Swimming with the Manatees

Julie and I went to Florida over Christmas to see my family. One of the highlights was swimming with the manatees at Crystal River Springs. The water coming from the spring is 72 degrees year round. In the winter the rivers and oceans drop below 72 degrees so the manatees come to the spring where it's warmer. It's super cool to swim with them.

Here we are just about to get in

Setting out

The adult manatees seem rather indifferent to the people, but the babies come right up to you and love to get petted.

Young manatee with another snorkeler

This baby was coming right up to me. It clearly wanted to get petted. I was trying to take it's photo and had to keep backing up in order to get it in focus. Their skin is really rough and covered in barnacles.

Young manatee

Getting a breath

Julie swimming along

Manatees are pretty slow moving animals. They primarily use their tales, but also have fins on the side to help propel a bit, especially if they are going slower or turning.


The water from the springs is crystal clear, but b/c there were a lot of people some of the silt on the bottom got stirred up.


Boats are one of the major dangers to manatees. The one below had part of his tail cut off, likely from a boat propeller. Most manatees have some physical scars from boats, either missing parts of tails or big scars on their backs.

Manatee with part of tail missing

The weather was about 50 degrees and overcast. The water was 72 degrees, which fortunately was warmer than the air, but we were pretty chilled after swimming.

Julie and my dad on the way back to the dock

In order to protect the manatees boats must maintain idle speed or slow speed in the entire area around Crystal River Springs. Here's a sign stating the law.

No wake zone

Pelican

It was a super fun day, although a bit chilly. Next time we'll bring the full wet suit instead of just shorts and a Hydrosilk top. I hope we can go back next year!