Current:Home > ContactHundreds of manatees huddle together for warmth at Three Sisters Springs in Florida: Watch -Visionary Wealth Guides
Hundreds of manatees huddle together for warmth at Three Sisters Springs in Florida: Watch
View
Date:2025-04-12 08:04:28
While the rest of the country may have laughed at Florida for being cold in 50-degree weather, manatees were cozying up to each other to escape the chilly waters.
A video from the Southwest Florida Water Management District posted on Friday shows hundreds of manatees speckling the shoreline of the Three Sisters Springs, located north of Tampa.
That shoreline was recently renovated to restore the habitat, which is critical for manatees seeking the warm waters from the spring, according to a post on the restoration project by the organization.
Three Sisters Springs is part of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, the only national wildlife refuge in the U.S. dedicated to protecting manatees.
Manatees in Florida:Viral video of manatee's living conditions feels like a 'gut punch,' sparks relocation from Florida facility
Why do manatees huddle together?
According to a post by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, aquatic mammals don't get heat from being so close together, but rather they are all trying to fit in the small springs where the water is warmer.
While the beloved sea cows may look cute all crowded together, that means they don't cuddle so much as huddle close to shore.
Manatees, native to Florida, deemed a threatened species
The Florida manatee is a large, gray aquatic mammal native to the region. They typically grow to be nine to 10 feet long and weigh approximately 1,000 pounds.
The Florida manatee was classified as an endangered species before its population reached more than 7,500 and it was reclassified as "threatened," meaning it still could become an endangered species in the near future.
Collisions with boats and loss of habitats that provide warm waters, like the one at Crystal River, threaten the manatee population. Many manatees are also struggling to find food.
"The loss of warm water refuges is seen as a serious long-term threat to the continued existence of the manatee," according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "Due to the inability to regulate their body temperature (thermoregulate) in cold water, cold stress is a serious threat to the manatee."
The big, blobby creatures are plant-eaters, often feeding on seagrass that has earned them the nickname, "sea cows."
Contributing: Jim Waymer, Florida Today
veryGood! (747)
Related
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Megan Fox Addresses Complicated Relationships Ahead of Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems Release
- Trump's decades of testimony provide clues about how he'll fight for his real estate empire
- USC fires defensive coordinator Alex Grinch after disastrous performance against Washington
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- 'It's freedom': Cher on singing, her mother and her first holiday album, 'Christmas'
- Moldova’s pro-Western government hails elections despite mayoral losses in capital and key cities
- Killing of Palestinian farmer adds to growing concerns over settler violence in West Bank
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
- Man arrested in slaying of woman found decapitated in Northern California home, police say
Ranking
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- 3 new poetry collections taking the pulse of the times
- South Korea plans to launch its first military spy satellite on Nov. 30
- How Melissa Gorga Has Found Peace Amid Ongoing Feud With Teresa Giudice
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Polish president to appoint new prime minister after opposition coalition’s election win
- King Charles III will preside over Britain’s State Opening of Parliament, where pomp meets politics
- The Best Beauty Stocking Stuffers of 2023 That Are All Under $30
Recommendation
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
Blinken seeks to contain Israel-Hamas war; meets with Middle East leaders in Jordan
Weekend shooting outside Denver motorcycle club leaves 2 dead, 5 injured, reports say
Trump takes aim at DeSantis at Florida GOP summit
Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
Colleges reporting surges in attacks on Jewish, Muslim students as war rages on
Horoscopes Today, November 4, 2023
Taylor Swift walks arm in arm with Selena Gomez, Brittany Mahomes for NYC girls night