Sept 2002 Travel Story

Archives - September 2002 Travel Story

Manatee Encounters by Amy Kinney, Sept 2002
I am not big on swimming in lakes or any other water hole that isn't a pool, but I put aside my dislike for mysterious water to swim with the magnificent sea cows. I got into the river as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb them and I laid on a floatation device with my mask and snorkel on. I looked into the cloudy water trying to make out a big gray blob below me, but I couldn't even see my hand in front of me. I knew I was in the right spot though because air bubbles where coming up. I waited until he came to the surface to breath and I reached out to touch him, but he slowly sunk back into the depths of Crystal River and I couldn't make my arm long enough to reach him. I got back onto the boat excited about my first encounter, but unsatisfied since I didn't get to touch him.
The next time I went I brought a couple of my friends so they could experience their first manatees. We found two swimming together and I eagerly hopped in and floated toward where they were. I quickly got to touch one on the back as he came up to breath. Their rubbery smooth skin was speckled with little barnacles. They didn't swim away, just sank a little in the water and grazed for food. Regularly they came up for air in the same general area we were in and we got to repeatedly pet them. The vision of seeing a full size manatee in the wild was unbelievable. These creatures are very intimidating in size, but so gentle in movement and thankfully vegetarians! The water started to get cold after awhile, but I didn't want to get out. I didn't want to miss out on anything they did and I watched them for long periods of time just eating and playing underwater. After about an hour they started to swim off from us and we said goodbye. We quickly swam back to the boat and got out. Then we ran up to the top deck and watched their "footprints" rise to the surface of the water until they were out of site.
Each of my experiences got better because I felt more comfortable swimming with them. I spent more time watching them and less time being uncomfortable. For my last encounter we found three manatees together and one of them looked relatively smaller so we guessed that it was a younger one. The littler one was very friendly and came right up to us when we got in. He wanted to play and stayed close to the surface so we could constantly touch his back, tail, and head. At one point he actually rolled over onto his side so I could touch his under belly. It was extremely smooth and soft and nothing like the barnacled back. The greatest moment was when I had my face in the water and the manatee brought his nose right up to mine. We were face to face and I got to look in his very tiny, yet beautiful eyes. Then I ran my fingers along the distinct white scars that they all had marking their bodies. These multiple markings probably came from getting hit by boat propellers. Mostly we hung around the smaller manatee because it just wasn't as intimidating as the larger ones. The one manatee was definitely the largest one, by far, that I had ever seen. When he came near, the smaller one followed and even though they were still pretty close to us we figured they were losing interest so we got out and watched them go out of sight and then waited for the familiar blow of air to indicate they were coming up for air.
I think it would be accurate to say that I am addicted to manatees. Swimming with them was one of the most exciting and wonderful things I have ever done. The closeness made me feel that I had connected with a part of nature that many would never experience. I also had the overwhelming feelings of harmony and peace. I feel so privileged that I got to experience the power and grace of such a magnificent creature that, unless protected, may not be with us for future generations.