Manatee Park Manatees Mesmerize Tourists!
Check this out! My manatee buddies swimming around in the Orange River at Fort Myers’ Manatee Park are having plenty of fun with tourists! The park is located at 10901 Palm Beach Blvd., just east of I-75 off of exit 141 (Palm Beach Boulevard). Right next to Manatee Park is the Florida Power and Light plant. The plant releases tons of warm water in the canal right which is just off the Orange River. We manatees are warm blooded and we can’t survive long when water temperatures drop below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So when the nearby waters of the Gulf of Mexico cool off, the Manatee Park’s canal fills up with lots of manatees.
Case in point, the Gulf of Mexico water temperature off of the west coast of Florida was 66 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the Orange River canal’s water temperature was coming in at a balmy 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Bring on the manatee party!
If you see any sick or injured manatees, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.
Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …
Here’s another awesome link to learn more about manatees …
~ Kobee Manatee
