West Indian Manatees 2008

At Christmas time, my wife, Veronica and I visited the sunny state of Florida. Our trip had three purposes. We were going to visit with various family members who lived along our route, visit with friends who live in the sunshine state and swim with West Indian Manatees. It is one of our favorite things to do. We have made this trip many times in the past and we never seem to tire of interacting and photographing these gentle marine mammals. We stay at the Port Hotel and Marina. It is not a classy place but it is right on the Crystal River and we can walk out the sliding back door and be right on the river. We can watch the boat traffic, bird life and even catch a glimpse of a manatee or two swimming by. We spent four days including Christmas Day in Crystal River, Florida. We spent each of those days at our favorite place to see and photograph manatees – Three Sister’s Springs.

Once you come face to face with this loveable mammal, you will never forget it. The trip also gave me a chance to try out my Nikon D300 in a Subal D200 housing. If you want to find out more about this conversion, you can find info on my blog about it. For those of you who are curious about how the setup worked, let me say that I was extremely happy with it. Subal wants $2300 USD to convert my existing housing to use the D300 in it. I bought a kit from Sam Shae in Korea and it cost $150 USD for the conversion. I have an article in my blog on how to install the kit.

During our four days with the manatees, we were joined by our friends, Warren and Robin Reed from Delray Beach, Florida and Joe and Sue Pakan from The Villages, Florida. Being with friends was an added bonus to the trip.

Three Sister’s Springs is a great place to see and photograph manatees but it can become very crowded very quickly. Everyone that comes is excited to see and interact with the manatees and that it really cool. It is tough for photographers as the water gets so stirred up that it is almost impossible to get good photos.

I also found out that low tide is not the best time to be at Three Sister’s Springs. The water level is too low for the manatees to go back into the main springs and that is the place to get some really great shots. The water there is very clear (unless there are a lot of people back there and that does happen). When you are there at high tide and the tide starts to go out, the clear water from the main spring clears up the area in front of the sanctuary pretty quickly. When the tide is coming in, it brings in less clear water from the lagoon.

Another secret that is not so much of a secret anymore is that Christmas Day is the best day of the year to be at Three Sister’s. The commercial boats don’t run that day (although this year we did see a few) and there are less people here on this day then any other that I have seen. Unfortunately for us, Christmas Day was a low tide in the morning day and when we got there, there were only a few manatees and none back in the main spring. Veronica and I did find one that really wanted to interact with Veronica and we spent a lot of time with it. How can you tell if a manatee really loves interacting with a human? Just look at the next picture.

When a wild animal rolls over on its back, it is very vulnerable. Manatees love being scratched. But before you visit, remember that the manatees must initiate the interaction. Do not chase after them as it will only scare them off. I had a juvenile manatee following me and wanting to be scratched. I would take a few photos and then scratch it. I felt that since it wanted to interact, it was my duty to participate and not just take photos. I believe that they like to have algae that grows on them scratched off.  My friend, Warren Reed, has a pair of dive gloves that have a Kevlar coating on the palm. They really take off the algae and the manatees that he encountered seemed to really love it.

 

I am sure that there is a lot of debate about whether manatees really want to interact with humans or are we pushing this on them. If you have spent any time with a manatee, you know the answer to that. I have seen manatees that want to interact and the people whom they pick do not. I think that what happens next is great. Veronica was taking a break and a juvenile manatee wanted to play. She didn’t cooperate so the manatee took over the situation.

This manatee was getting her to play whether she wanted to or not. This manatee rubbed itself against her legs and at one point swam between Veronica’s legs. The manatee kept doing this until Veronica started scratching it again.

Next is a great lesson in photography. I saw a very large manatee with a tracking beacon attached to it. I got a few photos in the murky water outside the sanctuary and then the manatee swam into the sanctuary. I had been in the water for a long time and was cold so I was going to end my day. I got onto the boat and changed into dry clothes. I was sitting for a little while as my friend, Robin, was still in the water taking pictures. At some point, I saw the beacon move out of the sanctuary and go into the stream that leads to the main springs. I really didn’t want to get into the water again but this was an opportunity. I have never seen a manatee with a locator beacon before. My first thought was that I would see the manatee again as I still had a few days in Crystal River. Finally, I couldn’t stand not trying to get the photo and I changed back into my wet gear and was back in the water. I swam into the main spring and there it was.

I managed to get quite a few photos although the light was tricky. Guess what? I didn’t see this manatee again. I would have hated myself if I had been lazy and not gone after the prize.

I hope that we get back again next year. I tried out a Tokina 10-16mm lens this year and found that it was great for over/under photographs. It is a fish eye lens and I am not sure that I like that look in some of the photos that I took as much as I like my Nikon 12-24 mm lens. The Tokina is a sharp lens and I think that I will be using it for shipwreck and artificial reef photography at home in New Jersey this summer.

I thought that this would make a great ending shot.

This manatee is resting on the boom and you can see all the boats anchored at Three Sister’s Springs. I love it there and I hope that it continues to exist as a place for people to visit and interact with West Indian Manatees. There are some things going on at Three Sister’s that don’t make me happy and there are some people who are trying to make it more difficult to interact with the manatees. There are times when the place gets nuts but it is easy to understand the excitement when people meet manatees. If you go, please respect the manatee and find out how to interact with them correctly. If you have never had the opportunity to do this, you are missing the chance of a lifetime to be with a true gentle giant. If you would like to see more of my West Indian Manatees, click here.

© 2009, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.