Manatees - A Hackberry Farm nature photography workshop field report

As soon as the Everglades nature photography workshop concluded, some of the guests opted to continue the adventure with the manatee extension.  A four-hour drive up Florida’s West Coast took us to the central coast town of Crystal River.

Sitting on the edge of King’s Bay, Crystal River styles itself as the Manatee Capital of the World.  Now, manatees are all over Florida, but here, scores of them winter in the warm waters of the actual Crystal River and King’s Bay.  The watersheds are spring-fed, which leads them to have a water temperature in the 70’s - even during the winter months.

Even though the manatees are immense creatures, they have little body fat.  Therefore, as the Gulf waters cool, they seek the warmer waters of the area in which to overwinter.  For photographers willing to don a wetsuit and a simple underwater photography setup, the experience is magical.

Our morning started pretty simply.  We board our chartered boat and head to a spring where a hundred or more congregate.  Along the way, we see several submerged individuals cruise past our pontoon boat.

We get to our spot, and while other groups are already there, there’s room for us.    

Lazily resting underwater, the manatees lie on the bottom and periodically surface to take a breath and then settle back to the bottom.  They aren’t very active, but that’s part of the appeal.  We watch these huge mammals from mere feet away - peeking into their sedentary world, and they couldn't care less that we’re there.

Occasionally, I feel a manatee brush past me as one comes in from the main river channel to rest with the others.  Once, one even swam up to me to give me a “kiss” before he swam elsewhere.

Although I can’t describe it well, the experience is one of those things that, if you love wildlife, you have to do at least once.