Manatee Sightings: April 2022

Date: March 30, 2022

See photos and videos of adoptees and other manatees sighted recently and during the 2021 – 2022 season at Blue Spring State Park by Wayne Hartley, Manatee Specialist, and Cora Berchem, Director of Multimedia and Manatee Research Associate.

You can watch more videos from the manatee season on our Webcam and YouTube pages.
All of the manatees featured below are in our Adopt-A-Manatee® program. (All SMC activities conducted under permit # MA791721-5.)

Adoptee Phyllis makes a visit to Blue Spring on March 22, 2022. Manatee Specialist Wayne Hartley thinks it’s possible she may be pregnant! Recorded with our underwater webcam. Video ©Save the Manatee Club.
Doc the manatee
Doc was spotted visiting Blue Spring State Park on March 16, 2022.
Adoptee Aqua and manatee Rocky (not an adoptee) on our underwater webcam on January 16, 2022. Video © Save the Manatee Club.
Lenny the manatee
A brief cool, rainy period caused the St. Johns River to cool in mid-March and brought in 33 manatees to Blue Spring. Lenny (pictured above) was one of them, along with Lucille, and Una.
Here’s Merlin posing on our underwater webcam in the protected warm water sanctuary at Blue Spring State Park in Spring 2021. Video © Save the Manatee Club.
Lucille the manatee.
This photo taken of Lucille on March 15th clearly shows her flipper that has been scarred from previous monofilament entanglement.
It’s not just manatees who show up on our webcams at Blue Spring State Park. On February 10, 2022, we captured a manatee playing with a turtle! Video © Save the Manatee Club.
Nick the manatee
Nick (at left) was one of 465 manatees who visited Blue Spring on a chilly day at the beginning of February.
Manatee Sharon, her calf, and a group of friends go by on our underwater webcam in the protected warm water sanctuary at Blue Spring on November 19, 2021. The video starts with Sharon blowing bubbles! Video © Save the Manatee Club.
Una the manatee
After her release in September 2020 after being treated for severe monofilament entanglement, we are always glad to see Una. Here she is on March 14, 2022.
We love watching the manatee/alligator interactions at Blue Spring. Manatees and gators peacefully co-exist at the park, but every now and then a gator inadvertently startles a group of manatees, such as this one does when climbing over a log. Big splashes ensue! Recorded with our above-water webcam on February 2, 2022. Video © Save the Manatee Club.
 

Pippen, wearing a “tag” or tracking device, follows Skiper and her calf. Pippen was rescued as a small orphan and released at Blue Spring in January 2022. He is wearing a tracking device so researchers can monitor his movements. The calf is Skiper’s first one, and it is doing very well and growing. Recorded with our underwater webcam on January 22, 2022. Video © Save the Manatee Club.
“Friends” from the charming web comic “Man versus Manatee” by Rachel Arnow. See more of Rachel’s manatee comics at manvsmanatee.com or on her Facebook page. She puts out a new comic each “Manatee Monday.”