Manatees: So Far this Season 24/25

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Carol Grant

A prolonged chill in the air. Snow in the northern part of the state? Burr! Is this Florida? Our manatees must be saying “This is NOT what we signed up for!”

Yes, the warm natural freshwater springs, like Three Sisters Springs, are about 72 degrees Fahrenheit year round. But manatees are marine mammals and must surface to breathe. Air temperatures in the 20s, 30s and low 40s can quickly cool surrounding waters near the springs. During the colder days manatees may be cautious about taking too many frequent breaths as very low temperatures can chill snouts. If you have seen ariel photographs of manatees tightly packed around the warm springs, this is what the sea cows are dealing with. And this is why Three Sisters Spring’s snorkeling water access is closed for the manatees only when the water temperature gets colder. Alternatively, above water viewing is available throughout the year via the Three Sisters Spring’s Boardwalk.

Currently, as of today, January 28th, Florida is on a warming trend! Anyone who is familiar with manatees can almost “feel” their relief as manatees can now spread out more.

Three Sisters Springs will open when the cool water temperatures have warmed past a certain threshold and are no longer a concern as manatees can come and go as they please. There have been a handful of days when the clearer water springs have been open to in-water manatee observation this season. I thought you might like to see a few current photographs and a short video. These are left over from a couple of manatee projects I’m working on. It is truly amazing how resilient Florida springs, like Three Sisters, are! She is still lovely, even after facing the last few potent tropical systems in 2023 and 2024. Let me show you:

Manatees enter Three Sisters Springs, Jan. 2, 2025.

Sometimes, an uninvited guest is helping themselves to the richness of Three Sisters Springs. In this case it’s a cormorant photobombing my manatee photo composition! Don’t get me wrong, I love birds and seeing cormorants underwater. I just wish he had announced himself first so I could have upped my camera shutter speed. Those birds swim fast, like a torpedo! Continue reading →

Manatees and Aquatic Grass Restoration

Posted on November 5, 2021 by Carol Grant

The Florida Manatee is a pretty easy going marine mammal. They eat various aquatic vegetation, seek warm water sites in the winter and peaceful shallow waters to raise their calves. With these rather simple demands one would think the manatee has a seemingly bucolic existence.

Doesn’t this manatee look contented while taking a breath? It’s been munching on an area of restored seagrass near the entrance to Three Sisters Spring, Crystal River, Florida. Photograph from November 2020.

Unfortunately a totally carefree existence is not in the cards for our beloved manatees as they face many challenges throughout their range. Florida manatees have been in the news lately Continue reading →

Underwater Macro Life at the Blue Heron Bridge

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Carol Grant

Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach, Florida. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Possibly you have had the wherewithal to explore the site on scuba or while snorkeling? Even manatees use the site as a pass-through and many sea cows winter in the warm-waters of the nearby Florida Power and Light’s Manatee Lagoon. The Bridge is rich with life, large and super small. It has a little of everything!

Blue Heron Bridge has rare creatures amongst its diversity. These pipehorses inspired me to learn to do macro underwater video! Pipehorse photographs taken on June 27 & July 1, 2019. Nikon d850/105vr/SMC/Subal U/W Housing.

Since 2002 I’ve been scuba diving from Phil Foster Park, around and under the Blue Heron Bridge in Riviera Beach, Florida. Underwater photography has been my passion, but recently I wanted to show more of these submerged but fascinating stars of the bridge. Continue reading →

Manatee Mother and Calf––On the Cover

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Carol Grant

Ever since the first edition in 2006 of The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation by Roger L. Reep and Robert K. Bonde, I’ve experienced heartfelt joy every time a manatee question of mine has been fully answered in the interesting pages of this book. Now, a second edition of the book is coming out soon with a tender photograph of a mother manatee with her young calf on the cover.

The photograph was taken by me on the Spring Equinox in 2019. I am so proud to have this photograph on the cover of this new second edition.

I remember every detail about this heartfelt encounter. Would you like to know more about this charismatic manatee mother and approximately two-week-old calf?
Continue reading →

International Manatee Day

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Carol Grant

Today, September 7th is International Manatee Day. We celebrate not only the Florida manatee, but all other manatee and dugong species around the world!
Continue reading →

BIG—Manatee Appreciation

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Carol Grant

For this Manatee Appreciation Day I want to spread a little warm cheer that’s so much needed at this time. I’m going to tell you the story of these giant manatee buddies from the building in Chicago.

Manatees greeted Chicagoans this past winter. Photo courtesy Crystal River Boat Builders Photo credit: ©️Donna Martin

When I saw this photograph posted by the Crystal River Boat Builders on Facebook, I knew it was my photograph of two of my favorite manatees but I didn’t know who was behind it? Continue reading →

Look Back at 2019–Manatees, Dry Tortugas and more

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Carol Grant

I’m taking a fond look back at what a memorable year we had in 2019. Yes, manatees were a big part of it, as always! But we also trekked over 1,000 miles across Florida, making it all the way down to Dry Tortugas National Park at the western tip of the Florida Keys. Here are some highlights:

Mustache, the baby boy manatee with the white mustache—that is a good place to start. Spring Equinox, March 20th, was the first time I saw the adorable little youngster with his mom. I’ve seen baby manatees before, most notably the little one “Angel” confirmed by Dr. Bob Bonde to have probably been born in the springs the night before that early morning Leap Day in 2008. It is interesting comparing the little calves and seeing the differences between a newborn and a manatee calf that is about two weeks old. Both are absolutely adorable!

