Manatee Day (that's me on the right)

We took the 10 minute trip from Upriver over to Manatee Park today. We visited this spot back in 2005 during our first Florida trip. Chuck and Agnes Peterson told us about it. As advertised, we saw manatees. There is a small inlet here where the electric plant discharges warmer water and the manatees like it. You really only see their nose or their back as they come to the surface to breath. They say that in the morning, when the sun is behind you, you can see into the water a little bit to make out more of the manatee shape.

We got an unexpected bonus on this visit. Because of the drought conditions here, the water in the Manatee Park inlet is much saltier than normal. Also, the water from the electrical plant, which comes from Lake Okochobee originally, is saltier too. Because of the saltier water, the inlet has been "invaded" by cow-nosed sting rays. Usually, they stay out in the Gulf. One of the employees told us that there were over 100 of these guys there today. They have never been seen in the park before this winter. You could see the tips of their wings breaking the surface constantly.

A note about the picture in yesterday's post showing the pelicans on the pier. The woman in the picture and her husband were catching quite a few fish. They weren't keeping any, so they fed them to the pelicans. We thought that this was probably a common practice and the pelicans had certainly learned the routine.