the only refuge for the endangered Florida manatee.

For more than two weeks the manatees have huddled at the springs 80 miles west of Orlando, prompting administrators to intermittently close the area to swimmers.

Ivan Vicente of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge says the sea cows are squeezed into an area measuring less than an acre.

"We're talking 500 of them, all body-to-body, next to each other looking like giant boulders in a big boulder field underwater, is what it looks like."

Manatees cannot survive in cold water, and that is why during the winter they seek out warmer water near springs and power plants.

The area is one of the few places where people can swim with manatees during the winter.

 

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.