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The Manatees &
Springs of Northern Florida, USA
Crystal River, Florida
January 20th thru
23rd, 2005
Trip
Report
What an Unbelievable Experience this was for everyone. We left a super cold Michigan to venture south to the warmer climate of Northern Florida. The weather was fantastic and other
 than a little
fog on Friday morning it could have been called Perfect! The morning of our manatee expedition was met with a pea-soup fog that delayed our departure by almost two hours. The waiting was unbearable. Finally the fog lifted and we were able to navigate our way out into the
river towards Three sister spring, since all the big excursion boats of the morning were headed for the big King spring, it was thought that it might be a good idea to find the endangered animals near the smaller spring. As we headed up the small canal, we were excited to see two manatees eating near the shoreline and another that was traveling up the canal. Being unsuitable for getting in the water in the canal, we continued on until we
reached three sisters spring. As luck would have it, there was not a manatee in sight there. There was an excursion boat who had the same idea about getting away from the crowds, but they had not seen any of the animals.
The West Indian Manatee is one of Florida's endangered species success stories. Driven nearly to extinction, these fantastic animals found help in time. The Florida government, along with federal assistance, set aside areas of the Crystal River in northern Florida as Manatee Refuges. These areas are
restricted to boat traffic and even to anyone swimming inside their carefully marked perimeter. They are sanctuaries so the manatees will have a place they can live undisturbed. Manatees are very susceptible to hypothermia during the winter months. Being mammals and warm blooded, when the water gets cooler, they spend the evenings and the colder days near the aquifers and springs where the water temperature is coming out of the ground at
a constant 72 degrees. During the day the sun helps them stay warm, so they venture away from the spring to feed. Since boat traffic to the areas around the springs is very heavy, without the sanctuaries and the laws that keep boats powered down to minimal idle speeds, the manatees would have surely perished. There is evidence of injuries from boats in almost every manatee
 that I have seen photographed. Along with the laws governing boats, there are laws governing our interaction with the big animals as well. We were instructed to not approach, chase or otherwise disrupt the animals normal activity. Good
thing for us, one of their normal activities is being curious about snorkelers. According to one of the wildlife Manatee volunteers (who kayak in the area to make sure we are following the rules) the manatees are doing much better and are expected to be removed from the endangered list in the near future and downgraded to threatened.
As with any adventure, this minor setback of not seeing the manatees at Three Sisters Spring did not dampen our excitement as we turned the boat around and headed towards King Spring. The fog was nearly gone as we headed further up the river. We rounded the bend towards the
spring and we were greeted by almost 15 excursion boats all anchored around the spring. Due to the popularity of the springs and the lateness of the time of day, we were not sure if we would be able to see manatees in the crowds. As we idled closer to the spring we were greeted by one of the friendly creatures as she surfaced near our boat. Carefully turning off the motor and dropping the anchor we got ready to get in the water.
The group put on their fins, grabbed their cameras and slipped over teh side. Once we were in the water the Manatee did what wild animals do and was nowhere to be seen. I told the group to make their way towards the spring along the edge of the preserve, reminding them to be careful not
to swim inside. They all headed off and as I was swimming, the Manatee that had greeted our boat swam up next to me and gently bumped me in the thigh. I was so excited. I called quietly to my wife, Jill
 and the rest of the group and went
back to paying attention to my new friend. I wanted to take her picture, but she wanted to have her face and tummy scratched. It is hard to argue with a 1000lb animal when she is being insistent. Jill swam up quietly and took a picture and our new friend turned her attention to the rest of the group. Everyone had an opportunity to interact with this magnificent creature. To say it was really cool would be a total
understatement. After our manatee was satisfied, she turned back towards her feeding, and we headed closer to the spring. In the area of the spring there were thousands of Fish of every species imaginable. It was one of the few place I can remember seeing saltwater and freshwater fish in the same place. If there weren't
 manatees around, this place would be worth the visit just because of the fish. But there were manatees, and it was hard to get enough of them . As the
day progressed, the manatees swam off to eat and we decided to do some diving around the spring basin and swam back to the boat to get our gear. The area around the spring was nearly 30ft deep and the water coming out of the ground was so clear the bubbles were the only thing telling you it was water. There was a monument to the manatees at the bottom of the spring and the whole dive was worth doing just because of the
hundreds of fish all schooled together.
After our dive we boarded the boat and headed back to Three Sisters Spring for another dive in
 that area. Three sisters had really warm, clear water and lots of fish. Certainly one of the
clearest places that I had seen up to that point. Not as exciting as the Manatees, but certainly worth the dive. After about an hour there, we headed back to the dock with a number of stories to tell. We got our tanks filled for the next day and headed back to the hotel for a nap.
In the afternoon on Friday, we visited Homosassa Springs State Park, just up the road from Crystal River. The park is a wildlife rescue sanctuary where they house and heal endangered animals that
are hurt in the surrounding areas. They have a number of Manatees, a pair of
 Florida Panthers, and other animals that could not be returned to the wild because of their injuries. Along with
the Florida natives, they had a resident Hippopotamus named Lucifer. The story of how a Hippo got to the park is pretty funny. In the late 1950's the park and the area surrounding the spring was a Zoo. In 1963 the Zoo closed and all the animals were to be
shipped to other zoo locations. The people of Homosassa wanted to keep the Hippo since he was very popular, and so the Mayor came to the zoo and in a big ceremony made him an honorary citizen of the city. He has been part of the park every since. Seeing all of the animals in the park, including seeing the manatees during feeding time, was a perfect ending to a fantastic day.
 The next day of our whirlwind adventure took us to Ginnie Springs a
little further north in Florida. This place was awesome. The water was
 super warm and really clear. The fish cooperated and the diving was super fun. We took pictures, intermingled with the fish and the turtles, and saw a number
of cave divers with their massive amounts of equipment
 disappear into the depths
of the cave system that lies under the spring. We also finished up Open Water certification during our three dives there and enjoyed every minute of our experience. The pictures we took begin to describe the clarity of the water and the abundance of the fish.
With all the stories that we have to tell and the excitement of spending time in the waters of northern Florida, The success of this experience has us all looking forward to next January, and the promise of snorkeling once again with our new found friends.
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