Swimming with Manatees

 It was 3.am - a VERY early start to the day, when we started our journey from Orlando towards Crystal River, to swim with manatees!

It seemed like a VERY long journey, in fact it was nearly a three hour drive and we had to be there at 6.30am but, after getting lost and having to use a friendly petrol station operator's phone to find our way, we finally arrived at the 'Bird's Underwater' dock.

We made sure that we chose a company who really cared for the manatees and took great precaution in ensuring their safety. And before we knew it, we were kitted up with wetsuits and flippers, ready to brace the cold water!                                                                                                          Manatees are like the Dugongs cousins

As we crept further away from the shore, the boat slowed dramatically - this was due to signs around saying: "Manatee zone - slow speed, minimum wake".

The boat captain explain how manatees are often "run over" by boats, which causes them huge internal injuries, or can be hurt by the propellers on the back of boats. 

But soon enough, our boat captain, got very excited saying: "There's one!"It was about 8am by this time, and I could see this manatee who popped up and started using the boat's anchor line as tooth floss! Very carefully and quietly, we all got in the water, and soon more and more manatees started to appear. 

You would slowly be swimming and this manatee would appear out of no-where in the murky water underneath you!

I, personally, am PETRIFIED of sharks and general strange things appearing suddenly in deep water (probably watching 'Jaws’ was a bad idea), but around these manatees I felt completely safe.

It was a magical feeling - this manatee would take my hand (we were only allowed to use one hand to pat them) in her flippers and guide it to where it wanted to be patted.

She would roll in the water and play, but it seemed like it was not me, but her who was taking the utmost care not to hurt anyone.

Other manatees were splashing around, but it was much further away to where we were. But, as I stroked her back, I noticed all these scars and marks on her backs, and on the backs of many others, which are caused by boats, and yet all the manatees were so trusting and caring towards us. It really makes you think just how damaging human activity is, and how much care we have to take to avoid hurting these beautiful creatures.

But what I noticed was that, even though manatees are solitary animals (with the exception of mother and calf),the manatees never really strayed far from each other. They would always be close, and at times you would have 2 or 3 manatees so close to you at one time! It was so special!

You really lose track of time with these gentle beasts. We were in the water for about 2-3 hours before we moved onto our next spot, the Three Sisters Springs.

Because manatees are so sensitive to the cold, and can often die from too low water temperatures, they migrate to warmer waters, generally around thermal springs (like at Crystal River and Homasassa) and will even hang out near power stations where hot water is pumped into the sea.

As it wasn’t too cold yet, there weren’t as many manatees in the Three Sisters Springs, but the water was so clear and swimming in it was almost like flying through air it was so clear; we got to see plenty of fish there.

Around the entrance to Three Sisters Spings were volunteers in kayaks, making sure that the tourists who come to experience the manatees weren’t being rough with them. It was fabulous to see the locals taking such care of these beautiful creatures. It's certainly something I'd love to do if I retired there.

In these springs, we got to see a ‘protected area’, which was sectioned off with buoys and ropes. This part is where Manatees can safely sleep or just hang around, and no humans are to ever enter that area. It’s like quiet time for manatees.

                                                                                                                                                     Three Sister Springs

We saw a manatee lying on the bottom, asleep. Our boat captain told us that manatees sleep underwater for up to 20 minutes and unconsciously rise to the surface, breathe, and then sink back down again in a cycle. Manatees generally don’t sleep for long periods like humans do, more like little breaks throughout the day.

We journeyed upstream – quite literally, we had to hold on to rocks and push ourself up this little passage! But further up was this other part, with this large ditch in the bottom! In it was this tiny school of silver fish! Such an incredible experience!

But soon, when our hands were looking very wrinkly and granny-like, we had to leave these amazing animals.

Freya and I at Three Sisters Springs