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Manatees and Sunken Gardens

Series: Green Spaces | Story 21

During our last few days enjoying Florida, we made our usual trip to see the manatees. These aquatic mammals, also called sea cows, used to be mistaken for mythical mermaids. I think those sailors who saw sirens in these huge animals had been out to sea for much too long! (Manatees are the elephants of the sea, and far from siren-like.)

There is a manatee sanctuary/viewing center at Apollo Beach, which is really close to where we stay while in Florida. The center is near (and maintained by) the TECO Energy plant. It's staffed mainly by TECO retirees. Manatees need warm water (68° or higher) to survive, so they're drawn, during cooler weather, to the warm water being pumped out from the plant. They're slow-moving, prefer shallow water, and come up every 15 minutes or so to breath air, which makes them vulnerable to being hit by motor boats. In fact, many of the manatees here are named and recognized by their scars from boat encounters. They're a protected species now.

We also saw quite a few black-tipped sharks in the estuary, as well as schools of other large fish (tuna? striped mullets? common snooks? Atlantic tarpons?) swimming in the warm, shallow waters. There's also a tank of sting rays that go to the ball park in the summer that you can pet. We missed seeing the manatees last year as the center was closed due to Covid protocols. The center is a free attraction, operating on donations and support from TECO Energy.

A couple days later, our daughter took us to see the Sunken Gardens at the City of Saint Petersburg. We left her sons at home - they'd been there before and had no desire to return. And we didn't need them rushing us through the plant displays.

These gardens have been a landmark attraction since 1935, but were started in 1903 by a plumber with a passion for gardening. The site was a shallow lake formed over an ancient sinkhole. George Turner, Sr., drained the lake to start his garden. The gardens are as much as 15' below street level, but you don't realize that while there, the foliage is so lush. Visitors were paying 25 cents to stroll his grounds as early as 1924.

The Sunken Gardens were designated a local historic landmark in 1998. In 1999 the city purchased the property, renovating and restoring the buildings. Many people rent the grounds for their weddings. It's a beautiful setting, surrounded by a bustling city. And there's more than plants there.

I especially enjoyed the Chilean flamingos, which put me in mind of the croquet game in the animated Alice in Wonderland movie ("Off with their heads!"). There were macaws and a kookaburra on display. Kookaburras are the largest of the kingfisher birds. This one bathed himself in his water dish for a good 15 minutes. The two blue macaws enjoyed a swing together in their enclosure, while the red ones ate their snacks. There were box turtles and tortoises in another enclosure. An enterprising squirrel dashed in to steal a grape from their feeding area. There were a couple of koi ponds, with fish that were pushing three feet long. Some had "eyelashes" as well as Fu Manchu mustaches.

If you ever get to St Petersburg, be sure to look up the Sunken Gardens. I think you'll be as amazed as I was at the variety of tropical and subtropical plants there. They've been collected from all over the globe. I'd never realized there were so many varieties of palm trees. Most of those were sporting air plants (huge stag horn ferns) as well as having pothos and monstera plants climbing them. The leaves on the pothos were as large as elephant ears.

 

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