Phyllis

Phyllis came in to Blue Spring on November 3, 1988. It's possible she might be Phoebe's calf, Beebe, from the fall of 1985. She has the right shape - sort of round and short, rather than long and lean. Her first nickname was Blimpette. Phyllis also has a scar on her tail, as did Beebe, but with two years between appearances we cannot say that this makes her Beebe for certain. Phyllis spent the summer of 1990 in the Hontoon Dead River and always had male company. Every other month or so she would come into Blue Spring with "suitors" trailing behind. We think she was the reason more manatees were seen during that summer than any other. Phyllis is curious about people in the swimming area and usually stays well up the spring run when she is in. However, she will not approach people, not even the researchers. Phyllis must like visiting at Blue Spring because she has been named attendance champion four times! Good news came on November 5, 1991 when Phyllis came into the run with not one, but two calves! The twins were named Bertram and Bartram. Twins are unusual for manatees and a very special event indeed. She has had three calves since that time, the most recent one in 1997. The new calf's name is Pepper.

1997-1998: Phyllis and Floyd heralded the beginning of manatee season by being the first manatees to arrive at Blue Spring on November 6. Phyllis appeared to be very happy, very healthy, and very pregnant. We think Phyllis must have a summer condo nearby, because she visited the spring a lot during the summer. Fair Phyllis was almost always seen in the company of a gentleman-atee this season. She also had weaned her latest calf, a male named Pepper. On May 3, the swimming area had to be closed because new manatee on the dock, Georgia, was seen hanging out there with two friends. Much to Ranger Wayne's surprise, Georgia's two friends were none other than Phyllis' grown twin sons, Bertram and Bartram! The summer brought some new injuries for the twins, but both boys are just fine. Bertram was seen making his usual high-speed runs throughout the spring this year. Never one to keep us in suspense, Phyllis gave birth to her sixth calf on March 13 or 14 in the Blue Spring run! Blue booties were in order, because her new calf is a boy named Phire. He is the first recorded manatee birth at Blue Spring State Park. Unfortunately, little Phire has already experienced his first boat hit. He suffered two prop cuts and a skeg wound to his left side. However, Ranger Wayne said he is fine. Break out the hydrilla, as Phyllis was attendance champion again for the fourth consecutive season!! This year, she made an impressive 51 visits! Her attendance record is second only to the 1991-92 season, when she was counted 56 times. After a very eventful season, she rounded up Doc, Lucille, and Philip (and little Phire, of course) and headed out for her summer soiree on March 26.

1996-1997: On June 22, 1996, Phyllis came in for a visit at 2:20 in the afternoon and brought a new calf with her! Both mom and youngster looked good. Her new calf is a male named Pepper. Phyllis came in with Doc for her first official visit for the manatee season on November 13. She also left with him on February 25, two days before the end of the manatee season at Blue Spring. We suspect that Phyllis and Doe are secretly dating! It was a warm winter in Florida, so several manatees didn't make as many visits, and many left early for the season. Not Phyllis, who was named attendance champion for three consecutive years with a record - for the season anyway -42 times. One of Phyllis' twins, Bartram, showed up on November 16 and was followed by the return of Bertram on the day after Thanksgiving. However, Ranger Wayne thought Bertram looked thin and observed that he never seemed to leave the spring run to feed. He reported his observations to the Sirenia Project, the federal organization tracking Bertram, and a rescue was organized for January 6. Bertram was taken to Sea World in Orlando for treatment. As it turns out, he had problems from constipation. Bertram was released on March 19, after having gained 60 pounds. Ranger Wayne said he looked good. He swam the run then went south to the lagoon and started to eat. We're hoping Bertram will show up next season too.

1995-1996: Phyllis and Dana came into Blue Spring together on November 13, the second day of the season. Phyllis is no longer nursing last year's calf. We haven't heard any news about Phyllis' son Bertram. who was returned to Blue Spring last year. True to form, Bertram lost his transmitter soon after his release. However, Ranger Wayne is still keeping an eye out for him. He says that Bertram still has his transmitter belt and freeze-brand numbers on his back, so we would know if anything had happened to him. Phyllis' other son, Bartram, still comes into Blue Spring for the winter. He is active and playful, always ready for fun and frolic, but he doesn't match the extraordinary antics of Bertram! We are sad to report that Phyllis suffered a boat hit near the end of the season, but her injury was minor and she is doing fine. Phyllis left Blue Spring on the second to the last day of the season, March 23. She left in the company of seven other manatees: Doc, Howie, Lenny, Lily. Nick, Philip, and Success. She was once again the attendance champion this year, appearing at the park 47 times! That makes the third time Phyllis has been attendance champion at Blue Spring!

1994-1995: This season was full of exciting news about Phyllis and her offspring. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief as we finally witnessed the return of Phyllis' scamp son, Bertram. Bertram hadn't shown up at Blue Spring for the manatee season since 1992, and Ranger Wayne thought he had probably followed a nursing female far to the south. Come to find out, Bertram had been rescued and taken to Sea World of Florida for rehabilitation! Not knowing he was Bertram, Sea World staff named him "Monroe," because he was rescued in Lake Monroe. When he was finally released in July of 1995 at Blue Spring State Park, Ranger Wayne recognized Bertram! Monroe by the notch in his tail and an old injury to his right flipper. Happily, Bertram is now back home in the Blue Spring area. He has been tagged, so we should be able to get more updates on his movements in the future. Phyllis came in relatively early for the manatee season during a brief cold front in November. She ended the suspense from last year by bringing in her new calf- a female! We are happy to report that Phyllis had no new scars from her summer travels. Phyllis and her little calf were the attendance champs for the season, coming in on the second day of the season (November 20) and staying until March 12, making 46 appearances!

1993-1994: Phyllis arrived on November 2 this year, in the company of Boomer, Flash, Merlin, Philip, Robin. and Tithonus - Phyllis and the boys! Ranger Wayne reported that she was pregnant. She still hadn't delivered her calf by the end of the season when she left on March 5, although Ranger Wayne seemed to think she could give birth at any moment! Phyllis made "roll call" 34 times this year - a very respectable showing.

1992-1993: Phyllis came in with her calf Bartram and stayed for 45 minutes in August. The rangers at Blue Spring think she lives near the park as she visits so often. She officially came in for the season on November 10. One of her twins, Bartram, is still nursing. The other twin, Bertram, is a wanderer and never did show up for the season (this is not unusual for manatees as they are a migrating species). One set of prop cuts Ranger Wayne saw on Phyllis in the summer was still visible in January, and she received a slight skeg cut on her back about January 16. Phyllis was seen 41 times this year, coming in third in attendance behind adoptees Boomer and Lily.

1991-1992: Phyllis, in her efforts to care for her twins, was the attendance leader for the season with 56 sightings between November 5 and April 6. On March 14, she showed up after suffering two small prop cuts on the left side of her head. She also was inflicted with a huge scar on her belly, next to her flipper. The cause of the scar is unknown. It looks awful, but it is completely healed. The twins are named Bertram and Bartram and are doing quite well. In February, Bertram got left behind in the spring run when Phyllis and Bartrarn went out into the river to feed. For four days he was greeting every manatee and the canoe with a kind of desperation. He finally joined up with a four-year-old female and seemed to nurse from her then went out with her to the river for a week. When he came back he was happily reunited with his family. They stayed together after that!