Today we took a family outing over to Manatee Park, a small public park adjacent to the Florida Power & Light power electric plant near here. The power plant utilizes water from the Caloosahatchee River north of Palm Beach Blvd. (see map below) The water is used to cool parts of the power plant then discharged into a canal that flows south under the highway and through Manatee Park into the Orange River before it returns back to the Caloosahatchee again. I've clipped a sattellite view for you.
The end result is that the water is quite toasty and apparently just right for the Manatees. We've heard stories of almost a hundred Manatees laying around and resting in this very short canal. From what we hear there is no food source for these animals anywhere near here. They travel up to 30 miles to find the vegatation they need for their several hundred pound daily intake. Once they get their fill they return here to rest and sleep. We didn't get the whole story of where they get their food, but assume it's up the Caloosahachee toward Lake Okeechobee. From what we understand all the water from that lake flows into this river then San Carlos Bay (adajacent to Sanibel), before finding and finally into the Gulf of Mexico.
Hugs,
Jerry & Gerrie
