ORANGE CITY, Fla. — This weekend, The Manatee Festival is taking place in Orange City, and hundreds of manatees delighted the crowds at Blue Spring State Park on Saturday.

What You Need To Know

  • More than 400 manatees were spotted through Saturday

  • The Manatee Festival is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

  • Proceeds from the festival benefit the Friends of Blue Spring State Park

“We weren’t expecting this. We thought we might see maybe one or two. I don’t know if they call them groups or pods, but it’s really awesome. I am here with my grandson and my daughter,” said Mark Caprowicz.

Caprowicz was with his family enjoying the site of more than 400 manatees at Blue Spring State Park. There are so many manatees because when the cooler temperatures hit, the manatees migrate here because the water is 72 degrees year round.

“It’s specular as far as I am concerned. Seeing it actually in the wild.”

Caprowicz and his family are not the only ones taking in the sites on Saturday. Hundreds of people are the state park and Valentine Park as the 36th annual Manatee Festival is taking place. In addition to the manatees, the event has food and a lot of other fun activities. The festival raises money for education scholarships and organizations like the Friends of Blue Spring State Park, who try to help protect the manatees.

“There are fabulous. They are rotund, but they are really neat animals. They are very curious,” said President of Blue Spring State Park Melissa Gibbs.

Gibbs said she loves the manatees and said it is very sad with what has happened over the last year with more than 1,000 manatees dying in Florida.

“A lot of the manatees in the Indian River lagoon are starving and the population is crashing.”

Gibbs said many organizations are doing their best to rescue the manatees.

“In the St. John’s River population, there is plenty of food and the manatees are actually doing quite well. So, some of the manatees that have been rescued in the Indian River Lagoon starving are released then in Blue Spring because there is food and it’s a safe place.”

Caprowicz thinks it's wonderful funds are going to organizations like Friends of Blue Spring State Park that helps the manatees.

“To conserve animals like this – this is for the future – like my little grandson here to see. You know, down the road, something like that is great.”