Friends and Manatees

Lance and Janice came to visit again! They got here in the early afternoon so the first thing we did was go get something to eat at Eaton's Beach. Janice's birthday had just passed so later we celebrated with cake and ice cream, and Lance played his wonderful banjo for us.

Lance and Janice like to do something different when they come to Florida, so Randy made reservations for us all to go snorkel with the manatees on Saturday.  The advertisements show manatees in lovely clear water - that may happen sometime but not when we go! The last time we went the visibility was low and this time it was even cloudier. And the manatees were a little harder to find. The first time in the water we found one but it was moving steadily away from us, eating grass on the bottom. It did not seem to be trying to avoid us but it was a very fast eater. It was moving along the grassy bottom like a lawnmower and quickly left us behind (nobody can keep up with a manatee in water). Another one, with a half-grown calf, was swimming along the shore but also moving away - I think she really wanted to leave us behind and I don't blame her. People from another boat were standing on the bottom (which stirred up more silt), yelling and screaming, and petting the manatees - all things we were told not to do. 

The next one we found was napping. He would rest quietly on the bottom, coming up for air every 2-3 minutes. He would rise smoothly to the surface, take a surprisingly quick breath, then sink to the bottom, tuck his head down, and lie motionless. While he was resting he looked just like a big, oval, rounded grey rock. 

The last one we found was very tolerant of us. The only thing she cared about (I really don't know if these were girls or boys) was eating. And wow, could she eat! She kept her nostrils closed and her head down, totally ignoring us. 

Because she was eating, she was moving quickly - not as fast as the others we found, but pretty fast. I found it very difficult to get in front of her, and impossible to aim my clunky little underwater Walmart camera. To take a photo I had to be very close because the visibility was so bad, but I couldn't hold still in the water because she was moving and I'm not supposed to bump into her. So I couldn't use the viewfinder at all. I had to just hold the camera out and click, hoping she was somewhere in frame. I am surprised I got anything at all.

But I wish I could have done a little better!

That night Pete and Donna joined us for leftover cake and ice cream, and more banjo music. After church service the next day Lance and Janice took us out for breakfast at Rae Rae's, before heading out to their condo in St. Augustine.