Manatee Viewing Center, Apollo Beach, Florida

 

On our last day we left early and headed over to visit some relatives staying in a campground for the winter. They took us over to see the Manatees. I had heard on the news a few days before that the animals were dying from the cold and were being washed up on the beach. There was a freeze warning on for a few of the nights that we were there. I was a bit worried about the possibility of seeing lots of dead fish, but it turned out to be very interesting. There was only one animal that looked suspicious of death.

  

On the way we stopped to look at a large eagle next.

  

  

The inlet was full of them!

  

There were walkways out over the water so people could get very close to them.

  

  

There were other types of animals that come in for the warm water. The picture above is my attempt to catch a stingray jumping. All I could capture was the splash. They seemed to jump in succession. They wouldn't jump for a long time and then one would and there would be a line of them like dominoes jumping. It's amazing how high they get out of the water.

On our way to the walking trail there were some monarch caterpillars to view.  

  

All along the trail there were speakers and signs explaining details about the wildlife there. We didn't have time to take it all in. We had to leave soon to catch our plane home. 

  

Here is the temperature of the water.

Small fish all over close to shore, in large schools.

  

 

  

A small shark. 

  

  

We could see the stingrays well.

  

Another fish.

  

Pelicans perched on the opposite side.  

So... like I said in a previous post... our last day was very interesting and we now have an interest in manatees. I've downloaded and printed a free manatee lapbook and I've ordered many books from the library. Some of those books are listed above just under the title bar. Here is the link for the lapbook if you'd like to check it out: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/manatee_lapbook.php

“The largest known cause of manatee deaths is from collisions with boats. We have no control over red tide or cold deaths so we try to focus on the deaths we can prevent.”~ Judith Vallee