Coming up, Jonathan and his new friend Elizabeth visit the warm water springs of Florida in
search of manatees!
Welcome to Jonathan Bird’s Blue World!
The town of Crystal River in Florida is famous around the world for its warm water springs.
During the winter, these springs fill with the world’s largest aggregation of manatees.
Blue world team!
We’re on the road, in beautiful Crystal River, Florida!
Todd, Zach and I have arrived not just for manatees, but to meet up with a very special
kid.
Elizabeth is a 7 year old swimming prodigy.
From an early age, she took to the water like a fish.
You can do it!
In fact, when she was only 16 months old, she could swim across a swimming pool by herself—becoming
a YouTube sensation.
Now, she has her own YouTube channel, Elizabeth Swims, where she posts videos about swimming
all around the country.
But she has never been swimming in the wild with a large aquatic animal.
So today, we’re going to change all that and take her to meet one of Florida’s most
famous residents.
Elizabeth and her dad Adam are meeting me in the town of Crystal River for an underwater
adventure!
Elizabeth!
Hey, great to meet you!
Hi!
Are you ready to go swim with some manatees?
Ya!
Let’s go!
Our guides to the manatees are Captain Stacy Dunn and her husband Mike.
We load their pontoon boat and then Captain Stacy explains the rules for manatee interactions.
With Mike at the helm, we leave the dock and slowly make our way through a series of canals
to Kings Bay.
Along the way, Stacy shows Elizabeth some pictures of the area and points out different
features of the river.
But we’re not going to this spring right now, because, see how crowded it is?
And this is not a clear spring.
This is where the cavern is too, Zach.
The cavern is down in there.
So there’s two springs here, Mullet Hole which is right in front of the brown sign,
and then the one where the people are and that’s…
We pass lots of “no wake” signs, reminding us that this area is filled with vulnerable
manatees.
Manatees swimming just under the surface can be injured or killed by propellers.
So we go very slowly, keeping an eye peeled for manatees near the boat.
We pass quite a few along the way!
Soon we arrive at the mouth of Three Sisters Spring, one of the best places to see manatees.
This spot is no secret, there are 5 boats here and 20 people already in the water.
But the swimmers can’t go past the ropes, giving the manatees some personal space.
From the air, we can see that there are at least 200 animals here, most of which are
resting behind the rope close to the warm water coming from the mouth of the spring.
Cameraman Todd and I hop into the water.
Going very smooth and quietly.
Oh, so cold so cold!
OK better now.
Due to a recent cold snap in Florida, the water is only in the mid 60s.
Next it’s Elizabeth’s turn and I’m a little worried that the water is going to
be too cold for her.
She has a wetsuit, so that will help.
As it turns out, she handles the cold just fine, but the murky water over where we anchored
the boat freaks her out a little.
So her dad hops in the water to help out.
We move to a shallow spot where Elizabeth can stand up and get her bearings.
She is using a pool noodle to float, which is actually something that the tour operators
are asking people to do.
And this is the reason.
The water is shallow, and manatees go under people all the time, so good floatation keeps
people from accidentally kicking them.
Elizabeth grabs her noodle and off we go to the clear water near the spring.
She is definitely cold, but she is determined to see some manatees!
We hang out together in the clear water until a manatee comes over to check us out.
These are huge but gentle animals.
As long as we don’t bother them, they don’t mind us being in the water at all.
Now you might be asking yourself why there are so many manatees in Crystal River.
West Indian Manatees are largely solitary animals that live in shallow, coastal areas
around Florida and the Caribbean.
They feed on sea grasses, so in the past they were often called sea cows.
Florida is at the northern end of their range, so in winter, when the ocean gets cold, they
go looking for warmth.
Fortunately, the water spilling out of Florida’s springs is a constant 72° Fahrenheit.
Manatees swim up rivers from the ocean to reach the springs.
At the springs, they mostly just rest and wait for the weather to get warmer.
But there is almost nothing here to eat.
So a tree leaf that lands on the water is a welcome snack.
Some of the manatees are quite skinny—they are not getting enough to eat here.
During the day some of the manatees will swim out into the river to find food, but many
of them just can’t handle the cold, and stay hunkered down at the springs.
After a manatee has been lounging in shallow fresh water for a while, it may develop a
coat of algae on its back.
The fish love this delicious salad bar, and the manatees don’t seem to mind getting
rid of the algae.
Because manatees are mammals, they have lungs and breathe air.
So every few minutes, a manatee will rise to breathe once or twice, before settling
down and going back to sleep, holding its breath.
Their nostrils feature perfectly water-tight valves, so they don’t have worry about water
in the nose.
But its not easy sharing these shallow waters with boats.
Many manatees have terrible injuries from close encounters with propellers.
And these are the ones that survived.
Around 75 manatees are killed by boats every year in Florida.
It’s not all bad news though.
Manatees are doing much better than they were 20 years ago.
With strong protection in place, their numbers have tripled since 1994.
Elizabeth and I are having a great time hanging out with the manatees.
But now we are both freezing, and it’s time to warm up, so we say goodbye to our aquatic
friends.
By getting the chance to see manatees up close, I hope Elizabeth will become as enchanted
with marine life as I am, and become another advocate for the protection and appreciation
of marine life all around the Blue World.