Manatees at Crystal River

I just finished to do the edit of some of the photos I took couple of weeks ago at Crystal River, I really have to thank Carol Grant for all the help and helpful information, she is an expert about manatee behavior.

Some of these photos were taken with the Nikon 16 mm and some with my new Tokina 10-17 mm, I really had a great time playing with this new lens, I found out that this lens worked better in low light conditions than my 16 mm but I really need to do some test because conditions at Crystal River were not great while I was there.

Swimming with manatees was an amazing experience but a little challenging for taking decent photographs, the were not too many manatees when I was there and some times with lots of people swimming around. We went with Birds Underwater and they are truly professionals and very friendly staff. The only "bad" experience we encounter is that some manatee tour companies are quite "aggressive" and they tell people to move away because they want their guest to be with the manatees.

Here are just few images from that amazing week...

Excellent images. Could you please elaborate about what you feel worked better on the 10-17 vs. 16.

Great shots. I've always wanted to do that dive.

David,

Excellent shots. It was my pleasure to be with you & Carol that day.

I wish I had my camera with me & look forward to go back there soon.

Sam

David I'm really impressed (but then I knew I would be!!) B) !!!

You are a really fine photographer!! I must say your anhinga makes me jealous!!!! I've got pics of them but not near that good. That is awesome, with the blue water and the manatee in the background. I don't know if people here realize what an extremely difficult shot that is to get - especially on snorkel!!!!

Yup that is me in pic #7.......... Sort of embarrassing, looks like I'm doing the "manatee pirouette" or something...... You did great with those green water conditions. I just got discouraged and didn't photo much, but I do have a couple of you that I'll post (and pm me your email and I'll send to you). One has the manatee checking out your dome as if to say "hey it that the NEW Tokina 10-17 I've been hearing so much about?"..... B)

Got some of Sam too, Sam I'll get them to you but again I was bummin' that conditions were not better. As I said the next Monday and Tuesday, especially Tuesday was one of the best days of the year. It is so volatile there!! But at least you all saw manatee and the lovely springs!!

I'll be posting more manatee pics soon, I have hordes to sort through but I learned a lot this season. I have a deep love for the manatee and want to do what I can to help them survive.

It is pretty much too warm for manatee now, but there are always manatee there and Bird's always does manatee tours, year round. If you don't mind taking a chance you can go, but manatee tend to go to the deeper darker water to feed when it gets warmer. They are hungry after all the winter without eating a lot. The Gulf is getting above 68 degrees now too so they will migrate out there, most will go out into the Gulf, they are probably on their way already.

As far as the "aggressive" operators, yes that is a real problem. In fact it is very possible that all in-water observation of manatee will be prohibited at Crystal River because of the actions of the bad operators and a few stupid people. We hope this doesn't happen as even (who I consider to be), one of the foremost expert on manatee in the world, Bob Bonde (US Geological Survey), says he feels it is good for people to get close to manatee at Crystal River, especially to be aware of the numbers that are scarred by propellers and canal/power plant gates, etc. It is so hard to get any action, that flies in the face of the boating lobbies, any sanctions to protect the manatee, but when people see with their own eyes that 70% of these incredibly gentle and curious creatures that you see have horrible scars from boat propellers it is a sobering reminder to support slow-manatee speed zones and support additional research into ways to help the mantee hear the oncoming boats and get out of the way in time. It is only very fast boats in shallow water that injure manatee BTW, manatee can get out of the way of slower boats in time, or at least they won't get injured.

Here is a link to Bob Bonde's new book, it is fascinating, lots of facts on the manatee published nowhere else, not a manatee "photo" book but packed full of interesting information. It is not a "dry" read either, one excerpt talks about how Bob Bonde noticed different reactions of manatee to his different colored swim trunks. Now that is valuable data!!!

Here is a link to the book:

The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation by Roger Reep and Robert K. Bonde

http://www.amazon.com/Florida-Manatee-Biol...2482&sr=8-1

I'll get to the manatee pics asap......!

Best, Carol

David, Sam and all,

I did get these two pics posted to show Chuck how sharp the 16mm was. These are from in the front sanctuary where the clear blue water from the back mixes with the more green water in the front. The cyans didn't survive the conversion from Adobe RGB to sRGB very well but you get the idea. It was clear for the front sanctuary.!! This is from the following Tuesday, four days after you left David. See all the manatee in the sanctuary, yes it was cold!! Got some manatee in the back blue water too, and anhinga. But not as good as your anhinga David!!! What a shot.

Anyway this will have to do for a few days till I get through some of mine......

Best Always, Carol

I find it interesting how different photographers capture different aspects of the florida manatee. There is always something new to be discovered. Myself I like my shots best when the manatee is really communicating up close and personal. Plus this shows the great sharpness of the 16mm (in the left corner). Is the Tokina this sharp?

Ah, a gal manatee who initiated this encounter and is a "kindred water-soul", with rainbows, blue sky and everything - after an encounter such as this I think there may just be hope that we can all make things better - after all!!!

I do love those big softy, manatee, beauties

Brings a warmth to my heart..

Thanks

Dive safe

DeanB

Really nice work. That is probably a place I will dive next just to say I am taking UW pics. Where was that?