Hi All!
I know a few people want to do manatee before DEMA next week.
It is "early" for the season but usually you can see a few manatee in clear water this time of year and especially if it is unseasonably cold. But that is not the case this year as we have record heat right now and it is going to cool down a bit but not much.
Too bad, I was even hoping to start a little early this year but alas - even though there won't be those strong winds from last year that mucked things up the low at night will most likely be over 10 degrees warmer than the average lows for late October.
What this means is the manatee will stay in the nice unseasonably warm Gulf (still over 80 degrees!); and not come up to the springs till it gets cooler. There may be some manatee already at some of the spots but they will most likely be in deep-dark water feeding and sleeping.
I heard the weather man say there is a La Nina in the Pacific this year and what that means for Florida is a drier Winter and a warmer Winter. These are not good manatee conditions but the "La Nina" thing is not set in stone and we can still get spotty cold fronts that will bring manatee into the clear water areas.
This coupled with more protection measures/patrols for the manatee (from snorkelers - which sadly I must say are far far far from their worst enemy.......); anyway it is a good thing that manatee will be safe and not disturbed by crowds but it also means coupled with the warmer than normal predicted conditions that photographers will just have to work a little harder than normal to be there at the right time (non-holiday/non-weekend, during the week, during cool conditions).
But that just makes great manatee pics more valuable this year and more of an accomplishment I predict! B)
I'll be posting a blog on my site talking about manatee this year - I'll keep it updated to at least twice a week but be forewarned it can be fantastic for manatee one day and just zilch the next day so no one will be able to get more info from my blog than "You should or shouldn't have been here yesterday sort of thing...." 
Best of luck, Carol
