Proper Etiquette for Kayaking Around Manatees

At Captain Mike’s Swimming With The Manatees, we specialize in Crystal River manatee tours. Our guests have an opportunity to kayak and swim with the beautiful creatures right in their natural habitat. However, it’s important to remember that manatees are an endangered species, protected by both Florida and federal law.

Under the law, it is illegal to harass, capture, or kill manatees. However, they are delicate animals, and what many people consider to be harmless play could actually disrupt a manatee’s behavior. This makes them more likely to find themselves in harm’s way in the future.

Things to Remember

Manatee KayakingIn general, you should plan on observing manatees from a nice distance. This allows them to act naturally and go about their usual business. We assure you that watching them from afar will be entertaining on its own. Don’t paddle in their direction, and allow them plenty of room to pass if it seems like you might be crossing paths. You may be on a leisurely Florida vacation, but you never know what kind of important business a manatee might be up to. And, you never want to stop them from tending to their young or coming up for air.

Avoid splashing around and making loud noises when in the proximity of manatees, or any natural habitat for that matter. Even the sound of scuba gear could drive manatees away. This is one of the reasons why snorkel gear is used instead. If a manatee approaches you on its own, it’s okay to interact. However, only by gently following their lead, and with the help of your guide.

Never feed manatees, even if they might look a little hungry. If you have serious concerns about their well-being, alert your guide, who will then contact the proper authorities if necessary.

KayakingEven though you may be on a peaceful kayak ride, this does not exempt you from following rules posted on signs. If a sign says not to enter, don’t enter, even if you’re not in a motorized vehicle. In fact, even swimmers are required to follow posted restrictions.

Conclusion

Finally, in addition to being protected by law, manatee’s also have their main source of food protected as well. Sea grass, which also naturally filters water, is off limits for boaters. Never cut through sea grass as a shortcut, and when it doubt, remain in the middle of the waterway whenever possible.

At Captain Mike’s Swimming With The Manatees, we work hard to make sure that all of our guests get the most out of their time spent swimming with manatees and exploring their natural habitat. However, it’s also part of our job to make guests aware of proper etiquette, avoiding behavior that, in the worst cases, can lead to large fines, and even imprisonment.
For a fun, safe and exciting manatee tour on King’s Bay in Florida’s Crystal River, contact Swimming with the Manatees today.

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Press Release: Manatee Tours Getting a New Boat

Airboat Rides

November 1, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Capt Mike’s Swimming with Manatee Tours Getting a New Boat
Crystal River, FL 34429

Swimming with the Manatee’s tours in Crystal River, Florida will soon be getting a brand new 35 passenger boat. The boat will be used to take people to swim with the gentle manatees.

They are one of the most environmentally friendly tour operators on the Florida coast and no harm will ever come to the manatees while you are swimming with them. The animal’s protection and comfort are of the utmost importance to the guides of Swimming with the Manatees.

Learn all about the manatee and the programs that have been put in place to protect these gentle giants of the Florida Coast. Captain Mike, can answer any question that you may have about the Manatee and the Nature Coast area of Florida.

You can add a number of adventures to your Swimming with the Manatee’s tour such as kayaking and airboat tours. They are able to offer a wide variety packages, some of which even offer free hotel accommodation.

Meals, snacks and beverages are included on most of the tours. All swimming with the Manatees tours include snorkel gear and a wetsuit. The water on the coastline is very warm so the wetsuit is optional.

The manatee tour will be one of the highlights of your visit to Crystal River, Florida. The brand new boat will allow far more people to take part in this magical experience. The 35 passenger boat is state of the art and includes all amenities to make sure that your manatee tour is comfortable and relaxing. Enjoy the adventure and join the Swimming with the Manatee tours for a once in a lifetime experience.

You can find all the details of their tours on their website. They are able to customize a tour to your particular requirements or you can join one of the standard daily tours.

Swimming with the Manatees
1610 SE Paradise Circle
Crystal River, FL 34429 USA
Phone : (352) 571–1888
International: 442033569648
Email : info@swimmingwiththemanatees.com

Manatee Behavior

Manatees are pretty incredible marine mammals. Sure, they’re kinda dorky looking (some people refer to them as sea cows), what with their snub noses; round, stubby flippers; fat, cigar shaped torsos; and that big fan of a tail.

But one just has to love the manatees – they’re so darn cuuutteeee!

Have you ever seen a manatees face/head from the side? As you meet them on our tours, mosey over to the manatee’s side and take a look: The manatee is smiling! (Ok. Maybe not; but it sure looks as if it’s smiling.) Its mouth often has a turned up appearance when closed.

