Baby manatee at Crystal River

:: Monday, March 10th, 2008 @ 10:19:34 pm

:: Tags: Photo, Travel

I’m in Crystal River, Florida, with Don Kehoe and Carol Grant shooting manatees for two days. Today was my first real encounter with manatees, which was AWESOME. I love the things. They approach frequently and rub against you, begging to be scratched (and many of them will roll over so you can get to their bellies).

Baby manatee “Angel” plus mother and escort (both female)

There was a baby manatee born last week, which Carol photographed the morning after he was born (complete with umbilical cord and afterbirth!). He was around today with his mother and escort (female), swimming in and out of the sanctuary every 10 minutes or so. He was absolutely adorable.

Baby manatee “Angel” nurses, accompanied by female escort

As a bonus, Don and I went to Applebees for dinner because it was the only place open at 10pm. Monday night is open-mic night, and tonight featured tone-deafness so prominently that Don and I initially thought it was all a joke. I wish I had captured the look on Don’s face when we walked in — it was the perfect combination of horror and disbelief. I also wish that I had thought to record the best stuff we heard. I didn’t think about recording any of it until the end of dinner.

I highly recommend avoiding Applebees on Monday nights.

Thank you, Carol, for everything! Also, thanks to Doug Ebersole and family for hosting us for dinner last night. We went to a Mexican restaurant and were served our meal by an Indian dude with a southern accent. Florida is always a rich cultural experience for me.

UPDATE: I posted a bunch of manatee photos at Flickr.

Popularity: 2% | Crystal River, Florida | link | trackback | Mar 10, 2008 22:19:34

:: 6 comments (rss)

1. posted by david on Tue, March 11, 2008 @ 2:27 am

   I have a friend from Crystal River from college and he was always raving about the manatees in his back yard. I guess he was serious.

   I’m from the south and there are plenty of indian guys with southern accents. One of them is governor of the finest (cough) state of the union. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbU697iq4zI

2. posted by davepatchen on Tue, March 11, 2008 @ 9:25 am

   Huh, I thought Redneck-ness was the exclusive domain of white southerners. Glad to see they’re sharing the accent although I hope they’re keeping their other cultural traits to themselves. I wasn’t going to listen to your applebee’s links–(why should both of us suffer)? But like a rubbernecker driving by an accident, I had to click on one. Spectacularly bad, but what did you expect–these people actually chose to eat at Applebees. Taste isn’t their strong suit.

3. posted by davepatchen on Tue, March 11, 2008 @ 9:26 am

   Oh, the manatees are very cool. Was the parent protective?

4. posted by echeng on Tue, March 11, 2008 @ 9:30 pm

   No, the parent was not protective. She constantly took her baby on tours and swam directly toward us, as if she were presenting him to us. I felt so fortunate for the experience!

5. posted by Tony on Thu, March 13, 2008 @ 12:36 am

   Totally cool Eric. You’re having far too much fun

6. posted by Wyl-Ellen on Sat, May 10, 2008 @ 9:52 am

   wow romantic =)…… i think there’s love in their hearts. so sweet, how i wish i have such pets swimming in my home swimming pool…but both female??? haaa? lesbians and a baby ?

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