Kings Bay Manatees

Kings Bay, the head of the Crystal River, draws one of the largest winter gatherings of West Indian manatees anywhere. Dozens of springs rise into the bay at about 72 degrees, and when the Gulf turns cold, manatees swim upriver to the warm water to survive. On the coldest mornings hundreds of them crowd into the bay, and Three Sisters Springs, a small spring basin off one of its canals, can fill with them. Crystal River is one of the only places in the United States where guided swims with wild manatees are allowed, and the practice has become a major winter draw. The rules have tightened as the crowds have grown. Parts of the bay are closed as sanctuaries each winter, and Three Sisters Springs is closed to paddlers all winter and to swimmers on the coldest days, so the animals are not driven out of the warmest water. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1983 specifically to protect manatee habitat in the bay. Three Sisters Springs was bought for public ownership in 2010, and it is owned by the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The bay also shows what springs lose to nutrients. Much of its native eelgrass disappeared under algae in recent decades, and a restoration project has been replanting it acre by acre.