Shallow grass beds with ready access to deep channels are preferred feeding areas. Manatees frequent canals, creeks, bays and lagoons, particularly near the mouths of coastal rivers and sloughs, for feeding, resting, cavorting, mating, and calving. When ambient water temperatures drop below 68 degrees Fahrenheit in autumn and winter, manatees aggregate at natural or artificial warm water refuges or move to southern Florida. Most artificial refuges are created by warm water outfalls at power plants or paper mills. The Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Citrus County is the northernmost refuge used regularly by manatees on the west coast.
Most manatees habitually use the same warm refuges each year.
During the summer, manatees are found almost anywhere in Florida where water depths are greater than 3 feet. Manatees normally appear alone or in pairs, although interacting groups of 5 to 10 animals are not unusual. Efforts have been made to develop a reliable estimate of manatee abundance in Florida. When conditions are favorable, statewide aerial counts of manatees at significant aggregation sites are conducted following the arrival of winter cold weather fronts. The highest single-day count of manatees spotted during a statewide aerial survey was 1,856 animals in January 1992.