Today's experience at Islamorada was so amazing! A manatee sucked freshwater off my foot for almost 5 minutes, but hung out for probably a half hour! It was one of the beautiful things I've ever experienced!
Manatees live in saltwater but love to drink freshwater. After it rains they come up and eat the mangrove roots just to get a refreshing drink. There are no wake, manatee zones dedicated to protect manatees from boat props. This means that a boat must go below a certain speed in case a manatee would come up out of the water. Ever see a manatee with scars on its back? Those are from boat props and are the reason those zones exist today.
Humans are not to supposed to mess with manatees because they are endangered. I can say from experience that it is hard to resist to get close to such a beautiful creature. It is hard to give a manatee what it wants when you have it at your finger tips. I have had the pleasure of pouring fresh water down my leg and having a manatee drink it off my toes and it was something I will forever think of as beautiful blessing.
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