manatee diving - rebreathers

[rkr3000]

We are looking into diving with Manatee at Crystal River this summer. From what I'm reading about it, there isn't really "diving" with them but snorkeling instead due to the manatee being frightened by the bubbles. Two questions: Can you dive with the manatee if you use a rebreather? Do you need a special rebreather cert. in order to rent one there? We are master divers with various equipment training, but not specific cert. with rebreathers. It would not be a problem to practice with them here in my hometown as a friend of mine has some - and is a dive instructor. I wouldn't think about trying out unfamiliar equipment in an unfamiliar environment.

Thanks for any info you can pass along about this or about diving with the manatees.

 

[bennedc]

Hi there. See my pics, first of all. Secondly, I don't think the numbers are that great in the summer...that's why my fam goes in Jan each year...the come into the rivers more to find warmer waters...

There are several threads/posts on manatee trips. I think you will have good results if you search for them. Also, I have never done scuba with the manatees; always have done snorkel. People scuba all the time, but the manatee tend, from my experiences, to leave the area when there are a bunch of people around (I try to get away from the clusters of people and more to myself) and from the divers (the manatee tend to go the opposite direction...)

Have fun!

 

[xfive4x]

We are looking into diving with Manatee at Crystal River this summer. From what I'm reading about it, there isn't really "diving" with them but snorkeling instead due to the manatee being frightened by the bubbles. Two questions: Can you dive with the manatee if you use a rebreather? Do you need a special rebreather cert. in order to rent one there? We are master divers with various equipment training, but not specific cert. with rebreathers. It would not be a problem to practice with them here in my hometown as a friend of mine has some - and is a dive instructor. I wouldn't think about trying out unfamiliar equipment in an unfamiliar environment.

Thanks for any info you can pass along about this or about diving with the manatees.

You're not likely to find many Manatee in Crystal River this summer. They come into Crystal River over the winter because the water there is warmer than out at sea. The simple fact is there is not enough food there to keep them, so once the gulf warms a bit, the Manatee head out to sea. I was in Crystal River earlier this month and we only saw about 6 or 7 Manatee. The bubbles certainly do make them more skiddish. We got in with our air off and basically just snorkeled about. Diving with them with a rebreather would probably be awesome. However, rebreathers are a good bit more advanced and I would be shocked if they didn't require a certification to rent a unit. Shoot, I can't even get a Nitrox fill without showing my cert.

 

[DiveBandit]

I can tell you from experimentation that I have approached a manatee using a snorkel and they don't move. When I switched to my regulator they were moving quickly away from me on the first breath. It isn't the bubbles, it's the hissing the inhaleing makes. It sounds like a boat motor from under water, which of course is bad news to them. I switched back to snorkel and was able to catch up to the same manatee and hang with it for a bit. Blowing bubbles did not make it move away from me. To that end I think a rebreather will spook them just like scuba if inhaling makes the same hissing noise.

Anybody else experiance anything like this or other than this.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

I think Narcosis is right. The first year I MD'd the CR Manatee trip, I had an incredible experience with a manatee at pointblank range. It was actually curious at the bubbles, but when I started breathing normally, instead of holding my breath, (was sitting on the bottom with him, neither of us moving so no DCS issues), he took off! It definitely was the hissing of the regulator that spooked him. He moved closer everytime I blew bubbles, until he was laying right next to me wanting his back scratched. I would breathe so slowly that the reg didn't make any noise. When that changed,... GONE!!!!

 

[trigfunctions]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure that it is illegal to dive with manatees. You are allowed to snorkel with them in certain areas, but not to dive underwater with them - either free diving or with scuba equipment.

 

[bennedc]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I am pretty sure that it is illegal to dive with manatees. You are allowed to snorkel with them in certain areas, but not to dive underwater with them - either free diving or with scuba equipment.

You can dive with the manatee. People do it in Crystal River all the time. There is usually a park ranger/game warden present near the sanctuary area in a canoe looking out for the best interests of the manatee. It is not illegal to scuba with the manatee. It is illegal, however, to pursue them into the sanctuary or to try to hold on to them in anyway or to chase after them...they must swim to you and then you can pet them gently as long as you are not aggressive or try to hold them.

 

[DEEPSEAWOLF]

It is not illegal to dive, swim, or even pet the manatees. It IS illegal to harass, injure, or feed them. In Crystal River, due to the abundance of people during the cold months when the manatees come in, there are segregated sanctuaries that are posted as NO ENTRY. If you are caught swimming/diving/boating into that area, the FMP can, and has, arrested individuals and confiscated their boats and equipment. I remember reading of a case where a kayaker wanted to video the manatees so he kayaked to the island which was NOT inside a sanctuary area. However, he was on land on the other side and they arrested him and took his camera gear and yak.
I remember the issue because he was suing the State to get his stuff back, and for money because the boundaries for manatees are based on a water dwelling animal. As he was NOT in the water, and the island was not a sanctuary, he was creating a legal battle. I never heard anything more about it, though. The rangers are definite about two things, one,... if the manatees swim away, do NOT pursue them! Two,... do NOT separate a calf from its mother! Those are the two strictest interaction rules they enforce.