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Dealing with election anxiety? We've got some animal cams to calm your nerves
An underwater camera at the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park gives a window into one of Florida's most beloved aquatic mammal, the West Indian manatee.
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Save the Manatee Club and explore.org
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If you’re anxious about the election, or feeling a double dose of seasonal depression thanks to daylight saving time, leaning into nature can help ease those emotions.
Now, not everyone can sneak in a hike or a trip to the beach after work. So we’ve rounded up an updated list of animal livestreams to help distract, relax, and be one with nature.
Kittens
Channel your inner feline with this cat cam from the Kitten Rescue Sanctuary in L.A.
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The livestream is focused on a room dedicated to nursing moms with litters and kittens waiting to be adopted. (So yes, if you fall in love with one, fill out an application!)
Let the furry babies rustling and tumbling away set the standard for your day.
Jellyfish
If you’d prefer to feel like you’re in a living screensaver, the Monterey Bay Aquarium runs a Live Jelly Cam from its Open Sea exhibit.
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You can watch the sea nettles drift peacefully across your screen from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m. Plus, the calming background music really sets the vibe.
Sea otters
The Monterey Bay Aquarium also runs a live sea otter cam from 7 a.m. through 7 p.m.
The female otters cannot be released into the wild, so they spend their time wading in the water and playing with ice, bowls, and artificial kelp.
They get fed three times a day (10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m.), and you can often catch them sunbathing on the rocks in the exhibit.
Birds
If you’ve ever wondered what bald eagles, cranes, and pelicans get up to on the Mississippi River, we have just the camera for you.
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The live look is from the nonprofit Raptor Resource Project on an island in the Upper Mississippi National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. The tranquil view has shown many species of ducks, gulls, and other birds over the past two years.
Let the faint quacks take you away to the water. You can also find comments and pictures from fellow fans here.
Manatees
Become one with the sea cows through an underwater manatee cam in Florida.
Dive into the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park with West Indian manatees that cannot survive in the wild on their own. You can find more details about the manatees and their feeding schedule here.
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But even if these big blubbery animals are out of sight, there’s plenty of other sea creatures to enjoy.
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