A Few Unimportant Facts You May Not Know

On Wednesday we watched a slide show presentation about manatees put on by the Blue Spring State Park.  The park expert then answered questions.  Below are a few facts we learned:

The water temperature of the spring is 72 degrees year around.  Even though the river is cold the manatees go into it each day to feed on plants.  A manatee can weigh up to 2000 lbs.  They eat a tenth of their body weight each day.  In 1972 there were eleven manatees in the spring.  Today the number is close to 400.  They are no longer on the endangered list, but now on the protected list of animals.  The biggest danger to manatees are "boat strikes" where they are hit by the propellers of speed boats.

Because of their size, alligators tend to leave the adult manatees alone.  The babies, however, are sometimes eaten.  Manatees from Blue Spring have been found in the summer as far north as Cape Cod.

The tall trees above are the state tree of Florida.  They are Sabal Palms also know as Cabbage Palmetto.

The green bunches of vegetation at the top of these dormant trees along the river are Mistletoe. 

 

The white birds in these trees are Ibis.

 

That concludes this session of forgettable information.