Why would anyone go hang out next to a power plant? Because they use the water in the bay to cool the towers.  The warm water comes out in the channel and keeps the manatees warm during the winter. Hundreds of manatees spend their winters in this channel.  The power plant built a dock for people to stand on and watch the manatees come up for air.

One of the manatees near the dock.

For extra enjoyment, they hire sharks to jump out of the water and entertain us. (Just kidding, this was the first time we had seen this here before).

Little fiddler crabs and willets hang out on the shoreline under the dock.

Overhead, an osprey was gathering sticks for a nest.

Little fishies.

We made our annual winter trip to the Tampa Electric Plant to see the manatees in late February. Even thought it’s been a warm winter, the water in the bay has been cold enough for the manatees to congregate in the warmer waters next to the plant. There were tons of manatees in the water but I think this time there were more people than manatees.