Manatees live throughout Florida’s coastal waters, rivers, springs, and estuaries, with their distribution shifting dramatically between summer and winter. During warm months, they spread across both coasts and travel as far north as the Carolinas. When water temperatures drop below 68°F, they funnel into warm-water refuges like natural springs and power plant discharge canals, creating the large winter gatherings Florida is famous for. The statewide population was estimated at 8,350 to 11,730 animals during the most recent aerial survey in 2021-2022.
Year-Round Range Across Both Coasts
Florida manatees occupy waters on both the Gulf (west) coast and the Atlantic (east) coast in roughly equal numbers. The 2021-2022 abundance survey estimated 3,960 to 5,420 manatees on the west coast and 3,940 to 6,980 on the east coast. They use a wide variety of habitats: estuaries, rivers, streams, lagoons, and shallow coastal waters. Southwest Florida is a particularly important region, though it also carries elevated risk from red tide, a toxic algal bloom that is one of the leading causes of manatee deaths in that area.
In spring, manatees begin migrating outward from their winter gathering spots. Some travel remarkable distances. Satellite-tagged animals have covered a waterway range stretching roughly 900 miles from Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County all the way to Charleston, South Carolina, with additional movements up the St. Johns River to Orange City. Each fall, they return south to Florida as water temperatures cool.
Why Warm Water Dictates Winter Location
Manatees cannot tolerate cold water. When temperatures drop below 68°F, they can develop cold-stress syndrome, a potentially fatal condition that causes skin lesions, circulation problems, immune suppression, and eventually organ failure. Because of this vulnerability, their winter distribution is tightly clustered around reliable sources of warm water.
Two types of warm-water refuges anchor the winter population. The first is natural springs, which maintain a constant temperature year-round. Blue Spring State Park, for example, stays at a steady 72°F. The second is power plant discharge canals, where heated water from electricity generation creates artificially warm zones. From mid-November through March, hundreds of manatees pack into these sites, sometimes creating dense aggregations visible from shore.
Major Winter Gathering Sites
The biggest concentrations of manatees in winter occur at a handful of well-known locations scattered across the state:
- Crystal River and Kings Bay (Citrus County): The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge protects warm-water sanctuaries in Kings Bay, including Three Sisters Springs. This is one of the most significant winter refuges on the Gulf coast, with federal no-entry zones enforced from November 15 through March 31 to protect resting manatees.
- Blue Spring State Park (Orange City): Hundreds of manatees congregate in this spring run along the St. Johns River from mid-November through March. It is one of the most reliable and accessible viewing locations on the Atlantic side of the state.
- Homosassa Springs (Homosassa): Wild manatees now have access to the headwaters of Homosassa Spring during winter at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
- TECO Manatee Viewing Center (Apollo Beach): Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend power plant discharge canal draws hundreds of manatees into Tampa Bay during cold months. Idle-speed boating restrictions are in effect from November 15 through March 31.
- Lee County Manatee Park (Fort Myers): The Orange River and a nearby power plant discharge canal attract hundreds of manatees during winter on the southwest coast.
- Manatee Lagoon (Riviera Beach/West Palm Beach): Warm water near FPL’s Riviera Beach energy center draws manatees to an observation area on the southeast coast.
Smaller but notable winter sites include Wakulla Springs and the St. Marks River in the Panhandle, Manatee Springs and Fanning Springs along the Suwannee River, and Spring Bayou near Tarpon Springs, where manatees visit a freshwater spring from November through May.
Seagrass Beds Shape Summer Habitat
Outside of winter, manatees spread out to feed, and their distribution follows the seagrass. Florida supports several species of seagrass that manatees graze on. Turtle grass, the largest variety, forms extensive beds in Florida Bay and along southern coastlines but doesn’t grow along the northeast coast. Manatee grass, recognizable by its thin cylindrical leaves, has been found as far north as Pensacola. Shoal grass colonizes shallow inlets along the east coast, and widgeon grass grows in both fresh and salt water throughout the state’s estuaries.
The Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s central east coast was once prime manatee foraging habitat, but between 2011 and 2020, repeated severe algal blooms wiped out nearly 75 percent of the lagoon’s seagrass. This loss has directly affected the food supply for manatees that historically used the lagoon as summer and transitional habitat. Restoration efforts are underway, but the damage reshaped where manatees can reliably feed along the Atlantic coast.
Freshwater Sources Along the Coast
Even when manatees spend time in saltwater or brackish estuaries, they need access to fresh water for drinking. They appear to maintain a mental map of freshwater sites and visit them roughly every 3 to 16 days. These sources include river mouths, spring systems, stormwater outfalls, and even industrial discharge points. In some parts of Florida, manatees live primarily or exclusively in freshwater habitats, particularly along spring-fed rivers like the Crystal River, Homosassa River, and St. Johns River.
Federal critical habitat designations for the species reflect this need. Protection criteria require that suitable habitat include freshwater sources within a roughly 3-mile radius of the areas manatees use, alongside foraging grounds and, in winter, warm water.
Protection Zones and Boating Restrictions
Many of the places manatees concentrate in Florida carry seasonal or year-round boating restrictions. The most protective are no-entry zones, which completely prohibit watercraft and swimmers. These are designated around specific springs and sanctuaries within the Kings Bay Manatee Refuge from November 15 through March 31. During unexpected cold snaps outside that window, temporary no-entry zones can be declared for up to 14 consecutive days.
Broader idle-speed zones surround power plant refuges like the Big Bend and Port Sutton areas in Tampa Bay during the same November-to-March period. If you’re boating in any area where manatees are known to gather, posted speed signs and seasonal markers indicate the active restrictions. These zones shift based on where manatees are actually present, so conditions can change within a single season.