“Look down!”, boat captain Jody Hogan saw them coming from the stern. I am in the water close to the bow,half awake, floating calmly, looking down into the 15 feet vis muddy waters in a top secret corner of Crystal river on the west coast of Florida. I could swear I am hearing mermaid whispers coming from a rock nearby, I soon realize that I did close the “Never Ending Story” that I was reading last night (you have to be a kid of the eighties to pick up on that one!), so it could only be the pudgy inhabitant of these usually crystal clear waters: The Manatee. Underwater, it almost sounds like birds singing, bubbles right by my right hand and the massive 9 feet , 500 pounds manatee decides to emerge softly right under me. I move slowly and cautiously like these gentle herbivores and start scratching his underbelly, he or she starts rolling over and almost grabs on to my hand with its dorsal fin to point them to the right scratch-able spot. Soon I have 5 individuals around and only three snorkelers with me, a phenomenal experience! “Regardes!!” my cousin Laurene, who is paying me a visit from France is in for a treat. She can’t stop smiling,amazed by the gentle and friendly manners of these underwater giants. After a couple hours in the water we get out, it is 8:45 AM water temp is 70F and outside temp is somewhere in the low 40′s! We are blue lipped and shivering, but ecstatic.It is hard not to jump back in right away.We both bend over the bow of the boat to continue what seem to be a massage session for these gentle mammals.
When the gulf of mexico gets too cold, manatees migrate to the warmer waters of Crystal River. With a constant 70 F due to underground warm natural springs, Crystal river becomes the perfect haven for these blubber free marine mammals. Indeed, not like their cousin the whale and dolphin, manatees are herbivores and do not have insulating blubber under their elephant like skin, they are really much like us humans. World champion freediver Martin Stepanek from Freediving Instructors International, once told me in his classroom “Manatees are loosy freedivers very much like us human, they hold their breath with an average of 2 to 3 minutes and can hold a lot more (up to 8 minutes and further) when they feel danger. Human static breath hold is past 10 minutes these days, would that mean that if we could no longer sustain ourself on the land and have to go back to the 70 percent remaing part of this planet we would start evolving into a manatee? I wouldn’t mind I have always been a big fan of salad, I love moving slowly, enjoy the water world and love a good massage… and 8 minute breath hold ,I am in! Martin also did mention an important fact: Manatees are really advanced in diaphragm flexibility ( a freediver’s dream!) as they can compress or expend their lungs using it to achieve without much energy expenditure the three different states of buoyancy.
“They counted 368 individuals yesterday” Captain Jody explains that the Crystal River Wildlife Refuge closely monitors the population as they were on the federal endangered species list.Although the population is quite healthy right now, shrinking habitats, boat traffic and pollution are manatee’s main “predators”. There is so much to say about these gentle giants,it is impossible to paint the correct portrait of such an amazing animal, so pack your mask ,your snorkel and your suit and go to Crystal river Florida for the experience of a lifetime!
I recommend the private charters with Capt Mike’s Sunshine River Tours as you do not have to spend your time with too many human pods around and enjoy the unique interaction early in the day.
scratchily yours,
OM~
Online ressources on Manatees:
http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/manatee/index.htm
wikipedia
Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals
