On a cold Florida morning, one of Tampa Bay’s most extraordinary wildlife gatherings can take place beside a power station. Manatees slip into a warm-water canal in Apollo Beach, sometimes by the hundreds, seeking shelter from temperatures that can threaten their survival.
Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center has opened its 40th season, welcoming visitors free of charge to watch the animals from boardwalks and explore a conservation campus. Last season, a record 2,100 manatees gathered in the canal on a single very cold day. But the anniversary raises a question that is considerably harder than planning a family outing: what will happen to Florida’s manatees when some of the power plants that help them survive winter eventually stop producing warm water?
Why manatees gather at an electric plant
Manatees began using the warm-water discharge at Tampa Electric’s Big Bend Power Station in the early 1970s. Water from Tampa Bay is used to cool the plant, then returns to the bay warmer than before. When surrounding waters fall to around 68 degrees Fahrenheit or below, the canal becomes a refuge for animals vulnerable to cold stress.
The animals have kept returning. Tampa Electric has documented about 190 individuals using the canal for more than 20 years, and one returning manatee has been tracked for more than four decades. The warm-water area is protected as a state and federal manatee sanctuary…