Manatees paddle to warm water to escape Fla. chillAPOLLO BEACH,
Fla. – People aren't the only ones in Florida who don't like
cold weather. Manatees — those giant aquatic mammals with the
flat, paddle-shaped tails — are swimming out of the chilly Gulf
of Mexico waters and into warmer springs and power plant
discharge canals. On Tuesday, more than 300 manatees floated in
the outflow of Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station. "It's
like a warm bathtub for them," said Wendy Anastasiou, an
environmental specialist at the power station's manatee viewing
center. "They come in here and hang out and loll around." Cold
weather can weaken manatees' immune systems and eventually kill
them. State officials said 2010 has been a deadly year for the
beloved animals: between Jan. 1 and Dec. 17, 246 manatees died
from so-called "cold stress." During the same time period in
2009, only 55 manatees died from the cold. In 2008, only 22
manatees succumbed to chilly temperatures. Manatee deaths
documented from Jan. 1 through Dec. 5