Any news on the restrictions for 3 Sisters Springs?

[Jock_023]

I will be leaving on Tuesday to Crystal River for 10 days. Does anyone know if the discussed limitations like no-go areas inside the spring, no flash photography etc, are in effect? Especially flash photography - if it is generally forbidden inside AND outside the spring, I would leave my strobe, arm, batteries etc. at home - saves some 2kg luggage...

Could not find any up-to-date info on the "Fish and Wildlife" pages.

Kind regards,

Joerg

p.s.: On a sunny and windy day, I could imagine that in the shallows manatees get a lot "strobe-like flashes" from diffracted sunrays... I took strobe photos some years ago, and not a single manatee ever showed any reaction. Only an idiot would aim the strobes straight into the eyes - why should one? There is way enough ambient light. The strobe is just to light up the belly. But try to tell that a ranger who does not dive...

 

[mcgowman]

I haven't had luck finding anything official either. But the man to talk to should be Ivan Vincente (Ivan_Vicente@fws.gov). If you're a commercial photog, you'll need a special use permit. If not, you're fine.

Just a few words of caution... when I went to the Three Sisters Springs in late December the 'proposed' changes had been announced and were still open for public comment (but not implemented). Despite that I still got harassed for using strobes by one of the folks in the blue hats that patrol the boardwalk surrounding Three Sisters. I later confirmed strobes were still allowed at that time with a FWS official who happened to be on-site. Not sure who the blue hats are, but they're there to protect and monitor the manatee/human interactions. Most of them were fine, but others were a bit over protective in my opinion. Play nice with them, but know the official rules AND where flash photography is currently permitted. (Oh, strobes must be diffused.)

Otherwise, be patient with the manatee, they'll approach if you're calm. The sizeable tour groups come and go, so be patient with them as well. They'll crowd the place up and get in the way of your shots, but they'll disappear after some time.

Hope you have safe travels.

 

[dkramer]

3 sisters spring has been closed for the past several weeks due to large numbers of Manatees. As of today, I have not heard that it was reopened.

 

[mscott556]

When I was there 2 weeks ago I was told by American Pro that we couldn't use strobes inside 3 Sisters Springs. Not that we could get inside anyways. Might be a good idea to contact a LDS there to get any new info.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

When I was there many years ago for a snorkel session with them they did not want people using strobes. I can see why. Just because they do not SEEM to react to them why take the chance. How would you feel if they came in your house and started flashing strobes while you were eating, trying to relax, on the crapper, etc.? Stay back and look, take a few non flash pictures and then leave them alone. At the time it became clear pretty fast that we were invading their home and taking advantage of them in ways that I would never want to be taken advantage of. I'm glad to see them closing this when they are congregating like they are.

 

[Six Feet Under]

Still closed. There are now around 800 manatees in the springs so they're still closed.