Liz Howell

  Tuesday we went to Crystal River  to swim with the Manatees.  It was quite different from what I expected. We left the house at 5am, picked up Bonnie at Walmart. drove through McDonalds and still got there before 7am.  Mom and Zach are not early birds so I drove to the docks where they were fitted with wetsuites and fins.  Bonnie and I opted out of the wetsuit since it was a river and not a springs we were going to.  Our boat captain was a very nice person giving us information on the area and pointing out the local wildlife on the 30 minute trip to the Manatees.

I don't know what I expected but what we did next truly wasn't expected. We came up to a boat that said there were three manatees nearby, our Captain dropped anchor and ushered everyone into the water.  By the time I got into the water the manatees had already left the area or if they were still around I certainly could not see them.  Everyone got back on the boat and we headed to another part of the inlet right across from where we had first anchored.  This time I was able to get close to the Manatees but after seeing how large they were up close I just couldn't bring myself to get too close and pet them like the other snorkelers were.  Bonnie and Zach both petted or scratched the manatees but Mom and I just looked and swam near them.  The visibility was so poor and the manatees were swimming and feeding so it wasn't long before they were out of range again.

We loaded up and set off to find some more manatees, we dropped anchor two more times.  The last time we dropped anchor Bonnie was the only one who got into the water besides the Captain.  She got to give scratches to a huge sole manatee that loved it.  Considering the poor visibility I had had enough of trying to visit with the manatees.

This winter Bonnie and I are planing to go to Homossa Springs where the water is clear and there are hundreds down for the winter.