Blue Spring and Manatees

On Thursday we arrived at Blue Spring State Park in Orange City, Florida. We got GoJoe set up in the campground and took a footpath through the semi-tropical forest to the gorgeous Blue Spring, a natural source of constant 72-degree water year round.

Each winter, Blue Spring hosts dozens of Florida manatees who bask in the relatively warm waters. Their food source and main home is downstream in the St. John's River. However, the manatees cannot tolerate water below 60 degrees. Thus, they are usually found in Blue Spring from around November to March each year. They do have to swim out into the St. John's to eat the vegetation that is their main food source. But then they scurry back to the warmth of the spring.

Maybe "scurry" is not exactly the right term. They sort of lumber along like silent submarines. Many of them seem to travel as families, with two adults and a calf or two in tow. They lurk just below the surface of the crystal clear water.



The manatees are not the only wildlife hanging around Blue Spring. The water teems with fish of all sizes and water birds abound. Here an anhinga dries its wings in the sun after diving for a meal. Anhingas cannot fly with wet wings and must sit for some time with wings expanded making for good photo ops.




Blue Spring is a place of incredible natural beauty. Besides the wildlife, we liked seeing the Spanish moss hanging off the trees and walking along the boardwalk that snakes through the forest and along the water.







And we really enjoyed our private campsite surrounded by lush vegetation.