Manatees of Blue Spring

Affiliated Programs : Manatees of Blue Spring

Photos: Walt Stearns
Producers: Terry Drayer, Ned McLeod
Writer: Bill Belleville

Manatees once saved by a spring are now threatened by it

An audio documentary for "Living On Earth" through Public Radio International

Philippe Cousteau travels deep inside a Florida Spring on a radio expedition that explores why the manatees that thrive in its outflow are now imperiled by it. In doing so, he learns how these endangered and lovable sea cows face a growing gauntlet of man-made dangers that threaten their very existence. Reminiscent of the rich radio dramas of a bygone era, this manatee episode is the first in a series of radio expeditions undertaken by EarthEcho to be aired on "Living on Earth" on National Public Radio.


In the 1960's, Blue Spring, just off the middle of St. Johns River of Florida, was both a refuge and a torture to the West Indian Manatee. Each fall as the temperatures of the river dropped into the sixties, about 11 of the warm-blooded mammals migrated to the thermal protection of Blue, where the water remained a steady 72 degrees as it surged up out of the soft lime rock. But Blue was privately owned and the manatees—with virtually no protection—were routinely harassed as they sought out refuge. Visitors would carve initials in their flesh, fashion crude rope harnesses and ride them, and otherwise make their lives miserable during their over-winter stay at Blue.

The manatee's plight changed dramatically after a visit from Jacques Cousteau and his divers and film crew in 1970. Cousteau documented the plight of the gentle herbivores and televised it for the world to see in "The Forgotten Mermaids." The reaction galvanized support for the state of Florida to buy the land around Blue Spring and preserve it as a state park. Laws were beefed up with strict enforcement.

Today, Blue is a true refuge for the manatee. The original population of the animal here has soared to nearly 125 as the protected animals thrive. Grown calves return each year until they become mature, and then they, too, bring their own brood back to the spring.

But the spring that has offered refugee for centuries is now undergoing new human-driven threats that may lower its flow to a dangerously low level. A state commission—pressured by developers and Florida's strong boating lobby—wants to downgrade the rare endangered animal to "threatened." And the sheer increase in boat traffic since the original Cousteau visit continues to kill and maim the animals by running over them.

Philippe Cousteau, whose father dived and photographed the manatees with the legendary Cousteau team, returns to Blue 35 years later to report on the plight of these "forgotten mermaids." In doing so, he chats with park rangers who routinely study the animal, and dives into the 120-foot deep spring to better understand the arcane underground rivers that create Blue.

- written by Bill Belleville. Visit www.BillBelleville.com for more information.