(15 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++HFR Tuesday January 14 at 23:30 EST++
ASSOCIATED PRESS – Access All
Riviera Beach, Florida – 10 January 2025
1. Wide people watching manatees in lagoon
2. Manatees with view of pipes of power plant
3. Close manatee surfacing
4. Wide of Florida Power and Light Riviera Beach power plant and manatee lagoon
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Shanker, Manatee Lagoon education manager:
++SOUND COVERED SHOTS 1-6++
"We are here at Manatee Lagoon, and this time of year, from November 15 through March 31 is manatee season. But on a cold day like today where we’ve had a few consistent cold fronts to really drop that water temperature, we start to see dozens and dozens of manatees gather for the clean, warm water outflow from the power plant next door."
6. Many manatees in water
7. Worker counting manatees
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Shanker, Manatee Lagoon education manager:
++SOUND BEGINS IN SHOT 6 AND ENDS IN SHOT 9++
"Manatees cannot survive in water temperatures below about 68°F. So once it starts getting cold, they have to seek out warm water refuges such as the one right here at Manatee Lagoon in order to stay healthy."
9. Manatee noses surfacing
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rachel Shanker, Manatee Lagoon education manager:
++SOUND COVERED SHOTS 9-15++
"Manatees will gather at different power plants across the state of Florida. So they’ll find different warm water refuges, whether it’s power plants or natural springs– that water is going to be about 72 degrees year-round. Or they’ll backtrack up into just some natural warm water canals that don’t get quite as cold as our intercoastal waters do."
11. Wide man watching manatees
12. Board with manatee sightings numbers
13. People near water
14. Sign reading “Do not feed manatees”
15. Manatees in water
STORYLINE:
A polar vortex that has hit much of the U.S. with ice and snow has dealt a glancing blow to Florida, dropping coastal temperatures and causing the Sunshine State’s manatee population, still recovering from a mass starvation event several years ago, to seek warmer waters.
Besides inland natural springs, a popular destination for the docile aquatic mammals is the warm-water outflows of about a dozen power plants around Florida. Manatees have been attracted to the warm-water discharges for decades, following a watery travel route that mother manatees have taught to manatee calves. Public viewing areas are located near power plants in Riviera Beach, Fort Myers and Apollo Beach.
Dozens of the sea cows, which can grow up to 10 feet (3 meters) long and 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms), have been congregating for the past week near Florida Power & Light Company’s Riviera Beach plant, where the company opened the Manatee Lagoon attraction in 2016. The two-story, 16,000-square-foot complex is free and open to the public. They’re hosting a family-friendly ManateeFest on Feb. 1.
“Manatees are such a special species that we have in our waters here in Florida, because they are a sentinel species, which means that they’re an indicator for any water problems that we may have or any environmental issues we may have,” Manatee Lagoon education manager Rachel Shanker said. “They’re kind of the first animals to start to respond to any changes in the environment. And because they’re so charismatic, people really take note of that.”
“Manatees cannot survive in water temperatures below about 68°F. So once it starts getting cold, they have to seek out warm water refuges such as the one right here at Manatee Lagoon in order to stay healthy,” Shanker said.
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