APOLLO BEACH, Fla. — The water in front of the Big Bend Power Station is full of manatees right now amid the colder weather in the area.

What You Need To Know

  • Florida on a Tankful visits the free Manatee Viewing Center 

  • The location is 6990 Dickman Road, Apollo Beach

  • It's open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 1 - April 15

“I estimate pretty close to a thousand,” said Lauren Gomez, a staff member at the Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach.

The Big Bend Power Station takes in water to cool their machinery. It comes out still clean, but warmer.

And as Gomez explains, it’s just what manatees need when water temperatures dip below 68 degrees.

“And manatees, while they might look really fat, if you will, they’re one of the two marine mammals that actually lack blubber,” said Gomez. “The other one being the sea otter.”

Up close, the slow-moving sea cows might look like floating potatoes, or rocks.

It’s easy to see some of the manatees have scars from boat engines.

Displays in the Education Building show how manatees are identified by their scars and what they might look like out of the water.

The nearby tidal walk shows an idea of manatee habitat.

“So we’ve got red mangroves, white mangroves and black mangroves,” said Gomez.

It also reveals the other animals that inhabit it like birds.

It's part of the great Florida Birding trail.

The mothers are teaching their offspring how to survive the winters in Tampa Bay in a canal that is a state and federally designation manatee sanctuary.

The Manatee Viewing Center is open from Nov. 1 to April 15. And it's free.