Just A Fluke?

Manatees don't give a hoot if they're in fresh water or salt water- so long as they can access a nice freshwater drink when they need it. They can range from the rivers to the sea no problem. With one big IF. They can move around like this IF they can locate water temperatures that stay within their rather small bracket of temps they can actually survive in. So when they're in the right temps, they can lolly-gag around and take their time. This winter has been very hard on them. Hundreds have perished because of the overly chilled waters of southern Florida and The Florida Keys.

We have seen the gentle giants here in the Everglades, but when we do, so far at least, they have been on the move. And there has been no time for photo ops- at least for us. Yesterday, three cruised on by our waterfront campsite. Actually, cruising is probably not the right word at all. They were dashing by. Riding the swift current in the river as fast as they could book it to get out of the colder river temps and back out to sea. I took a bunch of pictures as they went by: they were swimming seemingly as fast as they could go, and I was running down the dock like a rail mounted sports cam at the Olympic cross country events. No nostril shots. No profile shots. No full body studies. Nothing but tail! So I guess you could say, it was "just a fluke..."

And speaking of tails, a member of the stone crab boat crew that docks daily right across the river from us had to go overboard for a propellor adjustment of some sort. He got his "fluke" out of that cold water just as fast as he could too. Maybe some day before we leave, it will actually be warm here in the "warm south." But not yet!