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 →