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A Place In The Sauna

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

APOLLO BEACH - Lolling. Unadulterated lolling.

Scores of manatees spent hours doing just that, along with an occasional roll, splash or flip of the tail, in the 30-acre outdoor sauna that Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Station provided during last week's winter chill.

With Hillsborough Bay temperatures in the 50s Thursday morning, at least 100 refugees flocked to the power station's discharge canal, where water used to cool the coal-burning boilers surges in to create a marine steam bath. Foamy swirls of water and rising vapors told the tale.

"It's a manatee spa," TECO environmental specialist Wendy Valle Anastasiou told visitors who bundled up in jackets and gloves to take advantage of one of the year's best opportunities to see Florida's signature marine mammal.

"I'm jealous of them right now, with all that warm water," said Jared Pendergrass of Lake Worth. The 12-year-old peeled off his gloves to take a cell phone picture and immediately felt the windy chill.

Cecil Keith, a TECO employee who plays mascot Mollie the Manatee on busy days at the Manatee Viewing Center, was looking forward to putting the lining back in his usually stuffy costume.

The day before, when temperatures started to dip, about 40 manatees sought refuge in the 3,500-foot-long hot tub, Anastasiou said. That day, water temperatures in the canal were 80 degrees and higher, while water in the Bay was a chilly 70 degrees.

Even with the water pouring in from three industrial-sized firing units, the water temperature in the canal registered about 75 degrees by 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Jared's father, Buck Pendergrass, said his family was in the area for a funeral and had planned to leave before Thursday. But his mother, who lives in Mulberry, told him about TECO's Manatee Viewing Center and the likelihood of seeing sea cows when the temperature drops. So he decided to stay a day or so longer.

"I'm glad I did," Pendergrass said. "This is really cool."

Jared and his brother, Joshua, 11, said they weren't disappointed. Jared said he had seen a manatee once by boat.

"I've never seen this many in my life," Jared said.

Other animals also basked in the warmth or took advantage of the discharge canal in other ways. Every now and then, a large mullet jumped from the canal into the brisk air. A yellow-crowned night heron perched on a cluster of oyster shells on the canal's edge, spied a fish and plucked a warm meal from the power plant's cooking pot.
Anastasiou said the most manatees that ever crowded into the canal numbered 345 on Feb. 2.

This winter, she said, the first few refugees - mostly mothers and calves - trickled in when fall nipped the air in mid-October. They stayed for a short time before the Bay temperatures nudged up again, she recalled.

TECO volunteers and employees said the animals usually stay in the canal all day when cold weather sets in, leaving only for brief periods to forage in seagrass beds outside the plant.
Anastasiou predicted mother sea cows would appoint surrogates to watch out for their young while they went in search of food. Then the adults return and nurse their offspring.

"The babies don't even have to leave their nice warm tub," Anastasiou said.

State researchers also flock to Big Bend during the first cold snap, eager to document the habits and whereabouts of manatees that are widely recognized by their scars. Experts say most of the lumbering mammals bear scars from run-ins with boats. Some in the canal were missing chunks of their tails.
Anastasiou said she had spotted a sea cow dubbed Flicker, a name bestowed because the scar pattern on the animal's back resembles flickering flames. The female manatee had been seen in recent weeks towing a crab trap buoy and tangled in fishing line, Anastasiou said. The buoy had been cut away, but scientists were still trying to find a way to remove the fishing line.

Human visitors eager to escape the cold could spend time looking at exhibits in the manatee museum, browsing among jewelry, T-shirts and artwork in the gift shop or buying coffee, hot chocolate and other refreshments.

Less popular last week was a 900-foot pier that stretches along the canal and includes a canopy of red and black mangroves. Signs identify natural coastal plants and a speaker system provides facts about Tampa Bay habitats. The mangrove arboretum is popular in warm weather, Anastasiou said.

She said about 317,000 people visited the Manatee Viewing Center last season. The center typically opens from Nov. 1 through April 15.

Longtime volunteers said people from Australia, England, Japan and Canada have joined visitors from all over the United States at the center. The center has become a repeat stop for some families, said the center's facility coordinator, Jamie Woodlee.

"People bring their kids back every year and now they're grown up," she said.

Gene Copeland, who retired after 32 years with TECO and has volunteered at the center since 1994, said he could remember decades ago when only a gate and a guard shack marked the spot where people could get a gander at basking manatees.

The power company later brought in trailers and offered a television video about the endangered manatee. The center was built in 1992.

"It just keeps expanding and getting better and better," Copeland said.

The manatees were plainly visible almost everywhere in the canal Thursday. On other days, Anastasiou said she advises visitors to look for the swirls in the water when manatees swish their tails or a snout poking out of the water.

"You'll see their little noses pop up sometimes," she said. "They'll blow their noses, if you will."

Copeland said he likes spending his winters at the center. He enjoys the people and the wildlife.

"You never know what you're going to see on any given day," he said.

THE MANATEE SHOW

WHAT: Tampa Electric Co.'s Manatee Viewing Center
WHERE: 6990 Dickman Road, Apollo Beach
HOURS: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily

EASIEST ROUTE: Take Interstate 75 to Apollo Beach Exit 246. Turn west on Big Bend Road (County Road 672). Travel 2.5 miles west to the curve intersection of Big Bend and Dickman roads. The Manatee Viewing Center entrance is on the right.

ADMISSION: Free

INFORMATION: (813) 228-4289 or visit www.tampaelectric.com/manatee/

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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