Seacows or Manatees from Tampa, Love the Warm Waters from the Tampa Electric Plant

Thanks to the warm water coming out of the Tampa electric plant's cooling system, we are able to view the manatees when temperatures elsewhere drop below 68 degree Fahrenheit. This amazing symbiotic relationship between the Tampa area electric power and this amazing mammal species has been going on for about 20 years. Some interesting facts about manatees:

• The Florida manatee is a sub-species of the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) that has quickly adapted to live close to humans.
• The manatee was confused with the Greek mythical sirens who were not as gentle as these lovely creatures. Manatees are in fact so gentle that you can swim around them here in Florida.
• Christopher Columbus wrote about the American manatee back in 1493 for the first time.
• These mammals are entirely vegetarian or "vegan" and consume great amounts of seaweed.
• Manatees are also called Sea Cows
• An adult can weight 1,200 pounds (about 470 Kilograms) and measure 10 feet (about 3.3 meters), but they are known to grow to 14 feet (4.2 meters) and weight 3,000 pounds (1120 kg).
• Manatees sleep lots, about 12 hours a day; and when they are sleeping they surface every 20 min. to breath, when awake is about every 5 min.
• The manatees' biggest enemy is the recreation boat and its human counterpart, killing them in the hundreds every year.

More interesting information and directions to the "Manatee Viewing Center" can be found here at the Tampa Electric website.