Manatee Snorkeling and diving etiquette

Recently I had to attend a tradeshow in Orlando, so I decided to combine buiness with pleasure. I went with my biz suit in one bag and my wetsuit in the other. My wife came along and after the tradeshow we snuck out for a Manatee snorkeling tour and some spring diving near Crystal River Fl. Given that there are only around 3000 left in the wild around the coast of Florida and they lost something like 300 last year to boat strikes, they are in serious danger of local extinction. It was a rare treat to see and photograph them. The tour operator we dove with was very responsible about enforcing the laws about not chasing or otherwise harassing them. Basically let them come to you if they are interested in interacting with you. Some of them are very curious and playful, others are not. Where we were the water was not terribly clear which made the photography challenging, but I got some reasonable shots. I also got to experience some of the rudest behaviour by a dive professional I have ever seen in my years diving.

At one point, I was swiming away from the rest of the snorkelers when one of manatees came up to me and started posing. As I was framing my shot, the guide of the other tour operator swam in front of me, pushed me out of the way, and started shouting to his group "xxx Tour, xxx Tour, over here!". At first I thought he just didn't see me, or that it was bad timing so I again swam away, but he repeated this performance three times. When I got back to my boat later, I found that others in my group had similar experiences. Evidentally, this guy felt that he owned the manatees and that anyone who got near them were infringing on his turf. Needless to say, I'll never dive with "xxx Tour"

I also think that one of the problems Manatees have is that they are too trusting and unafraid. This one seemed fascinated with the anchor rope.

At one point he decided that the stairs made a good scratching post. I almost thought he was going to try climbing the ladder.

More at: Manatee Encounters

I think it's okay to name the tour company....many of us use this type of experience when we make our arrangements to dive with manatees. If you don't want to post their name, email me privately because I am close to possible booking a trip.

Thanks and nice images.

Joe

I think it's okay to name the tour company....many of us use this type of experience when we make our arrangements to dive with manatees.  If you don't want to post their name, email me privately because I am close to possible booking a trip.

 

Thanks and nice images.

 

Joe

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I did a similar trip last year without my wife, and it made such an impression on me that I brought her along this time, even though she had to hang out alone in Orlando while I was working. In both cases the tour operator I used was Bird's Underwater. They have been uniformly excellent. We also hired them to guide us on some freshwater diving in the Rainbow river, Blue Grotto, and Devil's Den. The color of the sunlight filtered through 100ft of crystal clear spring water was an electric blue that is hard to describe, let alone capture with a camera. But I digress. The unpleasant tour guide was from American Pro. I was shocked by his agressiveness. I could have understood this behaviour it if was just some yahoo, but from the divemaster?!

I agree with Bird's Underwater choice. They run the most respectful operation. You can learn a lot with them.

It is also always better to let the manatees come at you. Leave some room for them to move or play and you will enjoy your experience a lot more than if you try to run after those who want to be left alone.

My $ 0.02

Michel

I went with Birds in January. Excellent experience. You might want to check with them about 3 sisters springs as this is the best place to photograph manatees because of the excellent viz there. They said they were unable to get there due to unusually low tides/water when I went. The closer area they frequent the viz is challenging. However, swimming to the back of the area and just waiting usually draws a crowd of these inquisitive creatures. The funny thing is when I stopped moving to fiddle with a camera setting, I always looked up into a big hairy face just an arms length away.

We actually did two snorkel tours, and both of them visited 3 sisters springs. In the first one, there was one manatee in the spring, but he was sleeping in about 15ft of water so I left him alone. In the next trip there weren't any manatees there. We were however the first ones there in the morning and the water was incredibly clear. The clarity didn't last too long with some newbys kicking up the silt.

There is some bad news though. According to some locals, the area around the springs was just sold to developers who plan to put in more houses and a small water bottling plant! I kid you not!

If you want to see some manatee stuff we shot last January, go to http://www.sub-images.com/main_frame_manatee_entry.htm

Michel

We actually did two snorkel tours, and both of them visited 3 sisters springs. In the first one, there was one manatee in the spring, but he was sleeping in about 15ft of water so I left him alone. In the next trip there weren't any manatees there. We were however the first ones there in the morning and the water was incredibly clear. The clarity didn't last too long with some newbys kicking up the silt.

 

There is some bad news though. According to some locals, the area around the springs was just sold to developers who plan to put in more houses and a small water bottling plant! I kid you not!

Update on the development and water bottling issue.

Water bottling was never an issue. There's no industrial area close enough for a bottling plant, wouldn't happen.

As far as the development goes.....the city of Crystal River is spearheading a grant process so that hopefully, the property can be purchased and saved from development. The owners are willing to work with them to make this happen if enough money can be raised. As of this writing we need about $350,000....over $3 million has already been raised. Keep your fingers crossed that we can make it work...better yet, send in your doantions!!!!! LOL>