Manatee Update

Manatee belly rub

Go to A Cotton Thought (Amanda's blog) and check out what Jeff wrote about the trip and see some of Amanda's photos...

Three times a charm...can you connect?

Photo by: Wolfgang Leander, Crystal River, FL (2007)

I finally got the full manatee experience in Crystal River, FL – I had been here two times before to have only seen a hand full of these friendly sea cows with limited interactions. But today was different – today was amazing.

This time I came to Crystal River with Carmen, Amanda, Jeff and Tibu as well as the cold temperatures. As I checked in last night, the hotel manager told me that there were a ton of manatees – I had my doubts and thought that she was just giving her regular speech.

Turns out there were manatees everywhere we looked and the interactions were fantastic – including belly rubs. The tactic was pretty simple, let them approach you, scratch their “flipper pit” area and they will turn over exposing their big bellies for a full body massage – a connection definitely develops.

I would say that the only negative part of the day was to see how tourists behave in the water (clumsy, noisy, clueless, and disrespectful to the environment and manatees) – no wonder they get bitten by sharks ;). It was awful to see how they approached the animals.

The scene for some reason made me think about people that claim to be experts about sharks and have an opinion about one thing or another – but actually do not ever observe or interact with them in their own element…and it made me think about people that can connect with sharks – they can usually also connect with other animals quite easily, and it shows.


On a final note – it was great to spend time with Amanda and Jeff and talk about sharks, photos, diving…they are definitely people that “connect”…looking forward to Amanda’s photos, the ones I saw on her display (small) – look excellent!

Crystal Water Revival

What we oceanic dreamers, Felix and I, expected in Crystal River was this: crystal clear water, and many manatees. We saw manatees, yes, only two, a mom and her calf, unfortunately in muddy waters, but at the spring of the river we were able to dive in water so clear we actually had the sensation of flowing weightlessly in liquid space...

There, where Crystal River wells up from under the ground, we found no manatees but an underwater scenery of a strangely surreal beauty only a poet could perhaps adequately describe. I am not a poet; I am a photographer, and all I could do was trying to frame what I saw applying the basic rules of a well composed image.

Swimming with manatees is an experience ocean divers will never forget: 'sea cows' have got to be the most gentle aquatic creatures. Operators urge visitors not to touch the sluggish animals - and while Felix and I just could not hold back stroking their backs once, we thought it was right to leave the manatees alone and just watch them.

The fun did not last long, however, as some 15 other snorkelers arrived on the spot only to do what we did: trying to get to the animals as close as possible which was just too much for the manatee mom and her kid - they left the scene and quickly vanished into the impenetrable mist of the greenish waters.

Tibu was with us and could only watch us snorkeling this time; we had to promise him to come back once he feels grown-up enough to face the ultimate challenge for a land-lubber Weimaraner: dive into the wet unknown...

Mother and calf

The day started out overcast and foggy, not very conducive to getting into the cold water. We spent the first half of the morning diving around a freshwater spring. The visibility was absolutely stunning, almost impossible to tell a difference between above or under the water. However, there were no manatees in sight. Moving to a second recommended spot, the visibility went to about 3 ft, still no manatees , they may have been there, but impossible to see.

Right before coming home for lunch, we came across a enormous mother manatee and her calf. The interaction was great - she let me scratch he "fin pit" and I think there are some decent video shots (will post soon). The Wolf says that he may have captured one or two photos - curious to see how they come out.

Tibu had his first boat experience, he seemed more like a spooked lizard - see photo above. Tomorrow we are off to Ft. Myers with a stop in St. Petersburg to meet up with Kris and possibly Tampa before heading back home.

Has been a great, relaxing, short, vacation.

Crystal River and sea cows

The Wolf, Tibu, and I just made it to Crystal River, FL to get up close and personal with a "really dangerous" mammal - the Manatee (I am kidding about the dangerous, they are really loving). Tomorrow will be our first day out, Wolf brought his cameras, as he just returned from Tiger Beach (photos to come soon), and I will be filming. Wonder how Tibu will like the boat and water.

I'll upload some photos tomorrow...