
As we were coming back towards the boat I turned and suddenly only about 10 feet away from me was a huge sea creature the size of a couch! And it was barreling down on me! I actually screamed underwater out of surprise. Then I realized it was a manatee who is one of the most gentle creatures of the sea. This particular manatee was in quite a hurry to get away from another snorkeler who was chasing it. People frequently get so excited when they see a creature in the wild like this that they want to get closer, maybe touch it, and don't realize that they are actually chasing him and he wants only to go on his way unmolested. I let him pass but it was so cool because we have seen manatees and even snorkeled with them in Florida's springs but we had not seen one in the ocean before! I just love manatees and I always tell people that they are just like huge underwater dogs! They love to be scratched (when they're in the mood) and they can be very playful and when happy they will hug themselves with their stubby flippers and roll upside down. Picture a puppy rolling on his back with his four paws up in the air. Now image it underwater. Imagine it looks like a cross between a hippo and an elephant and is the size of a full-size couch. That's a manatee!

On the next dive we went to a patch reef in the shallow waters in front of the ritzy Breakers Hotel. We were swimming along, watching the various reef denizens and schooling fish. The water was fairly clear and warm. Suddenly Chris points excitedly to my right side. There's a manta ray there!

This is the largest species of ray but this "baby" was only about six feet wide! Neither Chris or I had ever seen a manta ray so what an awesome treat. And this guy decided to hang out! The manta played on the reef swooping around us for about half an hour; we got to free dive next to it, swim under it and right above it. He would swim past us to just out of sight and then he'd turn and come back to us. Rays look just like they are flying when they swim. We were flying high after such a great day out on the boat! Thanks so much for taking us out, Jacqui and Jim!

Thank YOU for such FABULOUS photos!!!! How exciting it must have been to be in the presence of such beautiful sea creatures...I have never snorkeled...I don't think I could get over the closed in feeling I get under water...But I feel like I was with you today!! THANKS FOR SHARING!!!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have an underwater camera right now so all the u/w pics were courtesy of Google images. But I'm very glad you liked the story!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you had a wonderful snorkeling day. I think I'd like to adopt your favorite aunt and uncle! We love the Palm Beach area, when the water is calm and clear it really is great for snorkeling and diving.
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