We're all trying to stay warm in South Florida right now and that includes the animals.
Hundreds of manatees are taking advantage of warmer water at the local power plant in Riviera Beach to escape the frigid temperatures.
If you stop by Manatee Lagoon this week, you'll catch a special sight on a cold day. About 100 manatees are gathered in the canal at FPL’s Riviera Beach Next Generation Clean Energy Center trying to stay comfortable in the warm water outflow.
"The manatees grow up learning from their moms that this is one of the places that they can go and get warm," said Manatee Lagoon manager Sarah Marmion.
The water at the plant output canal is several degrees warmer than the Lake Worth Lagoon right now.
Manatees prefer temperatures in the 70s. If it's in the 60s or lower, they can get cold stress and experience health problems.
Hundreds of people visited the observation deck throughout the day to see the animals.
We even saw Van Halen, one of dozens of manatees in the state with a satellite tag to monitor movements and behavior. He was last spotted near Tequesta a few days ago.
Marmion said this cold weather is a good opportunity to educate others about this threatened species.
"This is terrific, this is kind of what we wait for all year long. We have a full exhibit downstairs, a lot of activities going on every day of the week," she said. "The good news is that this past year, manatees were downlisted from endangered to threatened and that's basically because the counts are a lot higher than they were a few years ago; in fact, the same rules and laws of the waterways apply."
Marmion added that with many manatees showing boat strike scars, people need to remember to be cautious while traveling the waterways.
"Specifically between November 15 and the end of March, there are buoys out there and markers in the waterways that tell you as boater if you're out there, to slow down for the no wake zone, because chances are there could be manatees in the channel. So you just really have to pay attention to the rules," she said.
Manatee Lagoon still expects 80 to 100 manatees to huddle here again on Friday morning. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free to get in.
