Manatee season in Florida typically runs from mid-November through March 31, when dropping ocean temperatures send the gentle giants flocking to warmer inland springs and power plant discharge canals. During cold snaps, crowds gather at places like Blue Spring State Park, Crystal River and Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center for a glimpse.
But if you love manatees, you won’t have to paddle through a spring or wait for a chilly forecast to see one. Not in Jacksonville anyway.
On Friday, March 6, the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens will debut its new J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Manatee River Habitat alongside the debut of the VyStar SkyScape entrance. The $72 million transformation puts rescued manatees front and center, no kayaking required.
Here are the three biggest things to know before you go.
1. There are only three manatees at the exhibit. Here’s why
At the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, the new manatee habitat is designed to function as a rescue hospital first and an exhibit second.
Rather than simply offering a place to view manatees, the habitat operates as a federally permitted critical-care facility. Currently, three rescued manatees — Alpine, Francesco and Cullen — are completing rehabilitation in the zoo’s 330,000-gallon pools.
All three were rescued elsewhere in Florida and transferred to Jacksonville because other acute-care manatee centers are nearing capacity. The goal is to treat injuries or malnutrition and eventually release the animals back into the wild.
As zoo president and CEO Jeffrey Ettling explained, the facility is primarily a rehabilitation center. In an ideal scenario, the pools would be empty because the manatees would have recovered and returned to their natural habitat.
2. The manatee habitat is placed front and center. It’s intentional
The manatee habitat is positioned immediately beyond the ticket gates, making it the first stop for guests entering through the new VyStar SkyScape. The placement is intentional as zoo leadership wants conservation to be front and center.
One of the coolest features about being front and center is that, depending on the time of your visit, you might see manatees swimming in the pools, or you might see divers, who are on the zoo staff and clean the inside of the 330,000-gallon pools every day. Additionally, behind-the-scenes tours will show how injured manatees arrive by truck and are lifted by an overhead crane system into specialized treatment pools with adjustable floors.
3. The manatee habitat is part of a $72 million upgrade
The exhibit opens alongside the new VyStar SkyScape entrance, a sweeping 25,000-square-foot canopy covering a courtyard with a new ticket office, café and gift shop. A 630-square-foot video screen will display zoo information, and an architectural oculus helps vent heat, cooling the shaded space below.
New pathways branching from the manatee habitat also improve foot traffic, eliminating the zoo’s old “out-and-back” layout and connecting guests more seamlessly to Wild Florida and the Land of the Tiger areas.
Construction began in October 2023, with the two projects totaling $72 million. Together, they represent one of the largest investments in the zoo’s history and signal a major expansion of Jacksonville’s role in manatee rescue and rehabilitation.
Manatee River Habitat opening at Jacksonville Zoo. Here’s a sneak peek
Here’s more insight about the origins of the manatees before you visit them.
How many manatees are at the Jacksonville Zoo, manatee exhibit? Where did they come from?
According to Ettling, zoo president and CEO, the three manatees currently at the zoo were transferred there because Florida’s other critical-care manatee rehabilitation centers are close to capacity.
Zoo Tampa, SeaWorld Orlando and Homosassa Springs Wildlife Park are the only other federally permitted acute care facilities in Florida. The Living Seas attraction at Epcot and the Parker Manatee Aquarium in South Florida are secondary holding facilities.
In the future, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which deals with injured manatees, may bring them directly to Jacksonville’s zoo for rehabilitation.
How long will the manatees be at the Jacksonville Zoo before they are released?
Of the three manatees at the zoo now, one is eligible for release this winter and the others will probably spend another year recovering. Two of the manatees already had names when they arrived in Jacksonville, but the third was named in honor of Cullen Richart, the exhibit’s project manager.
How many manatees can the Jacksonville exhibit hold?
The zoo can handle up to 20 manatees if needed, Ettling said, but he’s not anxious to see that happen. “If we were at capacity, that would be about $650,000 a year in romaine lettuce,” he added.
Aside from the J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver Manatee River Habitat, the $72 million project also funded the new VyStar SkyScape entrance at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens.
What’s new about the Jacksonville Zoo’s VyStar SkyScape entrance?
Here are some of the standout features of the new VyStar SkyScape entrance:
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: 3 things that make Jacksonville Zoo’s new manatee exhibit worth a visit
Reporting by Doris Alvarez Cea and Tom Szaroleta, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
