Manatees!

[jayfurr]

A month ago Carole and I went snorkeling with manatees.

Whee! It's finally out. Of course, my Livejournal userpic has been me swimming with a manatee for the last month so the secret's not been kept all that well, but nonetheless, we've been in that ugly state of mind where we've done something really neat-o but don't want to post about it until we can select from the hundreds of photos and dozens of short video clips we took and put up a page summarizing how awesome the experience was.

I think I'd have probably had it all up lang syne, but I had that wretched cold that lasted for two weeks.

Anyway, we went down to the west coast of Florida, to the town of Brooksville, for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. While we were there we went drift diving in the Rainbow River near the town of Dunnellon. We'd been told by the most-recommended local dive operator that his manatee snorkeling tours were all full up for the days we'd be in the area, but happily, after we got back from the drift dive it turned out that they'd had a couple spots open up and we got to go manatee snorkeing after all.

Manatees, it turns out, are like big kitties. They love having their bellies scritched. Carole wanted to take one home.

See the photos here:

The drift dive: http://www.furrs.org/images/rainbowriver/default.htm

The manatee snorkel: http://www.furrs.org/images/crystalriver/default.htm

I'm sure Carole's going to have a lot more to say, so I'm going to let her read this and comment.

Comments

It was A-MAZING.

[caroleotter.livejournal.com]

Swimming with manatees, when you get to do it, is incredible. It's something you want to tell everyone about when you've done it. And tell them they have to do it. And then go back and do it again.

What I didn't expect was how much they LIKED us. You don't usually get that response from wild animals, y'know? I guess that's why we keep comparing them to cats. They responded the same way to petting and scratching as cats do. They kept coming back for more. And, you know the way when you're scratching a cat, she keeps moving her head to guide you to the best place to scratch? Manatees do that, too: they roll over as you scratch, getting you to scratch the belly instead of the back, or whatever.

Also, when you interact with a manatee, you can tell she's interested in you. They will swim directly up to people who have cameras; our tour guide said she thought it was because they figure people with cameras are experienced and know how to scratch them the way they like it. Another cool thing: When one of them is swimming past you, and you wave your fingers in the water to try to get her attention, you can see her eye rolling back to look at you. They have this incredibly ancient and wise look, like elephants (who are their closest terrestrial relatives).

They definitely liked us. At the end, I found myself thinking, "I wonder if they'll remember us?"

Re: It was A-MAZING.

[goldenlily.livejournal.com]

I loved the manatees, I'm so glad you both have fun.

Jay - you're looking more natural in the water dude, keep up the good work! :)