January  ’10-Tampa FL Electric Company provides an Environmental Education Building @ the Manatee Viewing Center. The winter season is a time to observe the manatees as they bathe in the warm waters from the power plant. Tom and I were fortunate to visit this viewing area on two seperate occasions while in Florida.

70 degrees and a warm winter wind lifted the steam that arises from the power plant smoke stacks. The giant stacks puffed out in deep exhalation the breath of coal high into the gray skies. The waters appeared a blue gray tone with bubbling waves sloshing the mangrove trees that festoon many river banks in FL. I stepped out onto the pier and felt my tummy tip with excitement. Pointing fingers were showing the way to mating manatees. Yes, the 12 foot long creatures that appear as a giant walrus type creatures were showing us their soft side. Just piles of manatees bumping against eachother in the primitive position as they ignored the crowds of people that were 20 feet away.

A delightful volunteer was peddling manatee souveniers and information. I mentioned I’d seen a dolphin flip out of water twice in the minutes we were observing the waters. He responded that’s very rare and then it happened again. Then the dolphins flipped out of the water and the sting rays were dancing their delight. Whee-up and out of the water and back in. Then we counted sting rays swimming but 5 feet away in the shallow pools. In 15 minutes 8 sting ray swam by. Then the sharks were spinning. Just spinning magically through the air and back into the warm waters. Fish jumping out of the water and back in. I chuckled when relaying the story to a person @ the Think Tank. He said, “I can see it now-headlines will read..Roskos family sees mating manatee and we do Disney!”

Now Tom typically can be seen with a pair of binoculars around his neck or the field glasses are stowed in a Duluth Pack man purse wrapped around his neck. He prefers to view the world close up. Now I am not inclined to have a bird beak or a duck that close to my vision. I am not swift to getting the binocular lenses to focus on the object which is being pointed out. I just get a charge out of calling the animals or birds closer to us and seeing for sport how close they’ll come without anyone knowing what I’m doing. OK..maybe Tom knows as he’s eyeing me and watching my lips move.

Have you seen the manatees and do you use binoculars??

Flow like water,

Sue Roskos