Views From Our Kayak: November 2012

Hello!!!!

After my failed attempt to swim with manatees last Saturday had to try again. Long story short, and in a few words: Crystal River. I did burn a vacation day today to go to Crystal River and beat the weekend crowds. It was supposed to be yesterday but had an important meeting so changed the plans for today.Cannot tell you how happy we were with that decision. Spent just a little over three hours on the kayak and in the water but we made the most of it.

Three Sisters' Manatee

Put In / Take Out: Hunter's Spring Park in Crystal River. It is located at 104 North East 1st Avenue in Crystal River. It is a very nice facility with rest rooms and a small beach. Parking is not too big so if you plan to attend on a weekend, arrive early. There is no charge.

Ibis at Hunter's Spring Park

Anhinga

We arrived just after 8:45 AM and had the kayak in the water at exactly 9 AM. A nice couple did put in before us. I saw at a bank's sign 51F as the temperature on our way there. A slight breeze coming from the North and a light chop at King's Bay. Two manatees near Pete's Pier welcomed us. One of them circled our kayak for a few minutes until got tired of us trying to get an underwater pic. Wifey wanted to shoot some pics in a small island just outside Pete's Pier but I convinced her to leave that for later. I wanted to go to Three Sisters Spring and check for manatees there. She was not too thrilled with the idea of me getting into the water with the cold weather. My argument that the water was warmer than the ambient temp gained some points when she realized I was right. When we crossed under the Kings Bay Dr bridge more manatees where visible and she started to feel excited about it.

Osprey has a needlefish for breakfast

Three Sisters Spring

The pic above was my favorite to open this post. I do think it is spectacular, but the manatee besides the kayak was too hard to pass. Anyways, back to the post. We asked a trio of kayakers coming from the springs area if there were manatees inside Three Sister's. They said that there were about 15 of them. Sweet...was my first thought. Because the cold weather Magnolia Springs was close since it is part of the Manatee Sanctuary. The small spring just at the end of Three Sisters Spring Run was also roped. Usually it is from November 15 to March 1st but if there is cold weather it is done earlier to protect the manatees. When we arrived at Three Sisters we went directly into the small run after waiting for 5 snorkelers to exit. Only one tour boat was in the area. Once inside the spring we shared it with only two kayakers, the same ones that put in before us at Hunter's Spring Park.

Manatee

When I took off my long sleeve sweater and jumped into the water I believe the other two kayakers thought I was crazy. But the water was a nice 72F and it was comfortable. I am going to let the pics tell the story now. But let me tell you this before going to the pics. I was humbled by my wife on how to take good underwater pics. Her pics, which she took from the kayak with only her hands in the water, came back better than the ones I took on the water. I have no idea how she does it but she does. Only three or four of the ones I took made it to this post. The rest are all hers. That being said, here we go.

Manatee Mom and calf

Manatee and calf

Manatee Mom and a calf swimming under it

Manatee at the bottom of the spring

Manatees

Manatee at the end of of the short run of Three Sisters Spring

Manatee rests at the bottom of the spring

Curious manatee

Same curious manatee, closer this time

Manatee

Spent close to 40 minutes at Three Sisters, which we had to ourselves most of the time, and then about 10 more at the end of the run. A member of the manatee watch was the only other kayaker we saw at the spring and then two more on our way out. A tour boat arrived as we did exit but only one snorkeler jumped into the water. If you read this, greetings David. Do not ask. I will not tell what was the deal here. Luckily for me wifey brought me a warm hooded jacket and a beanie so I recovered quickly. From there we headed back to Hunter's Spring Park not without stopping to take pics of a couple of eagles that perched on a small island at the middle of King's Bay. Enough is enough...here are the rest of the pics.