Crystal River/Manatees

Hi All,

Have done the trip with reasonable photo success a few times. Want to avoid the tourista cattle boats this trip. (too many people messing up the vis and photo opps) Any advise ?

Thanks

Joe

I would PM Carol (seagrant). She is the resident manatee expert. I've done it a few times like you and my desire on the next trip is either to go late in the afternoon, or early morning on a canoe.

Just don't go when it is busy, weekends/holidays/spring break.

Also go very early am when it is cold. That limits people also.

Last few times I've seen the manatee over the past couple of weeks I've been alone with a number of manatee most of the time (once two weeks ago I was alone with about 30 manatee for an hour, but of course the viz was compromised with all those manatee).... - and there were just a few polite people the rest of the time. I've had no problems with crowds so far this season. Manatee at Crystal River are left alone a lot except for peak times - I never go when it is busy, it isn't good for you or the manatee. Measures are being taken to limit crowds but there are a lot of factors to control (operators and scads of private boat rentals). Mooring buoys are being put in place to limit the number of boats and it will probably be required to be tied up to a mooring buoy during busy times soon.

Kayaks are a good idea if you go yourself because you won't risk scaring away manatee with the motor - not knowing where to anchor if there aren't moorings, etc. And you can time it to when there aren't many boats. Nice sightseeing too!

Search for posts on manatee, I and others have posted a lot of good data to help you plan your observations here on WetPixel.

Best, Carol

Hi Carol,

Thanks for the info. Looks like I will be there in January and unfortunately my window of opportunity will be on a weekend as I will be working in Orlando during the week. Any good spots the boats don't go?

Joe

I'll echo what Joe has said above. We're going to be there from 27 Dec - 2 Jan, so I'm not hopefull that it will be quiet over that period. We're going to hire a boat and poodle around on our own to attempt to avoid the crowds. Carol if you have any good advice then it would be really appreciated!

Cheers, Simon

P.S. We're both experienced boat operators and very mindfull of what not to do in the presence of marine mammals, but we'll be seeking even more advice once we get there. Just to reassure you that we'll not be tearing around all over the place!

Here is a couple of shots I have taken. I would like to up the stakes this trip as it will be my first Manatee DSLR trip. The others were with my nike 5 15mm lens and no strobe except when it was dark(am)

jd