We travelled
over to Apollo Beach, a small town on the east side of Tampa Bay (a 20-mile
drive) to see Manatees at a viewing center at a power plant discharge pond. Eileen,
Linda and Eileen’s daughter Amy met us there. They had previously visited Homosassa Springs
State Park north of here to view manatees, where there were only a few in an
enclosed area visible from the stream bank. However, the best manatee viewing is by kayak
in the numerous inlets and bayous in the park.
They were unable to tour by kayak so they decided a visit to the power
station might be a better option.
The manatees
are native to Florida and are a protected species. They are herbivore mammals, need a warm water
habitat and are slow moving and very gentle.
Some refer to them as the “hamburger of the ocean”. Why the power station discharge pond? Here is an excerpt from the Tampa Electric
(TECO) website”:
“Big Bend Power
Station in Apollo Beach delivered reliable electricity to the community for 16
years before the commercial operation of Big Bend Unit 4 in 1986. That year,
people started seeing manatees in large numbers in the power station's
discharge canal, where saltwater – taken from Tampa Bay to cool Unit 4 –
flowed, clean and warm, back to the bay. When Tampa Bay reached 68 degrees or
colder, the mammals would seek out this new refuge. The Manatee Viewing Center
was soon born. Today, Big Bend's discharge canal is a state and federally
designated manatee sanctuary that provides critical protection from the cold
for these unique, gentle animals.”
As the water
temperature in Tampa Bay and other natural habitats along the northern part of
the west coast of Florida has already warmed up his spring, there were not a
lot of manatees to view today. We saw 2
or 3, mostly just below the water and when they periodically came up for
air. Eileen’s daughter Amy was here in
January and literally saw several hundred crowded in the discharge pond to
enjoy the warmer water.
The viewing center
is very popular and there were many visitors there today. They have an environmental educational center
with a lot of hands-on displays which are focused on environmental protection around
the manatee theme. There is also a
walkway out along the edge of the discharge canal. We also saw several other types of fish
including tarpon and black-fin sharks.
After visiting
the center it was time for lunch and our options appeared to be limited in what
was essentially an industrial and commercial pier area. There was a small snack bar at the center but
we decided to look around town. Someone
at the center recommended going down the road into the town of Apollo Beach which
we did. The town appears to be mostly
residential houses and condominiums with water access into Tampa Bay. We did find a nice restaurant called Circles
on the waterfront near a marina. We had
a leisurely lunch and all of a sudden it was after 3:00 pm. So, we decided to skip the “River O’Green
Festival” and headed back to the RV park through heavy weekend traffic near
downtown Tampa. Eileen, Linda and Amy
went on to the Bird Sanctuary in Sand Beach; we will see them again on St.
Patrick’s Day. After picking up a few
groceries, we ate dinner in the RV.
More baseball
tomorrow. The Phillies won again today
in an away game with Detroit. That’s
four in a row, but seasonal expectations still remain low at this point.
No comments:
Post a Comment