Manatees warming inland, wind addicts shredding in the Gulf

The Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) is a subspecies of the West Indian Manatee. The other subspecies is the Antillean Manatee, Trichechus manatus manatus. The distinction is that only the Florida Manatee has to deal with cold water in winter. It does so by migrating inland to "warm water refugia" like freshwater springs. The Florida Manatee is also a little bigger than the Antillean Manatee, which might be another cold adaptation. Development in Florida has destroyed or cut off access to a lot of the natural warm water refugia, but at the same time we have inadvertently created some unnaturally warm areas (like powerplant outflows) that the manatees can use instead. One of those is Manatee Park in Fort Myers, which is on an offshoot of the Caloosahatchee Estuary warmed by effluent from a gas powerplant. It's a popular tourist destination in winter when the manatees are there. I got to go there on Thursday to give a talk about aquatic plant restoration to a nice group of staff and volunteers. We are trying to restore freshwater plants in the low salinity part of the Caloosahatchee so the manatees can eat those near the powerplant and not have to swim a long way through cold water and boat traffic to get to the seagrass beds near the coast. The freshwater plants were THICK in the 1980s and 1990s but some devastating saltwater intrusion events killed almost all of them. We're trying to manage the river flow better to avoid that, but it's hard because there are a lot of competing demands for the water. Rising sea level and other factors aren't helping. But we're doing our best. Anyway, seeing all those adorable potatos basking in the warm river reminded me what it's all about.

The other Florida winter thing I wanted to write about is windsurfing. I got a great session today in strong Northwest winds associated with what's supposed to be an exceptionally cold cold front. The air was about 14 Celsius on the beach at Wiggins Pass State Park, which would barely qualify as cold in Virginia or Massachusetts, so it wasn't too bad. I wore a 3 mm scuba wetsuit with a hooded neoprene vest underneath for some extra warmth, and that was perfect. Sometimes I peeled the hood back, but after a dousing or in chilly, peppering rain I would put it back on. The wind was just starting when I got to the beach and the waves hadn't built much yet. It was perfect for the 5.7 sail and 106 liter exocet cross.

Later the wind increased significantly and I switched to 4.7 and my smallest board (83 liters). The waves were bigger by then and I got some fun little rides.

There were a few nice kiteboarders there who I chatted with in the parking lot. Good times. :)