Manatee Update: Fall is Arriving in Crystal River 🍂

Here in Crystal River we are seeing an uptick in manatees inside Kings Bay. The evening air temperatures have been a bit chilly (for Florida!) causing Gulf waters to drop into the high 70 degrees Fahrenheit. With those changes, more manatees are coming back into the bay to explore. Even with these visitors, most tours are still swimming with 1-3 manatees on average. Water clarity is still being impacted by the tides, with the best clarity coming on the low tides.

This is a great time to book a tour! Kids are back in school, European vacations are wrapped up, and there are few tour boats on the water. Additionally, we’re seeing plenty of turtles, fish, birds, and even the rare eel! Add in short waits at restaurants, availability at hotels and rentals, and family-friendly activities like the new touch-tank aquarium at Seadaddy’s — and fall is shaping up to be a perfect time for a manatee adventure.

Manatees We’ve Spotted This Week

Our resident (year-round) manatees continue to be made up of mother/calf pairs with younger/smaller calves. New this week, however, have been a number of older pairs. We’ve seen several large manatee calves with their mothers that we haven’t seen since the spring. Nearly a dozen manatees with barnacles have been seen and swam with this past week. These barnacled manatees are ones that have been out in the Gulf waters for a significant time; once back inside the bay and its freshwater, the barnacles begin to die and drop off of the manatees. There have been a few manatees in the bay who have lost their barnacles already, but the shape and outline of where the barnacles were is still visible on their skin. The population of manatees inside the bay is likely to continue changing day to day as the air temperatures impact the Gulf water temperatures. 

Where We’ve Seen Manatees

As September has been coming to a close, we’ve been seeing manatees across the entire bay. Recent trips have included swims near the springs and in some of the further-off areas. The manatees haven’t yet returned to the springs themselves, but we’ve been able to swim in great visibility. There are still manatees out in the darker, murky waters of the bay further away from the springs, but we’ve (finally!) been able to get out of those areas for some of our tours. 

Wildlife Highlights Beyond Manatees

This time of year we are seeing and swimming with small groups of tarpon fish, as well as fairly large snook fish. The mullet fish are still hopping all over the bay, and their schools are thick and everywhere! As the manatees begin to return with the colder weather, we expect to see more catfish. This week we also saw several remora fish attached to the manatees, hitchhikers from the Gulf waters. The springs have been full of sheepshead fish as well. Across the week a number of small eels were spotted inside springs, including an American eel in Jurassic Spring. Of our many pairs of bald eagles who nest around and in Kings Bay, several have returned and taken up their winter homes again. We have many ospreys who nest here as well, and we’ve seen a number of them return to our skies and waters. This summer a significant number of brown pelicans remained in town and across the bay. 

Around Town: Food, Fun, and Local Events

After your time on the water, Crystal River has plenty to offer on land. The new Tiki Bar at Paddletails, located right at our tour dock, is a perfect spot to unwind with food and drinks after your manatee experience.

For visitors arriving the first weekend of October, Crystal River’s First Friday (October 3rd, 5–9 PM) will bring live music, food trucks, local vendors, and family-friendly fun to the town square.

Whether you’re planning a wildlife tour, a family weekend, or a quiet getaway, the season is just getting started!