Florida Manatee Again-Some Sobering Injuries

Here is the rest of the series of my manatee pics. It starts with two "happy" ones, then it gets serious with two examples of very common injuries and the last pic is of a famous orphaned manatee named "Mo". Read his story at link at the bottom of the page.

And please see my other post here for info on who to contact to help the Florida Manatee:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11828

And kudos to Photobeat for his AWESOME artful under/over shots posted here, WOW!:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11815

Their "snouts" fascinate me, they use it much like an elephant uses his trunk, to investigate all sorts of things....... and make manatee sounds:

Sometimes the viz isn't as good but the number of manatee make up for any lack of good photos with just too-much-fun...(note, no one is around me and there are 5 manatee in the shot, that is what you get during a cool, weekday, early am):

Now for sad/sobering photos, a mangled manatee tail, probably prop damage:

"Healed" manatee prop scars, 66% of adults have scars like these from the propellers and bases of boat motors:

This is a VERY POOR photo, but it is of a famous (infamous) manatee named Mo. I took the pic cause I thought the tracking buoy was interesting and later found out the long story of the orphan "Mo", find out more about him at:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/10/Citrus/M...ee_still_.shtml

Great series Carol...

Love that 5 set shot..

So sad to see the scars, that is horrible.

I really wanna get out and see them one of these days...

Carol,

Very nice shots. Mine were, well,...not quite so good. However, I did get to meet Mo and this manatee above with the damaged tail. I also got to meet another little guy with some damage. This was my first experience with these creatures and I was floored by their gentle nature, inquisitive and playful ways. "scratch me" was the theme of the day. A must do for everyone, including future generations. I can't believe they're contemplating removing them from the endangered list. Thanks for the pics and links.

Gary,

Mike,

As a side note, if you're going to make that once in a lifetime trip to see the Manatees, it appears 3 sisters springs is by far the best clarity. Just click on a few of the manatee pics from the other two threads on this very page. The difference between the spring where Mo was at (escaping me at the moment) and 3 sisters is like night and day. According to my dive boat operator the water was too low to get to 3 sisters safely. Despite poor viz, the experience was nothing short of fantastic. I had one little guy who wouldn't leave me alone..haha. He came right up and stuck his snout on my mask.

Gary.

Here is one to add to the pile.

Please note though.... Gary,

Viz varies wildly at the Main Spring, King's Spring, Crystal River, where we were this past Thursday, January26th (me-in fact all my photos in this post, except the first one, were from the "lower-viz" on Thursday) and Friday, January 27th (you were there). The viz at the Main Spring can be over 150 feet at times!

Some people consider the Main Spring, King's Spring to be the premier manatee experience spot at Crystal River because it is actually more consistent for viz, believe it or not. Plus there are huge (a 7 footer on Thurs), tarpon, and big schools of jacks, snapper and mullet at the Main Spring.

Three Sister's Spring is actually less consistent for viz than the Main Spring. But when it is good, it can't be beat (as the photos evidence)!! But sometimes there are so many manatee there it gets "blown-out" and takes a long time for the springs to clear it out. Manatee really have a way of messing up the viz. And then sometimes it is 200 foot of viz at Three Sister's and there are no manatee....... <_<

Both areas are greatly affected by tides and wind direction if it is a particularly windy front.

You and I were there last week during a very, very low tide that was a result of very strong winds and very low tides from the new moon that was on Sunday, the 29th (today). The week before I went on Thursday (Jan 19th) also and saw 150 manatee at Three Sister's Spring, but it took an hour or so for the springs to clean up the viz after some of the manatee departed to feed in deeper waters.

It is "tough" to do any wildlife encounter just once and hope for perfect conditions. The number of manatee at the Main Spring with the low tides made for very good encounters, as did the crevalle jacks, tarpon, mullett, gray snapper, diving cormorant, etc., even if the viz wasn't the best. Hint: if you stay right on top of the BIG spring outflow at the Main Spring you will get much better viz, I had about 70 feet there last Thursday, the 26th (which was a viz day very similar to Friday), even with the extreme low tide, if you moved just a few yards off the outflows of the springs viz dropped to 30 feet or so.

So my advice is find the clearer water and then let the manatee come to you! Most people do the opposite and have less viz, but the manatee ALWAYS come to me in the clearer water, I think they like people with cameras!! But then sometimes I make "manatee sounds" too........

It is always an adventure! Glad you enjoyed it, at least you saw some manatee, if it had warmed up too much you wouldn't have seen many (or any.....)

Best, Carol