December 19, 2012 Kings Bay, Florida

We came to Crystal River because I wanted to swim with the manatees.  I had wanted to swim with dolphins, but it was too expensive, so we went with manatees. Crystal River is on the west coast of Florida, next to Kings Bay. Kings Bay has one of the largest  concentration of Manatees-around 350 and is one of the only places they let you swim with them-or at least have guided tours. They are an endangered species, so they are protected. You have to follow many rules, you cannot approach a manatee, it has to come to you. You can’t chase, ride or harass them. You can only touch them with one hand at a time- not hugging. There are many sanctuary's for them to go and get away from people, and you cannot go into the sanctuary’s. There are volunteer kayakers who are the manatee patrol and they enforce the rules. We went on a guided tour with River Ventures. The captain of the boat Rick, swam in the water with us, guided us and took photos. We got a training video before we went explaining manatees and the rules, were fitted with wet suits. The water comes from Three Sisters springs, and is 72 degrees year round. It is not that cold, but we were in the water for 3 hours.  The less you move, the more manatees come up to you. The manatees come into the springs in the winter because the ocean gets too cold for them.

We swam with manatees. Stuffed manatees in the gift shop.

John modeling a manatee hat against his will. I love this no wake zone sign.

The group  for the 3 hour tour.  Sue and John boarding the boat. The couple in front of us are from Chicago. His parents live in the area and when ever they come here she wants to swim with manatees, they have been 5 times. The family behind us are from Bemidji, Minnesota. This is there second trip. We are virgins.

The boat. John in the water. Great manatee hunter.

Followed by Suep, another great manatee hunter. Here are a herd of manatees.

John stalking. Aha- a manatee. We saw about 10 sleeping in the spring. They rest on the bottom, with their nose into the sand, every 15 or 20 minutes they rise up unconsciously and get a breath of air and then drop back down. In the channel into the spring about 10 more manatees swam right under us on their way out to the bay to eat.

petting manatees. Smiling manatee.

We also saw lots of fish, these are mullets. Marianna (from Chicago)  is petting the baby manatee and they are headed my way for more petting.

Here they are, Mom and baby. The water is really clear, it felt like floating in air above them. John says it was like watching a herd of cows. I thought it was fun. After our exhausting tour I chose to relax at the pool at the RV park, it was 78 degrees.

John chose to make a fold up smoker. He used grills from discarded BBQ’s and flashing. All it needs now is a lid.

Our Christmas tree. A wreath with bells, silver tinsel, blue ornaments and a penguin ornament, a red chili Tabasco ornament we got last year at Avery Island where they make Tabasco sauce, a star fish Santa from Florida and hanging from the top a silver gum tree seed pod. Very festive.