Story and photos by Mike Lang
Originally published in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Nov. 2007
As a photojournalist in Sarasota, Florida, I’ve covered numerous manatee rescues and releases. My wife, Mary, and our son, Sawyer, 7, both born and raised in Sarasota have never seen one up close in the wild. We’ve been lucky to see manatees occasionally from our boat, but it’s usually just a large, dark shape gliding beneath the surface or maybe a nose poking out of the water. During a recent camping trip to Chassohwitzka, we took a side trip to Crystal River to see if we could meet a manatee or two up-close.
We met our guide, at his shop on N. Citrus Ave. in downtown Crystal River, after an early breakfast at The Crystal Paradise restaurant directly across the street. We picked out our wetsuits and headed a few blocks away to Hunter Spring Park where he would meet us with the boat . We’ve been on vacations where tour operators cram as many people as possible onto a boat or bus. We try to avoid these type of operations whenever possible. Our guide, who has operated manatee tours for more than ten years, specialized in small groups. This was appealing and one of the reasons we chose him. In fact, the day of our trip, we had the boat to ourselves.
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| A young manatee stays close to its mother's side in Three Sisters Spring. |
We soon found out it really doesn’t matter how many people are in your boat – it’s how many people that are in the water with the manatees that really makes a difference. When we arrived at the first spot, there are already three large tour boats anchored up and several more rental boats arrived within the hour.
Our guide idled his pontoon boat out into King’s Bay and we began to see manatees in just a few minutes. I assumed we’d stop and swim with them but he kept idling across King’s Bay. Our destination was the famous Three Sisters Springs, a series of springs fifteen minutes away, bordered on one side by a residential canal and private, undeveloped land on the other. On the way, he told us what we might expect once we entered the water and explained the rules of swimming with manatees. He made sure to remind us that the manatee was in charge of the encounter. It must initiate any contact and we must not chase them. (see rules below)
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| Manatees rest after traveling to King's Bay in Crystal River. |
Crystal River is an important winter habitat for Our guide must have seen the look on my face as I slipped into the 72-degree water. “You’ll warm up faster if you flood that wetsuit”, he suggested as he looked down from the dry deck of the boat. Reluctantly, I slipped my hand into the collar and pulled it away from my neck, allowing water to flood my wetsuit. Yikes! The water was a lot colder than I expected. But he was right, I warmed up quickly and soon was ready to get a closer look at the large, dark figures just a few dozen yards away in the crystal clear water.
It was difficult to resist the temptation to stand in the five-foot deep crystal-clear, spring water, but doing so would only churn up sediment and make viewing and photographing the manatees more difficult for everyone. In the distance, I could see three large manatees with their noses pressed into the seagrass. Their only movement was to occasionally rise for a breath of air, then sink back down. He explained that several of these manatees had just arrived in King’s Bay and were resting from their travels. We left them alone. It wasn’t long before several other manatee were curious enough to come investigate the new visitors, including a “small” manatee that followed my wife and son for a short time and circled around later for another visit.
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| Sawyer was able to touch a young manatee that came close to investigate . |
We ventured up the spring run to Three Sisters Springs, an area off limits to powerboats. The beautiful lagoon-like setting was worth the effort it took to swim against the strong current coming out of the springs.
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| Three Sisters Springs is a manatee sanctuary. |
Our visit with the manatees there was quiet and peaceful until several families arrived in rented pontoon boats. We had been careful to move quietly and slowly through the water. The rental crowd was loud - making lots of noise and commotion in the water. Several boys climbed up a palm tree overhanging the spring and jumped in, each making a big splash. It was a good time to leave.
We climbed back into the boat and moved to a second location nearby. Magnolia Springs was in much deeper water and it was a bit cloudier than Three Sisters Springs. Almost immediately, a manatee appeared and started playing with the anchor line.
