Manatee Springs, is located in Manatee Springs State Park 6 miles west of Chiefland on SR320, off US 19. Manatee Spring is a first magnitude spring flowing directly into the Suwanee River by way of a short run. The park is heavily wooded and features swamps and hardwood wetlands along the Suwanee River, along with many sinkhole ponds including one with a cave 90 feet below ground that connects to a popular diving destination known as the Catfish Hole.
Follow Phillip
on instagram
on twitter
👻on snapchat👻
philzcatz
Though it doesn't look like much on the surface, once below the water, Catfish Hole is spectacular and for certified divers there is the possibility of the thrill of diving down and emerging from the main spring boil. The water pressure is immense so this is not for the unskilled.
Over 26,000 feet of cave passageway have been mapped, making Manatee one of the longest systems in North America. An 11,074-foot dive in 1994 established a new world record. The conduits reach a depth of 90 feet and can be entered through 4 entrances in the park: the main spring and 3 sinkholes.
Most visitors stick to the elevated boardwalk and follow the 1,200-foot spring run as it glides through the floodplain forest to the Suwannee River.
The spring is about 25-feet deep, with a tremendous boil and a pool about 75 feet across.
The first written account of Manatee Spring was described by William Bartram on a July day almost 250 years ago. Bartram was an American botanist and naturalist, son of the famed Philadelphia naturalist John Bartram (botanists and naturalists were the rock stars of the 18th century). In 1773, he embarked on a four-year journey through eight southern colonies.
Bartram made drawings and took notes on the flora and fauna and of the Native Americans he encountered. In 1774, he explored the St. Johns River, where he had memorable encounters with aggressive alligators, and also visited a principle Seminole village at Cuscowilla (now Micanopy just south of Gainesville and Paynes Prairie). Bartram is described as the first naturalist to penetrate the dense tropical forests of Florida, and was the first to describe Blue Spring, Gemini Springs, and DeLeon Springs as well. He wrote about these magnificent spots in Travels of William Bartram.
Above: Looking west across the Suwanee River toward the
Bartram's initial account of Manatee Springs follows (in italics). Misspelled words were correctly spelled in 18th century English.
Having borrowed a canoe from some Indians, I visited a very great and most beautiful fountain or spring which boils up from between the hills about 300 yards from the river, throwing up great quantities of white small pieces of shells and white shell rock which, glittering through the limped eliment as they rise to the surface, subside and fall again round about on every side.
The bason of the fountain is nearly round and about 100 yards in circumferance. The banks round about of a moderate steep assent cover'd with broken white shell and the water gradually deepns to the center of the fountain, where it is many fathoms deep. The fountain is full of fish and alegators and at great depth in the water appear as plain as if they were close at hand.
The creek that runs from this immence fountain is above twenty yards wide and runs very swift into the river, carying its sea green transparent waters near 100 yards a cross the river, the depth of the water of the creek 10 of 12 feets—where we see a continual concourse of fish of various kinds such as garr, catfish, mullet, trout, bream of various species, silverfish and pike, and the monstrous amphabious maneta: A skeleton of which I saw on the bank of the spring, which the Indians had lately killed.
The hills that nearly incompassed the spring were about 15 or 20 yards in height next the river but the land falls away considerably from the top of the hills and becomes a lower flat or nearly levell forest of pine, oak, bay, magnolia, and cabbage trees. The soil of the hills a loose greyish sandy mold on shelly and limestone rocks. The water of the spring cool and agreeable to drink. The Indians and traders say this fountain vents the waters of the Great Alatchua Savanah.
Needless to say, Manatee Springs doesn't look like Bartram first described it in July of 1774. The fountain (we now call it a "boil") is less robust than the last time I visited, the water is milky, and lyngba has invaded all areas of the spring run right up to the spring boil obscuring the once crystal clear water.
Lyngbya
Lyngbya is not a plant, a fungus, a bacteria, or a true algae. It is a primitive form of life: cyanobacteria, a blue-green algae capable of photosynthesis even in low light conditions. Lyngbya forms long filamentous hair-like strands that mat together in thick layers along the bottom, and migrate to the sides of the spring. Large floating mats of lyngya rise to the surface because of the gases released by the bacteria that live inside the mats that deplete oxygen from the water.
Many of Florida's west coast springs are contaminated with lyngbya which thrives on nitrate rich waters, the result of massive agricultural applications of fertilizers and farming of cattle (which defecate and their waste runs off into the ground water, fertilizing lyngbya).
There are no shell mounds nor hills remaining. They were likely removed by settlers to build roads into this swampy land adjacent to the deep and swift-flowing Suwanee River.
It didn't help that on the day I visited there was a cookout of some sort ongoing with a large crowd plunging into the springs' now milky-green waters, surely causing turbidity that made the water even more opaque. We made several passes through the springs and I took these photos when most of the revelers had cleared out for dinner (below).
And no, they didn't offer us any dinner.
