Manatee season officially started at Blue Spring on November 19th, 2022 and many manatees have already visited the warm water refuge. As always in the wintertime SMC Manatee Specialist Wayne Hartley and Manatee Research Associate Cora Berchem conduct daily morning “roll calls” to count and identify the manatees. Our daily updates can be found on our social media channels and on ManaTV.org where the public can also watch our live webcams from Blue Spring and Homosassa!
Annie
Annie was seen at Blue Spring during a brief cold spell in October and then again once season started. Wayne and Cora confirm that she is heavily pregnant! Here she is seen traveling through the spring run on October 23rd, 2022.
Nick
Nick was one of the first manatees to arrive for the season on November 19th and was snoozing in the upper half of the spring run.
Lily
Adoptee Lily, the oldest living female manatee at Blue Spring, was one of the first ones to show up for season on November 18th and has been seen several times since.
Gator
Gator, one of the most popular adoptees, arrived for season on November 18th. Although he was not seen during the official roll call he was recorded on the webcam. Here he is at Blue Spring on November 22nd.
Una & Calf
We were very happy to see adoptee Una with a new calf on November 20th! No word yet on whether the calf is a boy or a girl!
Yvonne
Manatee Yvonne, not a SMC adoptee, was recorded on the webcam just before season started on November 8th nursing her own calf and a “freeloader”. It is not uncommon for manatee mothers to nurse their own calf and additional calves or juveniles!
Lesley
Lesley made her first season visit on November 20th. We were happy to see how good she looked, given that she was in rehabilitation for almost 3 years for a very severe watercraft injury. The scar on her back is significant, but she looks great!
Mona with Calves
We have already seen over 30 calves this season which is very encouraging. One of them is Mona (not an SMC adoptee) recorded on the webcam on November 17th nursing her own calf and another one.
Phyllis
Phyllis arrived for season on November 21st. Here she is resting in the warm water of Blue Spring on November 22nd.
Glenn
We were happy to see manatee Glenn (not an SMC adoptee) return to Blue Spring for the second season! Glenn has a known sighting history along the Atlantic coast of Florida, including Brevard County. We are happy he seemed to have chosen Blue Spring as his new winter home which provides better habitat for him than the Atlantic coast.
Paprika & Calf
Exciting News! Paprika, who was rescued last spring near Welaka Springs for a watercraft injury and released near Blue Spring in the summer returned to Blue Spring with a calf in tow! Both mom and calf look great. Paprika is outfitted with a satellite tracking device so her movements can be monitored by researchers from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI).
