Watch: Hundreds of manatees huddle together for warmth

Several hundred manatees are huddled together for warmth at Three Sisters Springs in Florida.

Video posted on the Visit Citrus Facebook page on Monday showed rows of manatees closely packed together in the shallow waters of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge.

"There are at least 500 manatees in the area," Ivan Vicente, a visitor services specialist with the Fish and Wildlife Service, told USA TODAY Network.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was forced to close water access to the Three Sisters Springs on Monday as hundreds of manatees congregate in the area to keep warm, Vicente said.

"Manatee cannot survive exposure, and the issues we are seeing now is that the temperatures are low, which is forcing the animals into the springs in Crystal River," Vicente said.

Manatees can't tolerate cold water for a prolonged period of time. After a while, their skin breaks into white patches and lesions and their bodies begin to shut down.

When temperatures drop manatees typically huddle together in large groups, many times near warm-water discharge areas of power plants.

Follow @maryBowerman on Twitter. 

Contributing: Florida Today