Telling Manatee Tails...

Greetings from Crystal River, FL! Things were getting a little chilly up in DC, so I cleverly scheduled a trip down to sunny Florida for December!

Well, there was a bit more motivation than that. My friend Michael, whom many of you from the DC area know, manages a manatee refuge down here for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. I came down to visit with him a bit... and to swim with MANATEES! And yes, I named one Barbara. =)

For your viewing and listening pleasure, enjoy the video here: Barbara Manatee Song--Veggie Tales

Pictures will follow soon, but here is the adventurous tale!

First of all, it's important to know that manatees are mammals. They have hair, and they breathe air through their noses. They are also appropriately nicknamed "Sea Cows." The mamas and babies are even called "cows" and "calves!" Many manatees like to come to the hot springs in Crystal River, FL, in the winter time because it's warmer here than in the open sea. It's also their mating season, and this is a nice, calm place for them to rest and start raising their calves.

There are several places where the manatees mate and hide out for the winter around here. Michael, his co-worker and friend Tracy and I went to Three Sisters Springs and Kings Springs today because we thought we'd have the best luck at seeing manatees there. Michael has taken me to Three Sisters Springs to swim on a previous trip here about 2 1/2 years ago, but mating season was already finished by then, so I didn't get to see any. This time, I deliberately scheduled my trip to coincide with the best time of year to see them! It's been warm down here (well, warm for FL in November), so there weren't a lot of manatees to see, but there were enough to give me a thrill! The three of us met at Michael's office this morning around 8:00 to suit up and head out to Three Sisters Springs.

Step 1: Wetsuit. This was the hardest part of all! I'd tried one on yesterday, with great struggle, mind you! Michael said it was supposed to be tight and uncomfortable, so as long as I could breathe, I was good to go! It was no easier to get the thing on (or off for that matter!) this morning, but it was totally worth it!

Step 2: Driving to Three Sisters. About five minutes away. Requires no other explanation. ;)

Step 3: Getting in! The water felt very warm to me, thank goodness! My feet are too small for any of the flippers from Michael's office, so I didn't have to worry about that. The only other accessories I needed were the mask and snorkel. I said the wetsuit was hard, but really the mask gave me the most trouble!

Step 4: Here we go! Again with my smallness, the mask was a little too big, even on the shortest strap adjustment. I kept getting water in the mask, and it didn't help that I'm completely inept at only breathing in and out my mouth! I'll get to more of that later so we can all have a good laugh at my expense! =)

Onward and outward! Michael and Tracy showed me where to look, and the first time I stuck my face in the water... a manatee swam just a few feet from me! I'd only seen manatees at zoos, in movies and once at a manatee rescue place here in Crystal River, but I never knew how graceful and majestic they could be until today! It's really amazing what those big, awkward sea cows can do and how they move! Things were going along pretty well for a while. The manatees would be sitting on the bottom, looking like rocks, and then--they'd move! It looked like big boulders rolling around and creeping along the bottom.

Then disaster started... My face is too small, and I discovered I am utterly inept at breathing exclusively through my mouth! I'd be going right along, all excited to be swimming next to manatees, and then air would begin to push through my silly nose! Air bubbles went out of the mask, water came into the mask, my mask started fogging up... But I made the most of my time with what I had! Michael said there weren't many manatees and they weren't very interactive, but I was overjoyed just to be there!

Anyway, back to the moving rock-cows! So, how could I tell a rock from a manatee? Simple... the tail! Their tails are a very distinct shape (hence the title of the blog: "Telling Manatee Tales"), and when coming up on a manatee, for some reason that was the thing I noticed first when deciding what it was I was seeing ahead. Occasionally Michael or Tracey would point out some manatees to me, either resting along the bottom or swimming slowly, gracefully along. I ended up just holding my nose much of the time, since that was really all that would ensure I DIDN'T try to breathe in and out my nose and would help me stay still.

As I floated along, holding my nose, I saw a manatee out of the corner of my eye. It rose itself, floated effortlessly to the surface, stuck its nostrils out to breathe, and let itself back down again. It sort of pulled itself up from the middle--not head first, as a person might do, and not with sweeping fin or tail movements as one might expect, just slowly, elegantly, naturally. The movement was so much more palatial than that, but I hope that gives you an idea!

We also saw several mamas and babies (cows and calves) swimming together or resting together. Michael said they're 60 pounds at birth, but these were definitely larger babies than that! After a while, I think Michael felt sorry for me and my foggy, leaky-masked self, so he said we'd go back and try a different mask and a different spring where there might be more manatees. I had started to get cold, so I was ok with moving on! We loaded back up in the SUV and went back to Michael's office.

I did, in fact, find a better-fitting mask and hoped for the best! One of the interns, Dan, was in the office this morning, and we asked him to come along as well. The four of us got in a boat this time and set out on another manatee search!

Now, I'll just be honest with you. I was cold, and I was getting hungry, and I thought, "Would it be rude and ungrateful if I asked if this one could be a short trip?" But I'm glad I kept my mouth shut because this was the better of our two swims!

The water was a bit murkier there at Kings Springs, but my mask didn't leak at all! I even did a good job of keeping my airflow exclusively through my mouth! There was another manatee tour going on with several other people, but this time there were enough manatees to go around! It took longer for me to see them, but again, I just looked for the tails! These cows were ok with getting close, too!

Michael and I were swimming next to each other, and he pointed over to my left and there--was a manatee! He was gliding by, lickety-split and fast-like, and I let out a little squeal of surprise! Of course Michael laughed at me, but I was delighted enough that I didn't care! The thing that really amazed me is how fast they can go without seeming to do any work with their fins until they just absolutely HAVE to! And it's as if they create no stir in the water at all. There'd be one swimming literally inches from me, and I wouldn't even notice a change in the water around me at all.

At one point, one was coming right toward me! I knew we're not really supposed to touch them, but they can touch us if they want. I stayed still until it was right up next to me, it grazed me, and then I started flipping out a little bit. I didn't want to touch it and scare it, nor did I want to get pushed out of the way and possibly hurt (those things are HUGE!), so in my attempt to quietly and calmly move away, I think I scared him! =( But apparently he's a lot braver than I, because he came back by me! Michael let me know it's ok if I touched the manatee, so I did! Their skin is a lot tougher than I thought it would be--a different texture entirely! It reminded me of leather, very rough, gray leather. His face got really close to me, and so I started trying to stay away again--it didn't help that I was drifting toward the restricted area with the water as well--and I think I scared him off for good. Sad day! But I definitely got to swim up-close and personal with some impressive sea cattle!

We swam around a bit longer and saw a few more manatees. Some rolled over, others scratched on real rocks, several even came up to breathe just feet away--and I had no idea they were even so close to us under there! I hope that if ever you get an inkling to swim with manatees, you'll do it! I know just the place!

So that was our big adventure! We went back to the office to change out of the wetsuits and dry off (again, the wetsuits was as difficult to get off as it was to get on!), then went to a local pizza and pasta place called Natalia's for a hearty lunch! Pictures to follow.

Oh, and tomorrow's adventure involves PROFESSIONAL MERMAIDS!!!!!! Stay tuned!

Adventure Whit