Wildlife
Florida Waters: 2 Live Cameras — Herons and manatees
Two cameras in Florida: why herons choose to nest over a swamp holding hundreds of alligators, and manatees inside a freshwater spring.
What you can see
Two Florida waters. One looks down on a swamp, the other is submerged in a spring.
Herons and spoonbills over an alligator swamp (St. Augustine) looks down on the swamp of an alligator farm. Native herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills and wood storks have chosen it to roost and raise young in. The reason is that hundreds of alligators swim under the oak branches, which keeps climbing predators like raccoons, opossums and feral cats away from the chicks. You also see alligators basking in the sun.
Silver Springs underwater (Silver Springs State Park) is a 180-degree underwater camera sunk into the spring. Manatees, alligators and all kinds of fish and birds live in this water.
Alligators appear in both frames, so you can compare an alligator seen from above the water with one seen from inside it.
Cameras you can watch now: 2
All 2 are live video. Tap one to open it in the camera list.
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Live video
Herons and spoonbills over an alligator swamp
Florida, St. Augustine · Wildlife
Looking over the swamp at the alligator park in St. Augustine, Florida, where native herons, egrets, roseate spoonbills and wood storks roost and raise their young. With hundreds of alligators swimming below the oak branches, the chicks are safe from climbing predators such as raccoons, opossums and feral cats. Alligators bask in the sun in view as well.
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Live video
Underwater at Silver Springs (manatees)
Florida, Silver Springs State Park · Wildlife · River
A 180-degree underwater camera set in the spring at Silver Springs State Park, looking into a world of manatees, alligators and a variety of fish and birds.
When to watch
For both the provider gives no season. Nesting and the months manatees gather do change what is on screen, but we are not going to invent a date for it here.
Florida is 13 hours behind Japan (during daylight saving). Local 06:00 is 19:00 in Japan, local noon is 01:00 the next day, and local 18:00 is 07:00. So the local daylight hours run from the Japanese evening to the following morning. Outside daylight saving the gap is 14 hours, an hour later.
An underwater camera depends on how clear the water is, not the weather. Spring water is clear to start with, but it can cloud after rain.
If it isn't showing
Both also appear on the United States page. The wildlife cameras are under Wildlife and the riverside ones under River.
For another underwater frame, Coral and Kelp; for birds that gather at water, Migration Flyways and Ospreys.
How to pick a time to open them is in Which cameras are in daylight now.
Where to find Florida Waters
Agencies publishing the cameras on this page
- explore.org (Deep links and embeds OK, no image reuse) — Official site
The footage belongs to each agency. This site is an unofficial guide, and each sample frame was copied once per camera under that agency's terms of use.