Florida February – Crystal River and Homosassa River

Manatee in Florida

In February, we went to Florida to celebrate Scott’s Mom’s 93rd birthday. And, of course, we did a few other things while there.

Happy birthday!

Scott had decided that he really wanted to swim with Manatees. So, we started our visit with two days in Crystal River and with reservations for our first day to swim with the Manatees with Captain Mike. The name of the business is actually “Captain Mike’s Swimming with the Manatees” and it is based in Crystal River. 

Crystal River

It involves donning a provided wetsuit (which I put on backwards at first) so that you will be comfortable in the 72°F water and then snorkeling around the Manatees. They give you a pool noodle to help you float more effortlessly.

In our wetsuits after swimming with Manatees

The rules are that you should move slowly, not hover above sleeping Manatees, paddle with your hands and NOT kick your feet (so as to not stir up silt and not disturb the Manatees), float and keep your feet off the silty bottom (the more you stir up silt, the harder it is to see) and not harass, chase or touch Manatees. You may, however, touch a Manatee that approaches you. 

Almost touching, but not! And, the Manatee approached me

About Manatees

Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three species: the Amazonian Manatee, the West African Manatee and the West Indian Manatee, which is the species that lives in Florida. A fourth related animal is the Eastern Hemisphere's Dugong. One of our guides said that the Florida Manatee is a separate subspecies and that both West Indian and Florida types live in Florida. It appears that the Florida variety is a sub of the West Indian; it is not distinguishable except that it usually smaller.

Florida or West Indian? Who knows?

Manatees are thought to have evolved from four-legged land mammals more than 60 million years ago, with the closest living relatives being Elephants and Hyraxes.

Manatees weigh 880 to 1,210 lbs. and average 9.2 to 9.8 feet long, but they can reach 3,900 lbs. and 15 feet in length. Females tend to be larger and heavier than males. At birth, baby Manatees weigh about 66 lbs. 

Manatee lips; Photo: Scott Stevens

The Manatee has a large, flexible, prehensile upper lip that is split into left and right sides that can move independently. They have no incisor or canine teeth, just a set of cheek teeth, which are not clearly differentiated into pre-molars and molars. These teeth are repeatedly replaced throughout life, with new teeth growing at the rear as older teeth fall out from farther forward in the mouth, somewhat as Elephants' teeth do. 

At any time, a Manatee typically has no more than six teeth in each jaw of its mouth.

The Manatee’s tail is paddle-shaped and its “arms” are short flippers near the front of its large rounded body. 

Manatee flipper; Photo: Rosie

The female has two teats, one under each flipper, a characteristic that was used to make early links between the Manatee and Elephants.

Manatee's Elephant-like hide

Apart from mothers with their young, or during mating, Manatees are generally solitary. They spend approximately 50 percent of the day sleeping submerged, surfacing for air regularly at intervals of less than 20 minutes. The remainder of the time is mostly spent grazing in shallow waters at depths of 3-7 feet. Manatees in Florida have been known to live up to 60 years.

Generally, Manatees swim at about 3-5 mph, but they can swim up to 35 mph in short bursts. 

Manatee fan-shaped tail

Manatees are herbivores and eat over 60 different freshwater and saltwater plants. Using their divided upper lip, an adult manatee will commonly eat up to 10-15 percent of its body weight per day. Consuming such an amount requires the manatee to graze for up to seven hours a day. To be able to cope with the high levels of cellulose in their plant-based diet, Manatees use hindgut fermentation to help with digestion. 

Grazing Manatee

Manatees use their flippers to "walk" along the bottom while they dig for plants and roots, using either their flippers or their lips. 

Then, they use their flippers to scoop vegetation toward their prehensile lips, which they use to manipulate and shred the plants as they eat. 

Manatees prefer the more nutritious vegetation that grows in the saltwater Gulf bays. However, because they cannot tolerate temperatures below 68°F, they move into the rivers when the temperature in the Gulf drops. The high volume of water in the rivers keeps the temperature stable.

Manatee face

Between November and March each year, about 600 Manatees gather in the rivers in Citrus County, including at the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. 

Manatees often gather near the warm-water outflows of power plants along the Florida coast, instead of migrating south as they once did. 

Some conservationists are concerned that these Manatees have become too reliant on these artificially warmed areas. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to find a new way to heat the water for Manatees that depended on plants that have closed. 

