Blue Spring SP in Florida

Blue Spring State Park is in the central part of Florida.  The spring is a category 1 spring putting out 104,000,000 gallons of water per day!  Yep, that is 104 million per day.  The water flows into the north flowing Saint Johns River.  From Blue Spring to the mouth of the river up by Jacksonville it is 170 river miles.  The manatees numbered about 200 and swam those 170 miles to winter in the 72* spring waters.

The park covers 2,643 acres.  Besides the manatee there are black bear, eagles, osprey, river otter, gators and Florida Cougar.  The park has way too many birds to list here!  I even saw 2 storks!

Here is my campsite:


A tarpon:


Gar:


A sleeping manatee:


Manatees sleep on the bottom of the river.  When its time for some more air, without waking up, they come to the surface for fresh air then settle back on the bottom.  They do not wake up!  Pretty cool!

Getting a breath:

Great pix Terry, that 3rd pix looks like a gar fish. looking at those pictures makes me itch to get the pod out and go man go.

There is a swimming section.  That is where I took the pictures of the fish and manatees.

Terry

Looks like a beautiful place with some fantastic animal life! Thanks for posting those wonderful photos for us to enjoy! Some day we hope to make it all the way across the country to visit Florida, and your post gives us a place to put on our list as a "must-see".

Thanks for the cool pictures and post!