Escapees November-December 2023

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The Mermaids of Fort Myers, Florida Manatee Park 10901 State Road 80 (Palm Beach Blvd.) Fort Myers, Fl 33905, 239-690-5030, www.leegov.com/parks/parks/manateepark

The Florida Manatee lives in the brackish, salt and freshwater coastal area. They are very large marine mammals with little fat to keep them warm which makes them susceptible to cold stress. Itwas fi rst believed that the Florida manatee and the West Indian manatee were the same. Although closely related, the Florida manatee is a sub-species of the West Indian manatee found in the Caribbean. They are grayish brown in color. Their long tube-like bodies taper at the end to a paddle-shaped tail with two fl ippersand three to four “ fi ngernails” on each fl ipper. The face is wrinkled, and the snout has whiskers. In folklore, this aquatic creature had a head and upper body of a female and the tail of a fi sh. These “mermaids” were seen as harmless, seductive singers. Christopher Columbus reported seeing mermaids during his exploration of the Caribbean. Science believes the sightings were mana tees. Some called mermaids sirens, which were believed to be evil mermaids. I believe these sailors must have been at sea a very long time to look at the manatee and see what they show in pictures as the “beautiful, curva ceous, long-haired mermaid.” In the summer when the water is warmer, some manatees will travel from Florida to Texas and as far north as Maine. An average adult manatee can weigh around 1,000 to 1,200 pounds, with some weighing up to 3,000 pounds.

What do you do on a cool, cloudy, windy day in Florida, in January? You go to Manatee Park in Fort Myers. My husband, Danny, and I usually plan to be south of Sarasota this time of year as the chances are pretty good you will get a cool spell sometime in the month. The tropical line is around Sara sota where there’s not too much change in temperature from Sarasota to the Keys. At 45/50 degrees everyone had on warm clothing during our visit. Our neighbors were from Minnesota and said it was a spring day for them. It’s all relative. M anatee Park is located on state road 80 (10901 Palm Beach Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33905, across from the Florida Power and Light power plant). When the water tempera ture in the Gulf of Mexico drops below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the manatee seeks warmer water. They are found in shallow, slow-moving water. Florida Power and Light has a discharge canal that joins the river where the Manatees swim.

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ESCAPEES Magazine November/December 2023