Tampa Wildlife Guide: Manatees, Bird Islands, Dolphins and Scallops

Near Tampa, manatees are watched at the Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach, open daily November 1 to April 15, which reopens for the 2026 to 2027 season on November 1, 2026 (Tampa Electric Manatee Viewing Center).

Manatees gather there because the Big Bend Power Station draws water from Tampa Bay for cooling and returns it clean and warm to a discharge canal. The center, at 6990 Dickman Rd., Apollo Beach, opens 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in season, with trails closing at 4 p.m., and parking and admission are free; it closes Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and Easter, and at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve (Manatee Viewing Center). A 900 foot walkway ends at the Big Bend discharge canal, and questions go to 813-228-4289.

Water temperature decides the crowd. FWC says manatees seek warm water whenever the water drops below about 68 degrees (FWC, Manatee Habitat), and the Apollo Beach center says many manatees are likely once the water falls below 68 degrees Fahrenheit (Tampa Electric). FWC adds that power plants let manatees spend the winter in Tampa Bay, north of their historical range, so the Tampa Bay animals rely on these refugia more than manatees at a south Florida plant (FWC, Warm Water Refugia). The Tampa manatees guide covers the refuges, seasons and protection zones in more depth.

A practical note for a mid October visit to Tampa Bay: the Apollo Beach center is still closed until November 1, 2026, and its webcams run only through the April 15 end of its season (Tampa Electric), so the first chance to watch from the center comes on November 1, and a crowd depends on the water dropping below 68 degrees.

No: both Alafia Banks islands in Hillsborough Bay and the water buffer around them are closed to public access year-round, and FWC notes in-water markers for the area (FWC, Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area).

FWC lists the Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area at 92 acres in Hillsborough County, made up of two islands known locally as Bird Island and Sunken Island at the mouth of the Alafia River. It is part of the Richard T. Paul Alafia Banks Sanctuary, managed by Audubon Florida, and its focal species are herons, egrets, ibis, roseate spoonbill, brown pelican and American oystercatcher (FWC). The site hosts thousands of birds in the nesting season and through the winter.

Both Alafia islands began as dredge disposal sites. Port Tampa Bay says they are owned by Port Tampa Bay and Mosaic Co., and on February 17, 2026 it announced completed habitat restoration work at the sanctuary to improve nesting conditions and support larger bird populations, work it says benefited 17 species of nesting waterbirds, five of them state threatened (Port Tampa Bay, February 17, 2026). The spoonbill count cited here is older: Audubon Florida, which manages the sanctuary, reported on June 2, 2022 that nearly 100 roseate spoonbill chicks, from about 50 to 75 pairs, were ready to fledge at Alafia Bank (Audubon Florida, June 2, 2022). The Alafia Bank Bird Sanctuary guide covers the spoonbill colony and its history.

Brown pelicans breed in colonies on estuarine islands, and in Tampa Bay FWC lists the brown pelican among the focal species of the Alafia Banks Critical Wildlife Area (FWC, Alafia Banks).

FWC's species profile says brown pelicans breed in colonies of several hundred pairs in trees or bushes, usually on estuarine islands, and that in Florida they nest mostly in mangroves (FWC, Brown Pelican). Their habitat includes beaches, sandbars, docks, dredge spoil islands and mangrove islands, and the two Alafia Banks islands are themselves former dredge disposal islands (Port Tampa Bay). The Tampa brown pelicans guide covers the Tampa Bay colonies and the fishing line entanglement that threatens pelicans near piers.

NOAA Fisheries asks people in Tampa Bay and everywhere else to watch wild dolphins from at least 50 yards (150 feet), and it is illegal to feed or harass them (NOAA Fisheries, Protect Wild Dolphins).

NOAA explains that dolphins fed by people learn to beg, lose their fear of humans and swim too close to boat propellers and fishing lines, and that feeding disrupts their social groups (NOAA Fisheries). For a Tampa Bay boater or angler the practical rule is to keep the 50 yard gap and never offer bait or catch to a dolphin, since NOAA notes that dolphins that associate people with food can die after becoming entangled in fishing hooks and lines. The dolphins of Tampa Bay guide covers the resident dolphin communities and where they are studied.

No: FWC allows bay scallop harvest only in listed zones, and the southernmost, the Pasco Zone, ends at the Anclote Key Lighthouse in northern Pinellas County, north of Tampa Bay (FWC, Bay Scallop).

Even that nearest zone shut early in 2026: FWC closed the Pasco Zone effective August 6, 2026 after detecting the toxin producing algae Pyrodinium bahamense, and the Gulf County Zone stayed closed all season; the latest 2026 seasons, in the Franklin through northwestern Taylor County zone and the Levy, Citrus and Hernando zone, ran through September 24 (FWC). In Tampa Bay itself, scallops are counted rather than harvested. The Tampa Bay Estuary Program lists a sustainable scallop population as a priority in its Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and uses data from the Great Bay Scallop Search, an annual citizen science event organized by Tampa Bay Watch in which boaters search lower Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Bay Scallops).

TBEP calls scallops a key indicator of Tampa Bay health because they need clear, salty water and healthy seagrass (TBEP). The Tampa Bay scallops guide covers the search results and trends.

Six Tampa wildlife guides go deeper than this hub, each built on FWC, NOAA or Tampa Bay agency sources.

Sea turtle nest counts near Tampa come from FWC's Statewide Nesting Beach Survey, which publishes 2025 season nest counts divided into east and west regions and by county (FWC, Sea Turtle Nesting); the Tampa sea turtles guide reads those numbers for the Tampa Bay coast. Last verified: October 14, 2026, on the FWC, NOAA Fisheries, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Electric, Port Tampa Bay and Audubon Florida websites.