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Manatees Flock To A Place In The Sauna

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

APOLLO BEACH - Lolling. Unadulterated lolling.

Scores of manatees spent hours doing just that, along with an occasional roll, splash or flip of the tail, in the 30-acre outdoor sauna that Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Station provided during last week's winter chill.

With Hillsborough Bay temperatures in the 50s Thursday morning, at least 100 refugees flocked to the power station's discharge canal, where water used to cool the coal-burning boilers surges in to create a marine steam bath. Foamy swirls of water and rising vapors told the tale.

"It's a manatee spa," TECO environmental specialist Wendy Valle Anastasiou told visitors who bundled up in jackets and gloves to take advantage of one of the year's best opportunities to see Florida's signature marine mammal.

"I'm jealous of them right now, with all that warm water," said Jared Pendergrass of Lake Worth. The 12-year-old peeled off his gloves to take a cell phone picture and immediately felt the windy chill.

Cecil Keith, a TECO employee who plays mascot Mollie the Manatee on busy days at the Manatee Viewing Center, was looking forward to putting the lining back in his usually stuffy costume.

The day before, when temperatures started to dip, about 40 manatees sought refuge in the 3,500-foot-long hot tub, Anastasiou said. That day, water temperatures in the canal were 80 degrees and higher, while water in the bay was a chilly 70 degrees.

Even with the heated water pouring in from three industrial-size firing units, the water temperature in the canal registered about 75 degrees by 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Jared's father, Buck Pendergrass, said his family was in the area for a funeral and had planned to leave before Thursday. But his mother, who lives in Mulberry, told him about TECO's Manatee Viewing Center and the likelihood of seeing sea cows when the temperature drops. So he decided to stay a day or so longer.

"I'm glad I did," Pendergrass said. "This is really cool."

Other animals also basked in the warmth or took advantage of the discharge canal in other ways. Every now and then, a large mullet jumped from the canal into the brisk air. A yellow-crowned night heron perched on a cluster of oyster shells on the canal's edge, spied a fish and plucked a warm meal from the power plant's cooking pot.
Anastasiou said the most manatees that ever crowded into the canal numbered 345 on Feb. 2.

TECO volunteers and employees said the animals usually stay in the canal all day when cold weather sets in, leaving only for brief periods to forage in seagrass beds.

MANATEE SHOW

WHAT: Tampa Electric Co.'s Manatee Viewing Center
WHERE: 6990 Dickman Road, Apollo Beach
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily

EASIEST ROUTE: Take Interstate 75 to Apollo Beach, Exit 246. Turn west on Big Bend Road (County Road 672). Travel 2.5 miles west to the curve intersection of Big Bend and Dickman roads. The Manatee Viewing Center entrance is on the right.

ADMISSION: Free

INFORMATION: (813) 228-4289 or visit www.tampaelectric .com/manatee/

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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