January 30 – Blue Springs State Park and Manatees

Today we left “The World” and headed to Blue Springs State Park.  It is manatee season in Florida and Blue Springs is one of the best places to see manatees.  It was only an hour drive from Disney.  Manatee season is when the river waters get colder, which they don’t like, and they migrate to springs where the water is warmer. 

We arrived very early because sometimes the park is so crowded that they shut down the parking lot.  A sign at the front gate indicated the manatee count was 336, down from over 900 a few days ago.

Fortunately, we beat the crowds.  We spent a lot of time at the viewing platforms watching the manatees.  Unfortunately, it was still early enough that the shadows from the trees pretty much blanketed the river, making it a bit difficult to see the manatees. But we still managed to get some pretty decent photos.

These two manatees crossed each other right in front of one of the viewing decks. 

This little bobber is a tracker that is attached to a manatee that had been captured to be treated and then released. 

Some scientists out doing the daily count of the manatees.

There were also a lot of tilapias in the river.  They are an invasive species.  They were all lined up facing upstream.  The park’s observer said they were facing upstream to allow them to get more oxygen as the water flowed past them.

After watching for a while we headed over for our hour boat ride on the St. John River we saw a very few manatees come up for air so it wasn’t a success manatee wise.  However, we saw:

Alligators sunning themselves.

Baby Alligators

Anhingas, some drying out there feathers in the sun.  

This photo is of an Anhinga that is swimming under water to catch a fish. 

Blue Herons

Gar

Vultures

Ibis

This photo is of an Ibis and a Limpkin

Turtles

Limpkin

Little Blue Heron

Cormorant

And the river was calm, serene and relaxing.  We very much enjoyed the cruise.

After the cruise we went back to the manatee viewing areas.  The sun was much farther overhead so there were fewer shadows on the water.  So we were able to see the manatees much better.

We left at noon and found a nearby Mexican restaurant and then headed back to Disney.  We were back in our room by about 3:00 and decided to spend the rest of the day working and packing.  Our feet are about walked out.