“A full-grown manatee, which can weigh more than 1,000 pounds, looks like the result of a genetic experiment involving a walrus and the Goodyear Blimp.” ~ Dave Barry

The other day, we made a trip to the Manatee Viewing Center, at Apollo Beach, here in Florida -and so our encounters with sea-life continued!  The viewing center is in such a strange visual juxtaposition!  It sits alongside the Big Bend Power Station.

en.wikipedia.org  

"The Manatee Viewing Center gets its name from the fact that visitors get to view manatees that gather in the clean, warm water discharge canal between the Big Bend Power Station and the center when the temperature of Tampa Bay falls below 68 degrees Fahrenheit."

The temperature of the warmed water at the site.

 A little manatee information, as provided by the Manatee Viewing Center - which also has two live web-cams for your viewing pleasure - I have put links to them on the right-hand side of my blog under "pages".

(which makes this a good time to remind folks who receive this via e-mail - that you only receive the individual post, not the whole blog, so remember to go to www.myretiringlife.blogspot.com  in order to see other things that are happening there!)

"The Florida manatee is a large, plant-eating, warm-blooded marine mammal found in Florida's shallow coastal waters, rivers and springs. At first glance, the behavior of the manatee appears simple and unstructured, but the behavior is specifically adapted to Florida's sub-tropical climate."

Massive, yet graceful, we saw probably half a dozen manatee during our visit.  The site has had as many as 300 at one time - I can hardly imagine what that must have looked like.

Such interesting animals!