Manatees
For me, one of the highlights of this trip has been the manatees. I think there is something so amazing about having huge animals still running wild near such urban environments. (As much hassle as the deer have been this summer, they fall into that category to me too.) Our lives are so orderly, and our environments controlled to such a large degree that I still get a thrill just seeing big wild creatures randomly wandering around.
And manatees are just plain funny. Kind of like a walrus, but not quite as svelte. Kind of like a cow, but not quite so energetic. Gigantic floating lumps of fat with a face.
What's not to love?
Soren, however, just doesn't seem to share my fascination with these creatures. And that kind of surprises me. In fact, it surprises me to such a degree that I didn't really notice it was happening for quite awhile.
Before we left home I told him about the manatees and he expressed a vague interest. I told him that we'd take a boat trip out to visit the manatees and the Peter and I would go out snorkeling with them. Again, only vague interest.
In the wildlife park we actually spotted our first mantees. Up close. Five feet away and looking directly at us! Soren only glanced at them and was immediately on to the next thing. Hm, ok, I guess looking for the hippo or the Florida panther would be slightly more exciting.
We took a boat trip to search for the manatees.
They were tricky to find since it wasn't prime season, and the the visibility in the water was horrendous. But we found them! And wow! How absolutely amazing to swim with these huge, gentle creatures.
The visibility actually kind of added to the mystery. You couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face and then you'd see a huge manatee sticking his face in front of you to check you out! So amazing.
The tour office specialized in manatee tours and so they had all sorts of manatee paraphenalia. T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains... Soren would run up and say "Mom, can I buy this toy with the seal on it?" Seal? I'd gently explain that it was not a seal, it was a manatee. You know, the creature I'd been talking about for 3 days?
The man that ran the tour office was really kind and actually gave Soren a small stuffed manatee. In the car on the drive back to Orlando I'd hear Soren make his stuffed dog talk to his new friend, "Hello there little friend seal."
Ah, ok. So snorkeling with seals in Florida was really fun.
And manatees are just plain funny. Kind of like a walrus, but not quite as svelte. Kind of like a cow, but not quite so energetic. Gigantic floating lumps of fat with a face.
What's not to love?
Soren, however, just doesn't seem to share my fascination with these creatures. And that kind of surprises me. In fact, it surprises me to such a degree that I didn't really notice it was happening for quite awhile.
Before we left home I told him about the manatees and he expressed a vague interest. I told him that we'd take a boat trip out to visit the manatees and the Peter and I would go out snorkeling with them. Again, only vague interest.
In the wildlife park we actually spotted our first mantees. Up close. Five feet away and looking directly at us! Soren only glanced at them and was immediately on to the next thing. Hm, ok, I guess looking for the hippo or the Florida panther would be slightly more exciting.
We took a boat trip to search for the manatees.
They were tricky to find since it wasn't prime season, and the the visibility in the water was horrendous. But we found them! And wow! How absolutely amazing to swim with these huge, gentle creatures.
The visibility actually kind of added to the mystery. You couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face and then you'd see a huge manatee sticking his face in front of you to check you out! So amazing.
The tour office specialized in manatee tours and so they had all sorts of manatee paraphenalia. T-shirts, coffee mugs, key chains... Soren would run up and say "Mom, can I buy this toy with the seal on it?" Seal? I'd gently explain that it was not a seal, it was a manatee. You know, the creature I'd been talking about for 3 days?
The man that ran the tour office was really kind and actually gave Soren a small stuffed manatee. In the car on the drive back to Orlando I'd hear Soren make his stuffed dog talk to his new friend, "Hello there little friend seal."
Ah, ok. So snorkeling with seals in Florida was really fun.
I love Manatees. My father used to call them Manatates (our last name is Tate). They were kind of like our family mascots. So cool that you were swimming with them :D
ReplyDeleteI love that post. All your posts usually make me laugh, but for some reason this one really did. love the pic of peter too!
ReplyDeleteOnce again...rivers, Florida, scuba diving, horrendous visibility all spells alligator to me! I honestly didn't know manatees lived in the rivers of Florida...the only one I'm well acquainted with is "Benjamin" the purple manatee off Little Mermaid III and clearly he lives in the ocean LOL!!! Benjamin is a good manatee name don't ya think???
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