Manatees are marine mammals that need warm water in the colder months of the year to survive; which makes Florida a prime location. (Blitz, 2016). In the past, manatees depended exclusively on warm water springs as well as other sanctuary areas previously during the winter months, but with the discovering of power plants a large number of manatees started utilizing these release basins as sources of warm water for refuge. These power plants use bay water as coolant. Once released back into the bay, the water is unchanged except for a slightly higher temperature. Manatees accumulates around the power plants and uses these artificial warm-water sources the same way they use the springs. According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
