Wednesday, April 01, 2009

MANATEE


I love these little guys.....well, not little. Big...REALLY big.

I never really knew what they were until we lived in Florida. You did know we lived in Florida, right? I'm Texan, born and bred, but Florida is the ONLY other state that I would move to. But, I digress

I guess if I saw a picture of them, I would know what they were, but I never had experience with them. I mean, why would I....growing up in west Texas and all? I haven't thought about manatee in a long time...until this morning. I was flipping through the TV and I stopped on "Sunrise Earth." What a genius thing, actually! They showed manatee. They are so beautiful.

My Florida experiences were a lot of fun (some scary...but that is a whole "nother" post for a whole "nother" day.) The animals were the coolest. I used to go to a park on a river during my lunch time. Every now and then, you could see dolphins playing, you would hear splashes in the water, see really TALL birds walking along or even see a space shuttle shooting into space.

While in Florida, we lived between 2 rivers. From my front door, crossing the river, crossing the barrier island and hitting the sand of the beach took all of 10 minutes. What a dream! It was on one of those journeys when I saw a LOT of folk gathered at one of the little coves, between what is called, "The Fingers." I pulled over because I'm nosy....heh....no other reason.

Come to find out, the manatee were migrating down and like to come into the fresh water. Right in that area was some sort of plant (not the vegetarian kind, but industrial) that heated the water and drew the manatee to the area. I was fascinated and talked and talked to one nice lady who was giving me the "411" on these creatures. I soon found out that she was a reporter for the local paper....yep, I was in the paper. Cool, huh?

Well, my hubby and I often went to the same location to see these guys. And often, during my lunch hour, I could see them in the river as they came up for air and would sun a bit.

Before we moved back west, my hubby and I drove down to Key West. We decided to enjoy a toast at sunset...standing thigh deep in the water. It wasn't long before one of us was almost knocked off our feet by one of these guys. They love people. We patted them as they swam around us. It was fascinating. I remember almost crying at the thought of this giant ocean mammal being so close....so gentle.

Yep, if we leave Texas, I must go to Florida.....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a neat experience! I too love manatee I think they are the most lovable big sea creatures. I always stand and look in amazement at the big window at the aquarium in awe of how big they are!!!

Mommy Spice said...

AWESOME!! I would be totally freaked out if one swam up to me, but I'd love it just the same.

I thought your post was going to have something to do with the Vegietales Silly Song...Barbara Manatee. Have ya heard it?? It'll get stuck in your head allll day long. :)

Anonymous said...

YAY for manatees! I love them too, I just want to hug them, lol. Ever since I was a little girl. They are beautiful

Unknown said...

How cool is THAT?

I'm not sure I DID know that you lived in FL!

erica said...

good thing you don't have to leave Texas

just kidding! I love almost all sea life, but Manatee are beautiful. Like the Gentle Giants of the Sea.

That looks like so much fun!

R and R Stacy said...

Nice! The kids are always amazed with the manatee. they are so BIG!

Renee said...

What a neat experience! They are kinda cute.

Carla said...

how cool! Ok, now I REALLY want to go to Florida!!