Manatees

[Taniwha]

Hello all,

I'm going to be in Florida for a week in mid to late March, and here's my predicament: While I'm there, I want to do a manatee dive. I've been told by dive shops (and seen ads other places) that the manatees get spooked by scuba bubbles and that you should snorkel instead.

I have a contact out there who says you can dive, but you should rent a boat. Is he telling me that scuba diving with the manatees is not kosher, but you can get around it by going on your own?

I don't mind snorkeling, but I just want some good information. To dive, or not to dive...that is the question! :umnik:

Cheers,
Doug

 

[Dive-aholic]

Snorkel. The manatees do get spooked, and it's illegal to scuba near manatees. Except in King Cavern in Crystal River. But even there, the manatees will avoid you on scuba, but could be your best friend on snorkel. They typically aren't in very deep areas, so scuba isn't necessary.

 

[kensuguro]

Just sticking my nose in, but I saw manatees at Seaquarium, and they were just floating around. I do hear they're friendly, but what exactly do they do? Just float near you? Or do they actually interact with you?

 

[herman]

Just sticking my nose in, but I saw manatees at Seaquarium, and they were just floating around. I do hear they're friendly, but what exactly do they do? Just float near you? Or do they actually interact with you?

Depends on the manatee and the day but some will actively interact with you. I had one in Kings Spring chase ME down and insisit that I scratch his belly. I was snorkeling along looking for photo ops, after scratching a bunch of them for at least an hour I was wanting something different, when I noticed one following me. He closed in close to me and when I turned to look at him he stopped, rolled on his side and it was obvious he wanted to be petted. The things are like big dogs.

 

[crpntr133]

Just snorkeled with the manatees last weekend with Crystal Lodge Dive Center and it was a blast. Even though there were a couple of divers there most were snorkeling. We were told that it was in fact illegal unless it was a class. Personally I think you would be wasting your time and money diving, 99% of the time you could stand up.

It seems that the younger ones tend to interact with you. I agree with Herman..big dogs.

Don't know if this is always true but get in the water before 8:30. This is when we got there and there weren't very many people there. We swam around for about 2 hours and looked across the water, had to have been at least 40 people in the cove. We headed out and there were more coming in.

 

[rjrocks32]

I have had an opportunity to have a manatee encounter, I get easily scared when I see a huge animal pass by, and when I got to see the manatee it scared the crap out of me. But when I did go encounter a manatee, I was snorkeling with a group of 4 or 5 other teenagers during a week-long camp at Crystal River, FL, yes, but if you are looking for a good deal from a professional and reputable dive shop, contact American Pro Diving Center @ 352-563-0041, they are im my opinion one of the best dive shops in the state.

 

[SeaYoda]

I just went this past weekend with American Pro. We went up into Three Sisters spring and it was very shallow in all three springs. I would not dive in these springs at all, they are just too shallow. We were told not to even dive down to see or take pictures of the sleeping manatees. We were told to float only and not to harass the manatees in any way. If they are eating or sleeping on the bottom it is not legal to disturb them. You can scratch the manatees if they swim near the surface but not if they are swimming away from you. The manatees were not very interactive the day I went. They were asleep on the bottom when we arrived and as they woke up, they headed straight out of the spring. Only two allowed me to scratch their backs on their way out - a couple strokes and they were gone.

 

[deeper thoughts]

here in the keys this time of the year there are manatees in alot of the canals on the bayside

 

[Missdirected]

Go as early in the morning as possible. As the day warms they head out, quickly.

 

[crpntr133]

OK guys. I need a little info. I was told and some others have said that it is illegal to scuba with the manatee. Is this actually a law and if so by who? I guess the real big factor is that I was told that it was illegal unless you were doing a class. Is this OW or AOW or some other class?