Submitted by Carter O’Brien on the 2024 Winter MAST program in Florida…
The second day of our group trip in Florida was unforgettable. After a long two days of traveling, we had finally woken up at our hotel in Crystal River. Without any breakfast or coffee we waddled our way to the dive shop and suited up. The air was cold, the boat was cold, and the breeze, was colder. Our study abroad lead and boat guides had informed us that we would be the first one’s on the water, and even though we were everyone was regretting it at least a little bit. At the very least the water was warm from the springs. There was very little visibility, but we were lined up in the water waiting for the sun to rise. As we swam into the sanctuary dubbed “the keyhole”, other boats were beginning to pull up. Before I knew it I had gotten separated from the group and found myself face to face with a manatee. It was incredible, at least an 8 ft. animal that weighed as much as my car and it wanted to say hi. Staying as still as I could she put her face up to mine and started to nudge me. She was inspecting me and being curious. After she swam off I was still riding the high of meeting such a gentle giant. Before I knew it something was nudging my leg. There was another manatee being me and was being pretty nosy. This manatee did the same but kept rolling onto its back. Taking the queue I put one hand behind my back and one hand out to try a belly rub. For the next ten minutes my also massive manatee kept rolling over like a puppy for belly rubs and we started to get along. Eventually the other groups rolled in and I had to let my manatee go but it was something I’ll never forget.
Later that day we had a nature talk and took a walk around three sisters spring. All waters there were blocked off for wintering manatees and we saw some of the animals with signs of cold stress from the winter weather. But most of all we saw two mother and calf pairs, each calf only being months old. In the picture provided there’s a mother and her calf who ended up nursing in front of everyone. An especially tender moment to cap off an already amazing day. (Submitted on January 18, 2024)