KeelieGirl

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Location: Northwestern Pennsylvania, United States

Welcome to my world, a modest little mix of art, writing, animals, and whatever else happens to catch my fancy at the moment...

Friday, January 21, 2011

Manatees for Peace

Back from Florida and swimming with the manatees; what a great trip we had! If you have never experienced this, I highly recommend you give it a try if you have the opportunity to do so. What marvelous creatures they are (tho not so marvelous that they coughed up the secret to world peace!)

I must say though, if they were in charge of the world, peace would indubitably reign! These are just about the most peaceful, easy-going creatures I have ever had the honor to be near. They are monstrously huge (at least the adults are) - getting to be up to 13 feet long, and I think I read somewhere they can weigh up to 3000 pounds! Interestingly though, they aren't fat - they're mostly intestines and lungs. The lack of blubber - such as what whales have - is one of the reasons they migrate to the warm spring waters in the winter - they just can't deal with the cold. Me neithor, come to think of it (here in NW PA it was 9 degrees out earlier this evening) - but it's certainly not for a lack of blubber in my case!!!

Since neithor I nor my friend Erin had ever done this before - and since there are definite rules you need to follow to not get yourself in trouble with the fine folks at the wildlife protection agencies, we decided to go on a guided tour our first trip out. BirdsUnderwater were highly rated by some people I knew who'd actually been there, done that, so we went with them. And they really were wonderful, so I'm passing along the recommendation. The owners and staff were professional and even rather humorous at times, and it was evident (I thought) that they really cared about the welfare of these animals. For such a priceless experience, it was pretty inexpensive. $35.00 included a boat trip out and back and full snorkel gear. For another $15.00 you could have a full wet suit (definitely dont cheap out there- you WILL regret it!)

Of course, we ended up buying a DVD of us swimming with the manatees, a camera, several tee shirts and sweatshirts, a hat, some jewelry, a kids book...so, maybe it wasn't totally inexpensive, but what the heck, how often do you do something like that?! Besides, I needed some new clothes...

As for the actual swimming with the manatees - what a treat! I have heard that manatees are - if not the only, one of a very few wild animals that not only allows people to approach them, but actually chooses to interact with us. (The fact that they have no natural enemies - after all, how tasty can lungs and intestines be? - probably is a bit of a motivating factor there.) The babies approached us most frequently, snuggling right up to us, brushing their faces against ours, nibbling on our wetsuits, doing barrel rolls and asking for belly rubs.

Erin and I were the last ones back on the boat. But of course, we still didn't get enough. Next day, we returned, this time renting a kayak from Birds Underwater. We paddled back out onto King's Bay where we hung out with more manatees in the warm, clear waters of Three Sisters' Springs. I just don't see Life getting a whole lot better than that - unless, of course, the manatee succeeds in bringing us world peace!

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