Sensitive Blue Springs

Thick clumps of green palmettos, countless palms, towering oaks, and other lush vegetation surround the peacefully flowing Blue Springs run that offers its visitors a truly natural taste of Florida. Upon closer inspection of the run itself, it appears to be home to many different beautiful and unique aquatic wildlife creatures. Indeed, an incredible diversity of life abounds within its waters. Extremely small fish swim beside other much larger fish, which all appear to live in harmony with the peaceful sea cows known as manatees. It is amazing how interrelated, connected, and dependent these creatures are to one another and to their natural environment. Blue Springs is a definite reminder of how sensitive nature really is.

The tiny mosquitofish and small killifish hover at the surface of the spring run feeding on algae and curiously poke at any object that looks like food floating their way. Though these minnow-like fish are at the bottom of the food chain they play a crucial role in the ecology of the run. These minute pot-bellied fish serve as a tasty meal to many others. Various varieties of sunfish such as the red ear, warmouth, and spotted sunfish find them quite delicious. Next in the chain of command are predator fish such as largemouth bass and longnose gar. The lightning quick largemouth bass and fierce looking gar are formidable adversaries to most of the other creatures in this environment. The wintertime manatee guests enjoy grazing on the aquatic grass and other river vegetation for their sustenance. The nearby channel catfish are the mavericks of the bunch that will settle on eating just about anything they can find. This system works quite efficiently but unfortunately sometimes man tinkers with nature and disrupts its usual process

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