As of January 2016, the USFWS estimates the range-wide Manatee population to be at least 13,000; as of January, 2018, at least 6,100 are estimated to be in Florida. Population viability studies conducted in 1997 found that decreasing adult survival and eventual extinction were a probable future outcome for Florida Manatees unless they got more protection. The USFWS proposed downgrading the Manatee's status from Endangered to Threatened in January 2016 after more than 40 years of the Manatee's being protected while being on the Endangered list. Certainly, the protections in Florida are new since I lived there.

Photo: Scott Stevens

In relation to the threat posed by humans, predation does not present a significant threat to Manatees. When threatened, the Manatee's response is to dive as deeply as it can, suggesting that threats have most frequently come from land dwellers such as humans rather than from other water-dwelling predators.

Here's some video from Captain Mike's to show these lovely beasts in action.

The Manatee's slow-moving, curious nature, coupled with dense coastal development, has led to many violent collisions with propeller-driven boats and ships, leading frequently to maiming, disfigurement and even death. 

Manatees live around boats, which causes problems

As a result, a large proportion of Manatees exhibit propeller scars on their backs. Often, the lacerations lead to infections, which can prove fatal. Internal injuries stemming from being trapped between hulls and docks and impacts have also been fatal. 

Prop scar

Manatees hear on a higher frequency than would be expected for such large marine mammals. Many large boats emit very low frequencies, which confuse the Manatee and explain their lack of awareness around boats. Research indicates that when a boat has a higher frequency, Manatees rapidly swim away from danger. 

Another cause of Manatee deaths are red tides that can have toxic effects on the central nervous system of animals.

People love Manatees

Of course, Floridians all have a warm spot in their hearts for the gentle, sweet Manatee, so it was nice to spend two calm mornings swimming among them. It is something I have always wanted to do and now I have done it. I would love to find an area closer to a spring with clearer water so we could see more. But, it was fun.

Our Experience

I must say, the trip with captain Mike was a bit disappointing for me and very disappointing for Scott. The water was exceptionally murky and, because it had been quite hot, the Manatees were scarce, causing us to have to go to even murkier parts of the river. 

This is some of the less murky water; Photos: Rosie

Rosie

This wasn’t captain Mike’s fault; it just was what it was. 

Plus, our boatmates (a family of four) simply could not follow directions and kept kicking. So, lots of silt and enough kicks to the face to keep me from aggressively viewing Manatees. 

Fortunately, the in-water guide, Rosie, seemed to understand that I was hanging back and she guided me to a couple of Manatees before the hoard could descend.

If you want to know how murky the water was, well, I ran into Manatees twice because I didn’t see them! They are huge. It was a little scary.

Up close

So, why was I less disappointed than Scott? Because I had one fabulous encounter, where a Manatee surfaced right in from of my face and I got several great photos. 

Swimming up to my face

I've used the photos in this piece, but here they are along with video shot by Rosie.

Scott waiting for the second trip

As we were exploring after our initial trip, we came across another firm "Snorkel with Manatees" that did a trip in the Homosassa River, which appeared to be a bit clearer. 

So, we decided to go again. 

It was a wee bit clearer and there were many more Manatees because we had had a cold front the night before. Yep. I donned a wetsuit and got in the water when it was 47°F out! Of course, the water was still 72°F degrees. And, it was surprisingly comfortable.

This time, our boatmates were much more pleasant, but I managed to always be in the wrong place. So, I didn't have as good a Manatee encounter, but Scott did, including good views of a mother and baby. 

Scott even touched one.

Scott touching an approaching Manatee

And, it was fun. Just nothing as good as my face-to-face in the Crystal River.

Scott in the Homosassa River

Crystal River

While we were staying in Crystal River, we did some central Florida exploring, visiting the Crystal River area.

Much of the area is marsh

While out and about, we saw a few critters, from the tiny Fiddler Crab ...

Tiny little crabs, smaller than a pinky nail

... to a Great Blue Heron ...

Fishing in the marsh

... to a Juvenile White Ibis ...

Love those blue eyes

... and a majestic female Northern Harrier ...

Hunting in the marsh

Oh, and another plus ... food! It was stone crab claw season. And, of course, it is always Greek salad season.

Lunch at the Crab Plant in Crystal River

We also stopped at the absolutely gorgeous Rainbow Springs State Park, Silver Springs State Park and Ocala National Forest. I'll talk about that in my next post.

Ocala National Forest

Trip date: February 12-19, 2020