When one visits one of Florida's 33 First Magnitude Springs they expect something more like what Bartram described. Unfortunately development, 20,000,000 residents in need of water, and agricultural concerns are depleting and polluting the flow from these once world-renowned natural wonders.
This pole marks some of the 20th centuries most significant floods along the Suwanee River. The 1948 flood was about 8-feet above ground level at this point. Some say the 2009 flood was higher. Click on the image for a larger view.
No floods this April-May as rainfall has been light this winter. The Suwanee River did appear to be faster-flowing upstream at Fanning Springs and it was loaded with garbage floating down from wherever.
A First Magnitude Spring
One of the ways that springs are classified is by the volume of water they discharge. The largest springs are called "first magnitude," meaning they discharge at least 65 million gallons per day. Of the 33 first magnitude springs in Florida, Manatee Springs is about average, emitting from 50 to 150 million gallons/day depending on a variety of factors. The water emerging from Manatee Springs varies in age from a few days old to 100 years old. The average age is 8 years old. The water is 72° year round. The water temperature in Florida's springs is an average of the year round (summer and winter, day and night) temperatures. So as you go further north in Florida, spring water is typically cooler.
Above, mats of lyngba migrate to the sides of the small boils in the spring run.
Factors Affecting Flow Rates
in West Florida Springs
In the case of Manatee Springs and nearby Fanning Springs it appears that the major factor affecting spring flow rates and the growth of Lyngba is large agricultural areas that pump water indiscriminately for such things as growing grass and that sport massive herds of cows that would be better suited to a more temperate climate. None of that is likely to change, however. There are no large cities in the spring shed of Manatee or Fanning Springs so the withdrawals of water are coming from some other human source. Decreased rainfall in recent years might have contributed to an overall decrease in spring flow but not to the extent noted at, in particular, Fanning Springs.
Despite reduced flows, some garbage floating in the river, and algae growth, I imagine on a winter day or a day when the springs are not overrun with unruly partiers it would still be a lovely place to relax and imagine what Florida springs were like even 50 years ago. Or better yet, pick up a copy of Bartram's book to read what they were like almost 250 years ago.
Below, looking north from Manatee Springs across the Suwanee River toard the Yellow Jacket Conservation Area, which is only accessible by boat or from SE County Road 349, in Old Town Florida (32680).
Above, a River Level gauge transmitting real time data to this link:
Christmas Lichen
Being particularly bent on plant ecology I thought this Christmas Lichen (Cryptothecia rubrocincta) was a real find. A species of lichen in the Arthoniacea family of fungi, this species is found in subtropical and tropical locations throughout the southeastern United States. The body of the lichen forms continuous, circular crust-like patches on dead wood, readily recognizable by the prominent red pigment often found in a circular pattern around the body of the lichen.
The red pigment, called chiodectonic acid, is one of several chemicals the lichen produces to help tolerate inhospitable growing conditions.
Poison Ivy and Fire Ants
(Toxicodendron radicans)
. . . and above, my old favorite. . . poison ivy. What would a day hiking in Florida's woods be without poison ivy? I am still mildly allergic to this ubiquitous vine that I encounter so frequently in my hikes across Florida. Poison Ivy and Fire Ants are probably my most hated Florida Natural species. . . and fire ants are anything but natural. Read the history of Fire Ants in Florida at this link: Global Invastion History of the Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta. The authors of the paper conclude that their results illustrate in stark fashion a severe negative consequence of an increasingly massive and interconnected global trade and travel system. As if we didn't already know there were problems with free trade agreements and global travel, huh? Fire ants.
We've Read:
Photographer: Paul Nicklen @paulnicklen
A sunflower sea star along the Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada (Pycnopodia helianthoides) works stealthily across the ocean floor in search of food. They can grow up to 3 feet in diameter and travel at rip roaring speeds of 3 feet a minute as they seek out sea urchins. Water temperatures off the coast of the US and Canada have warmed by several degrees and tragically, this starfish species was the hardest hit from an aptly named disease called“starfish wasting disease”. I took this image several years ago when this species was everywhere. Now, I never seen them at all. They have all but vanished from this coast.
Photographer: Keith Ladzinski @ladzinski
Olympic National Park: Life in a tide pool is about as competitive as it gets with wall to wall danger. Real-estate comes at a high price and strength in numbers is a good strategy if you want to survive. This pool was roughly 1 meter in diameter at best, wall to wall Giant Green Anemones, mussels, Ochre Sea Stars and surrounded by barnacles and sharp crustaceans. Tough place to get into position to shoot photos but worth the effort, marine life at this level is truly impressive! Photographed on assignment for @natgeo.
Is anyone really surprised? What did they think would happen? The large-scale dredging of Miami's port to accommodate the newest (larger) generation of freighters has caused widespread damage to the area's fragile and distressed coral reef according to a new report by NOAA. Related: Despite Supposed Protections, Miami Port Project Smothers Coral Reef in Silt, Researchers Race to Save Coral in Miami, Fears in Miami that Port Expansion Will Destroy Reefs.