Watch manatees on underwater and above-water webcams at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park and Blue Spring State Park.
Webcam highlights available, too! Scroll down to view.
During the summer months (April–November) the underwater gates at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park are closed, as the wild manatees have ventured out. Permanent residents Ariel and Betsy, along with Heinz and Shantay, who are undergoing rehabilitation, can be seen on the webcams during this time as they freely roam the spring. Since they are permanent residents or rehabilitating manatees in human care, they are fed lettuce and vegetables several times a day. Please remember that it is illegal to feed wild manatees.
Underwater Webcam at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
Above-Water Webcam at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park
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At Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, visitors can see manatees both in the in-ground pool at the Manatee Care Center and beneath the surface of the spring bowl in the Underwater Observatory. Manatees can be seen in the entire spring above the water, too. Manatees are a subtropical species and cannot tolerate water temperatures below 68 degrees F. The park’s natural freshwater spring bowl remains a constant 72-degree temperature year-round, serving as vital habitat for manatees and various species of fish who enter from the river. Two manatees who cannot be released into the wild remain at the park year-round, enhancing the park’s daily manatee education programs. These manatees — Ariel and Betsy — are in Save the Manatee Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee® program.
Save the Manatee Club has a historic partnership with Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, dating to 1989 when the Club’s Adopt-A-Manatee program began, and is grateful to the park for this partnership and the wonderful care they give to the manatees. Save the Manatee Club has provided funding for a spring run gate at the park that allows wild manatees to swim into the main spring area, which acts as an important source of warmth in the winter. The Club has also funded heating support tanks, used to treat manatees with cold stress; veterinary care; and the park’s “Manatee Watch” pontoon boat, used for rescues.
Where are the Blue Spring manatees? With the warming weather, most of the manatees are currently not in the springs as they have ventured out to feed. We are now playing previously recorded highlights videos. You can also scroll down the page to see past manatee videos from the webcams. Any people seen in the videos are researchers or other individuals with special permission.
Above-Water Webcam at Blue Spring State Park
Underwater Webcam at Blue Spring State Park
Read more manatee updates from this season at Blue Spring State Park by clicking the blue Get Manatee Updates box below and click the Webcam Videos box to see manatee video clips from this season.
Please call Blue Spring State Park before you visit to get the latest manatee count at the park: 386-775-3663.
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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.
- Read Manatee Updates from this season as well as past seasons.
- Identify manatees in the Club’s adoption program using Wayne Hartley’s Scar Pattern Chart (pdf).
- See Wayne’s Scar Charts for all of the Blue Spring manatees (pdf).
- Investigate the genealogy of the Blue Spring manatees.
- Learn about our manatee research work.
- Discover Blue Spring State Park and why it is vital habitat for manatees.
- Check out our Species Spotlight to learn about other living things that share the manatee’s habitat at Blue Spring (pdf).
Manatee “Skiper” and her yearling calf make a brief summer visit to Blue Spring State Park, where they are greeted by manatee “Matthew.” July 8, 2022.
Watch even more Manatee Videos
Special Thanks To Our Partners
Blue Spring State Park, Park Manager Dustin Allen
Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Park Manager Zachary Phifer
Guest Services, Inc. at Blue Spring State Park