Once in the water, another seemed to materialize out of the murky water and came over to investigate me. I tried to back up enough to get a photo of this large manatee with a wide-angle lens but it kept coming closer. After a few close-ups, I reached out and touched it on the back. To my surprise, it rolled over like a dog that wants you to scratch its’ stomach. After a couple of barrel rolls, it swam off to join another manatee. With that, it was time for us to leave too. What a great day!
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- For families with kids: My son is a good swimmer, but unlike his dad, with little body fat, he was having a tough time warming up in his wetsuit. Once we layered another wetsuit and gave him a life jacket to help him float and he did much better. Finally, holding his mother’s hand, he worked up enough courage to reach out a hand and touch a small manatee that had come over to investigate.
- Despite their appearance, manatees have very little body fat so they are susceptible to the cold. There are few food sources for the manatees in King’s Bay so they must venture out into the Gulf to find food then return to the warmer water. They can’t survive long if the water temperature drops below 68-degrees.
- Your guide can provide you with a wetsuit, mask and snorkel, but don't be alarmed if he doesn't give you a pair of flippers. The reason is because people wearing them tend to splash more in the water. I saw several people using them and manatees reacted every time they kicked at the surface of the water. he is correct, going without fins seems to be less disturbing – but it was also a lot harder to swim against the spring current.
- I’d love to be able to recommend our guide - there's a reason he's not named in the story. We had an excellent day. However, at the end of the trip, he asked that we pay cash for the trip, despite the fact that we had already reserved it with our credit card and the trip was supposed to be charged to that card. He explained that he was in the process of moving his shop (he was) and his credit card machine had not been hooked up yet. So we paid him in cash plus a tip. And surprise, surprise - a month later the charge showed up on our credit card. Numerous calls to our guide were not returned. Finally, we had to dispute the charge with our credit card company. It was a fun trip, but definitely not worth paying double and completely unprofessional of our guide to not return our calls. So he shall remain anonymous.
http://www.fws.gov/crystalriver/
Manatees in Crystal River are monitored by officers with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
*MANATEE LAWS AND REGULATIONS*
*The following rules and regulations have been put in place to help protect the manatee and their natural environment. Failure to heed these regulations will result in you being fined or arrested by local, state, and/or federal authorities. It is entirely possible to have a fantastic manatee encounter within these regulations :*
*Do NOT* enter designated/posted sanctuaries for any reason!
*Do NOT* pursue/chase (swimming after) or corner a manatee while swimming or diving. This includes following manatees for any reason.
*Do NOT* disturb a resting manatee. Sleeping manatees sometimes rest in a "face-plant" on the river bottom, rising for air every few minutes. It is unlawful to interfere with these normal activities.
*Do NOT* attempt to feed the manatees or give them water. Doing so may make the manatee associate food and water with humans, endangering the manatee,
*Do NOT* attempt to ride, poke, prod, or grab the manatee at any time with any object including your hand or foot.
*Do NOT *attempt to single out or surround a manatee.
*Do NOT* attempt to separate a calf from it's mother, or any manatee from a group of manatees.
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* The following are some unwritten rules that will make your manatee encounter more enjoyable for everyone involved :*
*Do* enter the water quietly and move around without splashing or making noise. Sometimes sudden noises and movements will frighten a manatee who will most likely swim away. SCUBA gear is not recommended for manatee encounters, as the noise of rushing air normally frightens them away.
*Do* wait for the manatee to show an interest in you before approaching it. Manatees are normally curious, and if you stay still, floating on the surface - they will normally approach you to initiate the contact.
*Do* keep you feet off the bottom of the river if it is shallow enough to touch. Keeping your feet off the bottom will keep down the sediment, which will interfere with viewing and photographing the manatee.
*Do *remember that the manatee is in charge of the encounter. If a manatee is sleeping or is not interested in making contact, leave it alone, as your only encounter would probably be seeing it's tail disappear ahead of you as it swims away into a sanctuary.
*Call 1-800-DIAL-FMP (1-800-342-5367) or *FMP, or use VHF Channel 16 on your marine radio if you see an injured, dead, tagged, or orphaned manatee, or if you see a manatee being harassed. *
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