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Manatee center gets makeover

A renovated museum and new activities for visitors are offered.

Staff file photo (2004)

Nearly two dozen manatees have made their way to the waters near the Big Bend Power Station.

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: November 20, 2009

APOLLO BEACH - Endangered Florida manatees already are making their way back to the warm outfall waters near Tampa Electric Co.'s Big Bend Power Station.

The nearby Manatee Viewing Center, with a renovated museum, is ready for the crowds, which typically keep on coming through March.

Just this week, about 20 manatees, including a mother and baby, had already made their way to the area, where a number of visitors gathered to observe them.

"We did some upgrades over the summer and we're ready," center director Wendy Anastasiou said. "The museum hasn't been changed in 15 or 20 years. We've added some fun, exciting things, including some hands-on things to do for both kids and adults."

One of the new items in the museum is a manatee race, where two people get on what look like exercise bikes. Acting as the manatees, they must dodge boats and water scooters to reach safety. There is also a manatee skeleton guests can work to piece together.

"Every year this place gets better and better," said Jean Schneider, of Apollo Beach, visiting the center with her friend Carol Frantz, of Fort Myers. "All of our company comes here."

"They've got a lot of interesting displays," Frantz said. "I love it and it's great I got to see a whole bunch of manatees."

November is Manatee Awareness Month, as Florida's lumbering sea cows make their way to warm-water sites for winter. One of the biggest draws in this area is TECO's Apollo Beach plant, which prompted the company to build the observation center 24 years ago.

Boaters are urged to use caution and heed slow-speed zones from now through March to avoid hitting a manatee. Part of the display in the renovated museum is of broken manatee bones, caused by collisions with boats and other vessels.

"If you think you see a manatee, give it plenty of room because it may not be alone," said Kipp Frohlich, leader of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission's Imperiled Species Management Section. "It may have a calf or be traveling with other manatees."

From now through March 31, TECO's discharge canal will be a No Entry zone. Idle speed zones are in effect in the plant's general vicinity.

The Manatee Viewing Center is located at the west end of Apollo Beach Boulevard. It is open to the public daily from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through April 15. (The center is closed Thanksgiving, at
3 p.m. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Easter.)

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 627-4763.

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