If you haven't made it there you owe it to yourself to go in the winter. The manatees are there, but there's a ton of other wildlife as well. Tarpon (big and small), jacks, snook, reds, sharks, rays...everything is there to be seen. I would go on a weekday as weekends seem to get crowded. Admiission is free, but parking is at a premium.
With a 2 o'clock sun even with a polarizing lens water shots were iffy at best. Below are some small poon - the big brothers are there too.
Every hump below is a manatee. Couple years ago I saw one washed up on shore DOA.
I always thought that clouds were formed by the cycle of evaporation and condensation . Seems I was wrong. TECO makes them.
There's a long walkway past the visitor center that goes a couple hundred yards into the channel. The water gets deeper there and all the fish get bigger. You need to sit/stand a while to see things happen, but while I was there (about 1-2 hours) I saw sharks aggressively hunting mullet, spinner sharks getting air borne, rays getting air borne, and some big boy poons doing something underwater.
Wonderpup graduated to his working harness and is off to guide dog college on 4/20 (Go Dawgs).
