~I never should have promised you a manatee~

Behold! The Big Bend Power Plant, pride of Tampa Electric.

It sits on the shores of Tampa Bay, southeast of the city, way out in the remote area of the county.  Y'all come....

Is this not a thing of beauty?  ahem.  (that is water vapor, btw).

Why were all the happy people there?  Primarily because of this giant blob, his friends and family:

ain't he cute?

Here's some better pics.  I know I promised you a manatee, but after uploading my pics, I realize you're going to get very few manatee photos today. 

I am a tad frustrated, having come to the conclusion that my camera is going to have to the shop for repair. And I don't know WHERE to take it!  
 I can't use the zoom lens on my Canon any longer. Each time I zoom in, I'll hear a grinding noise, the camera will freeze up, and then a flashing screen will pop up that says  "Error 99!"  Half the time, the camera shuts down after that.
   Maddening!
I took over 60 pics that day, only a handful came out.  BUMMER..

So what do manatees have to do with power plants?  Warmth! They like to flock to power plants in the winter when the water becomes too cold for their taste.  There must have been approximately 50 or so on this day, hovering around and doing their thing. Mostly eating, you understand.

There's an excellent Manatee observation center at the power plant, as well as boardwalks and an education center.  A gift shop and a snack bar as well.

At the overlook, just below these pilings, we saw a lot of Tarpon, which got Rick all riled up.  "Check out the size of those Tarpon!" he said."  I could almost see his hands working the imaginary reel. 

Also saw a 4ft bull shark chasing a school of fish, right underneath the deck pilings.  When my camera shut down for that... you can imagine my level of frustration.

Here's a couple cobia, circling this one manatee over and over again.  Cobia go after the smaller fish that hover underneath the body.
 How would you like to float around, and have a cobia circle you endlessly?

Here's the education center, with a cluster of buttonwood in the foreground.

Walkway to the Tampa Estuary:


Note the difference in water temperature on the power plant side of the walkway:

Manatees like it warm!

It is 72 degrees in the pic below on the other side of the walkway.  We have had a relatively warm winter so far!

They've got a nice little gift shop, too.  Of course, I just had to pick up one of these for our pond out front:

Long time readers who remember all the birds that come in off the Gulf to eat the fish in my pond will understand why...  ;)

If you go:  Directions are here.
Locals coming in from St. Pete probably would do better to take the Gandy over to 41 south.

Comments

[FC]

Cool pics and post regardless of the pics that got away. Sorry to hear about your camera...I carry mine everywhere so I can imagine the pain of CD (Camera Dysfunction).

Wowsers those cobia!!

[kenju]

I love warm water, too, in fact, my pool can never get too hot for me!

"How would you like to float around, and have a cobia circle you endlessly?"

Was his name mr. kenju? That's how I feel some days.

[Laura]

Judy, I know how you feel, believe it or not. trust me on that one. lol.

FC, The cobia were huge, very well fed, apparently. They should consider building an underwater viewing center, somehow. (the cost of it notwithstanding...) ;)

I'm actually thinking of buying a point n shoot. I get tired of switching lens back and forth during photo shoots.

[dani]

I'm so sorry about your camera, maybe Cannon has a list of places to send it to for repair?

[Janet]

I have that same error on my Canon!!! And I need to take it somewhere but haven't figured out where yet :-) There's a list on the back of the owner's manual, tho.

[Nils Ling]

Lovely pics - and yes, who could forget your kindness towards herons ;). Oh .. and YAY GATORS!

[Laura]

Dani, I've checked the phone book, but I've heard it's risky to have the camera cleaned by anyone but a pro. So I'm pretty much looking for references and recommendations at this point. Janet's suggestion, to check the back of the owner's manual through me for a loop. LOL! I'd checked the manual for cleaning and for info on the errors I was getting, but never thought to check it for the repair shops. I'll give it a second look, thanks Janet.

Nils, those herons are lucky to be alive... @#!@!
And how about them Gators!!!

[tai haku]

Laura
Do you know is this the same power plant I've seen on tv with the American crocodiles nesting nearby or a different wildlife heavy floridian power plant?

BTW a few months ago I was sat on the sand at 70 feet u/w with big cobia picking the little fish off from around me. It is an exciting but somewhat nerveracking experience.

Tai

[Valerie]

Did you see a pink sippee cup floating around? My daughter dropped it in the water a few weeks ago and embarrassed me greatly!

[Pacha Mama House]

OOH! Manatees! This is the first manatee season in our new house and we were hoping to spot some - as neighbors promised past sightings. Alas, nothing yet. Guess they're all down at the power plant :)