Little Mr. Mustache the baby manatee with mom. Spring Equinox, March 20, 2019

Now look at some of the differences between the documented newborn, Angel, and the slightly older calf, the one I called Mustache, from March 20, 2019. Continue reading →

Enchanting Manatees of Crystal River—Alert Diver Magazine

Posted on June 8, 2019 by Carol Grant

Alert Diver Magazine, the high quality dive publication of Divers Alert Network (DAN), has published an article of mine called “Enchanting Manatees of Crystal River”. Here’s a little more about it.

In recent years the manatees of Crystal River have become more and more well-known. So many people have flocked to observe the charismatic sirenians that a number of additional rules and regulations have been put in place to protect these marine mammals during Florida’s winter months. I’ve done my best to succinctly outline how to respectfully see manatees in and around Crystal River. You can read the article online here:

Alert Diver Online—Enchanting Manatees of Crystal River

Or browse through this Flipbook edition of the Spring 2019 Alert Diver Magazine here page 36:

Alert Diver–Flipbook–Spring 2019: Enchanting Manatees of Crystal River – page 36

While Florida’s manatees still face Continue reading →

Birthday Manatees 2019

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Carol Grant

There’s several things that make experiencing another trip around the sun happy and more palatable. For myself, one of those things is being underwater in the manatee’s world. It has become a tradition for me to express my appreciation to the manatees, through photographs, on my birthday.

Monday, February 11th, was very warm but manatees still showed up and the water was gorgeous!

This young manatee lazily poked around Three Sisters Springs Continue reading →

Happy 2019 to Manatees and Mankind

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Carol Grant

2019 is upon us, both ourselves and our close neighbors, the Florida manatees. It’s at this time I’ll look back at a few highlights of 2018 and look forward to new adventures in 2019!

Now 2018 wasn’t all about adorable manatees (although they are certainly unforgettable). My awarded photograph of a manatee and snapper is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. till September 2019. The Nature’s Best Photography exhibition is inspiring, be sure to see it! Continue reading →

Happy Holidays from Us and the Manatees

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Carol Grant

What does Christmas have to do with Manatees? In Florida, a lot! By the time the holidays roll around, most of this area’s manatees are sheltering in and around the warm freshwater springs or using various warm water power plant channels to stay warm. With our early cold snaps this season, one is sure to see some manatees jaunting about. Now that’s another special Christmas miracle if you ask me.

Manatees celebrating the festive aspects of the season. Taken on Monday of this week in the canals of Kings Bay, Crystal River, Florida.

Here is our “Holiday Greetings from the Grants” we have been sending out to friends and family for over 25 years. I’ll post it here too: Continue reading →

Smithsonian Nature’s Best Photography Event at the National Museum of Natural History

Image

Henry, the enormous African elephant stood strong and proud while animals from his homeland, and other places far and wide, were projected around the rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C. It was the evening of November 15th, nine days ago and there was a sense of magic in the air!

A Florida manatee was included. My photograph of a Florida manatee and schooling snapper was a Highly Honored winner and will now hang in the Smithsonian for a year!

Myself and my husband Theo Grant, by my manatee photograph in the Nature’s Best Photography–Windland Smith Rice International Awards. ©️Nature’s Best Awards 2018

I’m thrilled to see it in the museum and also glad it is hung low where children can easily engage with it. Continue reading →

Manatee with Snapper-Smithsonian Nature’s Best Photography Exhibit

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Carol Grant

Beautiful blue warm spring water, tide recedes, a male manatee stretches, and snapper line up as if for roll call. Does it sound too fanciful to be real? Something ‘Through the Looking Glass’ author Lewis Carroll would have imagined?

The natural world is mysteriously beautiful, and this underwater scene truly did happen, as pictured. A beautiful Florida wild moment in time.

Florida manatee with snapper. People enjoy adding their own take on this.”First Day of School”? “Crossing Guard?” Could be? Only they know for sure 😉.

When manatee stretch and stir near the warm spring outflows, they may kick up invertebrates or other organisms in the sand. Although, I’ve never seen Continue reading →

All In The Flip of a Manatee’s Tail

Posted on November 2, 2018 by Carol Grant

Fifteen to twenty miles per hour, that’s the approximate burst speed of our Florida manatees. Usually they saunter along up to 5mph, but with that powerful tail they can really turn on the speed. Here’s another in my series of telling stories and data behind recent manatee images.

A manatee’s paddle-like tail is lit with warm sunlight. This manatee is relaxed and slowly sauntering but it can reach speeds up to 20 mph. Image from March 2018, Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida.

In comparison, other ocean friends can move along pretty quickly too. Octopus can exceed 25 mph, Continue reading →

Visit to Three Sisters Springs for Refuge Week

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Carol Grant

A few days ago I visited one of my favorite places, Three Sisters Springs, part of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. It is Refuge Week all across the country. Hurricane Michael passed just four days before my visit. Although Crystal River was spared significant flooding, Refuge Day was canceled. I still wanted to see how the springs fared, so I ventured there to check things out. No manatees were near Three Sisters as it’s still too hot for most manatees to make their way to Three Sisters. Also a cleanup project is ongoing in the canal out front of the springs, so the noise will discourage a manatee approaching the area. The project will soon be complete though, and we should have a cleaner canal.

My visit to Three Sisters Springs for Refuge Week. The blue sky was stunning. Sunday, October 14th.

The Three Sisters boardwalk and property was closed as it still had a little high water from the storm. Three Sisters Springs land access was reopened the following day, October 15th. Continue reading →

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