Swimming with Manatees in Florida

Manatees are one of the most gentle and adorable aquatic creatures I have ever seen! When I heard humans could get up close to them in Florida I knew it would be amazing to observe these lovelies in their own habitat.

Manatees in Florida are a sub species of the West Indian Manatee, which can be found in the waters from Florida to South America. They area about 9-13 feet long, weighing between 1000 and 3500 pounds, with a flat paddle tail and leathery skin. Also known as “sea cows”, these gentle giants munch on sea plants and aquatic grasses for about 8 hours a day! They spend about half the day sleeping in the murky brackish and salt waters off the coast, but in the mornings and evenings they can be found traveling up and down rivers and springs in search of fresh water to drink. And there is no better place to see them than the gulf coast of Florida!

Many people talk about visiting the Manatee habitats in Crystal River, such as Three Sisters Springs and Homosassa Springs. We visited these along with Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge and they were all beautiful locations. Its easy to rent a kayak or even walk around the observation decks to get up close to these social and intelligent creatures. However, we found our favorite experience was at the Weeki Wachee River instead!

We rented stand up paddle boards from supweeki (supweeki.com), and they were a joy to work with. The owners took us out on the river with them, taught us about the Manatees, and let us go off exploring. The river was stunning. Crystal clear waters cocooned by tunnels of lush vegetation, tall palms, and few houses dotting the banks. There were areas of crowds with boats and river toys gathering to play and barbecue on the sandbanks, but there were far more areas of peaceful solitude. After about an hour paddling up river and enjoying the scenery, we were graced with our first glimpse of a Manatee in the wild. They are quite agile for their size and reputation, swimming upside down, rolling, and generally moving quickly, so it was hard to keep up with them! Thankfully, there were several sets of Manatees seeking out the cool, refreshing fresh water of the spring, so we got to take our time enjoying them.

The Manatees don’t look like much at first, since you only get to see the top of their scarred back from above. The barnacles and algae adhere to their flakey skin and they really look like a submerged rock until you look closely. But once you get underwater with them, you can see how adorable their little faces are as they munch away, and watch them use their front flippers to “walk” along the river bottom. Manatees are a distant relative of the elephant and they use their upper lip to pick up items to eat. We were able to put on our snorkel masks and float in tandem until they got tired of us and moved along, it was such a joy!

Some Manatee manners to remember: Don’t touch them. These intelligent creatures are protected so while it is great to observe them, don’t chase them. They are curious though, and they are likely to approach humans. Try to minimize noise and splashing and make slow and deliberate movements so as not to scare them.

Getting to swim with the Manatees was one of the most memorable animal encounters I have gotten to experience. If you are traveling to the gulf coast of Florida, absolutely make some time to visit the Manatees in the Weeki Wachee River.