First, a bit of important (but kinda boring) facts about manatees:

  • They’re on the endangered species list. (You can learn more about how to help them by visiting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation’s page on helping manatees.)
  • Manatees are Florida’s state marine mammal.• They may have tiny eyes and ears for their size, but it’s believed that manatees can see pretty darn well.
  • They tend to grow to 10-12 feet in length and can weigh from 1500-2000 pounds. Petite they are not.
    They can live 50-60 years in the wild.
  • Manatees are herbivores; they eat freshwater and marine plants
  • Most of the country’s manatees live in Florida, but they’ve been known to migrate up the East Coast as far north as North Carolina (although recent years have seen some manatees as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts). They also range as far west as the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
  • They like their water warm. Anything below 68 degrees F and they skedaddle – but they do slowly (see below).
    Manatees move veeerrryyyy slooooly as they make their way along Florida’s streams and rivers looking for tasty grass and warm spots in which to rest. They typically move at about 5 mph

Some really fun and sweet manatee facts:

  • They like to surf! They’ve been seen surfing on fast moving water . They also perform barrel rolls when playing.
  • They may move slowly most of the time, but they’ve been clocked at 15 mph for short bursts.
  • Manatees are lick-their-plate-clean eaters: They can easily devour 1/10th of their weight (100 pounds!) of grass and algae in a day.
  • Manatees have been known to “grab” a visitor’s hand with their flippers, roll over and request a belly scratch. Naturally, you should comply.
  • Manatee babies nurse from their mothers while underwater.
  • Manatees can squeal. Often with excitement (see the surfing fact, above), but also when they’re scared. They squeal to communicate with other manatees.

We want you to enjoy your manatee tour with us, but we do have some important rules:

  • Never, never, never approach a manatee. Let it come to you. If you’re patient and stand still, these friendly and curious animals probably will move closer in order to check you out.
  • Never separate a calf from its mother. You wouldn’t separate a human baby from its mother without permission and we doubt a manatee mother ever would give such an OK. Besides, she’s much bigger than you and she can swim at 15 mph when necessary (see above). Can you swim 15 mph?
  • Do NOT attempt to hitch a ride with a manatee or get on a manatee’s back. You WILL be removed from the tour if you do (and you could face prosecution).

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Why Manatees Love Crystal River, FL

It’s hard to say if manatees actually love Crystal River, Florida. After all, scientists can’t know for sure if mammals other than homo sapiens actually love anything.

But it’s a fact that manatees sure do spend a ton of time in the creeks, streams and lakes in and around Crystal River.

One reason may be the fact that Crystal River has made it very easy for manatees to live freely and peacefully because of the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge, located at 1502 S.E. Kings Bay Drive (phone: 352-563-2088), was created in 1983 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service specifically to protect the endangered West Indian Manatee. The refuge ensures that one of the last unspoiled as well as undeveloped manatee habitat in Kings Bay stays that way. (Kings Bay forms the headwaters of the Crystal River.)

The refuge makes sure the warm spring waters clean, providing much-needed habitat for the manatees that migrate here each winter.

The refuge is 177 acres in size and includes several islands and 40 acres of manatee sanctuaries. Kings Bay, in which the refuge is located, is fed by numerous warm-water springs (temperature 72 degrees F).

Manatees are creatures of habit and will return to the same winter haven year after year.

How many manatees love Crystal River? Winter (October-March), when the Gulf’s waters move below 68 degrees F (too cold for Manatees), sees up to 500 manatees migrate to the Crystal River area, one of the largest number of manatees in one place throughout Florida. (Some never leave: about 50 stay in Crystal River area during the summer months).

Visit Crystal River and take one of our manatee tours every year and don’t be surprised if you come across a manatee you’ve already met : manatees are believed to have the ability to live up to 60 years of age! Yet manatees are killed every year due to being rammed by boats (and cut up by the boat’s propellers), among other “man-made” deaths (manatees have no natural predators). Manatees are on the Endangered Species List due to their dwindling numbers. (It was believed that there were only 2,500 manatees left in the U.S. in 2003; estimates now place the number at closer to 5,000).

So why do manatees love Crystal River, Florida? Like many people who travel to Florida during the winter months, the manatees come here for the warm water and also because Crystal River offers them a safe haven to bask in that warmth. Which, in our mind, is a very good reason indeed to love Crystal River.

Diet and Eating Habits of Manatees

Manatees are gentle giants in all senses of the phrase: in addition to spending their time eating all day, playing with each other and, when encountered on one of our Manatee Tours, swimming with our guests (and sometimes coming eye-to-eye with them), they’re herbivores.

Manatees eat between 100 to 200 pounds of algae and sea grasses every day. They’ll eat fresh and saltwater grasses including pickereleweed, floating hyacinth, water lettuce alligator weed, hydrilla, water celery, and musk grass (freshwater grasses). When it comes to saltwater food, manatees enjoy shoal grass, manatee grass, turtle grass, sea grasses, widgeon grass, marine algae, and sea clover.

They tend to eat up to seven hours each and every day.

They harvest their food by pulling plants to them with their two front flippers. They sometimes “walk” along the bottom of the lake/stream or shallow sea floor with those flippers to dig for grass roots hidden in the mud below.

While manatees are herbivores, they do sometimes eat plankton or tiny fish that have the misfortune of hanging out on some grass when a manatee comes along to eat.

While manatees do eat in sea water, they can’t drink it. They must return to fresh water (streams, rivers, lakes) in order to drink. They need to drink once every one or two weeks or so.

One would think that being herbivores would mean that manatees would be much more petite. What’s more, many people erroneously believe that manatees are quite fat, with lots of blubber. But a great deal of their body actually is taken up with their gut tract (stomach and intestines). Grasses aren’t nutritionally dense (they don’t carry a lot of nutrients per weight), so manatees must eat 10-15 percent of their body weight each day in order to get enough nutrition.

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