Manatees

[chipwd]

Awesome pics! Such beautiful creatures.

I hope to dive with manatees some day, too.

 

[parabolic]

Ken, those shots are beautiful.
In these shots manatees remind me of oversized puppies .

Thanks Jam. They remind me of big friendly cuddly schmoos, if you remember what those were. ++Ken++

 

[HowardE]

Awesome. I really like the one from Homosassa Springs - with the reflection of the manatee in the surface.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Ken:

Great shots! One complaint, though. You were only about 1 1/2 hour away from me and didn't let me know you were here!!!! I'd love to have gone with you!

Doug

 

[Jamdiver]

Thanks Jam. They remind me of big friendly cuddly schmoos, if you remember what those were. ++Ken++

I think i'll have to pull out a dictionary for that one .

 

[parabolic]

Ken:

Great shots! One complaint, though. You were only about 1 1/2 hour away from me and didn't let me know you were here!!!! I'd love to have gone with you!

Doug

Thanks Doug, but I have an excuse. It was about ten years ago ++Ken++

 

[parabolic]

I think i'll have to pull out a dictionary for that one .

Schmoos, round cuddly cartoon characters circa probably before you were born

 

[parabolic]

Jam: Ok I spelled it wrong, they are "shmoos" no "c". From Wikepedia:

A shmoo is a fictional cartoon creature, created and first drawn by the cartoonist Al Capp in his newspaper comic strip Li'l Abner. Their first appearance occurred on August 31, 1948. The shmoo is shaped like a plump bowling pin with legs, but no arms.

The primary purpose of the character was to satirize political debates about the supposed loss of personal incentive due to the growth of the "welfare state". According to the storyline in the comic strip, the leaders of government and big business spend great amounts of energy trying to exterminate the shmoo as a dangerous threat to civilization as we know it.

 

[parabolic]

Everything you ever wanted to know about shmoos:

Physical characteristics of Shmoos
The basic premise allowed Capp to ascribe a variety of characteristics to these creatures, each of which contains other layers of satirical social observations connected with the main theme:

They reproduce asexually, and are very prolific. They require no sustenance other than air.
Shmoos are delicious, and are so eager to be eaten that if they are looked at by someone who is hungry they will gladly jump into a frying pan, after which they taste like chicken, or into a roasting pan, after which they taste like beef (Raw, they taste like Oysters on the Half-Shell). They also produce eggs, milk, and butter (no churning labor needed.) Their fresh pelt is a perfect boot leather, or house timber depending on how thick it has been cut. Their eyes are ideal suspender buttons, and their whiskers are perfect toothpicks. Naturally gentle, they require minimal care, and are ideal playmates for young children. In short, they are simply the perfect ideal of a subsistence agricultural herd animal.
The frolicking of shmoos is so entertaining (such as their staged "shmoosical comedies") that people watching them feel no need to go to movies or turn on television to relieve their boredom.
A substantial colony of shmoos live in the Valley of the Shmoon (a play on The Valley of the Moon) near Dogpatch. There is no literature-based evidence of shmoos trying to "escape:" however, Li'l Abner stumbled into the Valley of the Shmoon and brought several hundred shmoos out with him to help the citizens of poverty-stricken Dogpatch. The corporate workers hated shmoos, therefore, they started rumors of "havoc" and destruction of society. Hence, the shmoos were almost destroyed. However, two of them returned to the Valley where they continued to live happily with thousands of fellow shmoos, never to be asked to help humans again. They had no need to escape, and no shmoo ever caused physical harm to anyone or anything. After the shmoos were destroyed in Dogpatch, they were never heard from again in-universe. There have been commercial attempts to integrate the character into a TV series.)

 

[Jamdiver]

Everything you ever wanted to know about shmoos:

Physical characteristics of Shmoos
The basic premise allowed Capp to ascribe a variety of characteristics to these creatures, each of which contains other layers of satirical social observations connected with the main theme:

They reproduce asexually, and are very prolific. They require no sustenance other than air.
Shmoos are delicious, and are so eager to be eaten that if they are looked at by someone who is hungry they will gladly jump into a frying pan, after which they taste like chicken, or into a roasting pan, after which they taste like beef (Raw, they taste like Oysters on the Half-Shell). They also produce eggs, milk, and butter (no churning labor needed.) Their fresh pelt is a perfect boot leather, or house timber depending on how thick it has been cut. Their eyes are ideal suspender buttons, and their whiskers are perfect toothpicks. Naturally gentle, they require minimal care, and are ideal playmates for young children. In short, they are simply the perfect ideal of a subsistence agricultural herd animal.
The frolicking of shmoos is so entertaining (such as their staged "shmoosical comedies") that people watching them feel no need to go to movies or turn on television to relieve their boredom.
A substantial colony of shmoos live in the Valley of the Shmoon (a play on The Valley of the Moon) near Dogpatch. There is no literature-based evidence of shmoos trying to "escape:" however, Li'l Abner stumbled into the Valley of the Shmoon and brought several hundred shmoos out with him to help the citizens of poverty-stricken Dogpatch. The corporate workers hated shmoos, therefore, they started rumors of "havoc" and destruction of society. Hence, the shmoos were almost destroyed. However, two of them returned to the Valley where they continued to live happily with thousands of fellow shmoos, never to be asked to help humans again. They had no need to escape, and no shmoo ever caused physical harm to anyone or anything. After the shmoos were destroyed in Dogpatch, they were never heard from again in-universe. There have been commercial attempts to integrate the character into a TV series.)

Woaaaaaaah, schmoo overload here!

Ok you're right, it was a bit before my time.
I definitely don't remember the name

But I do love the manatee shots , think they're supposed to be some West Indian Manatees here in Jamaican waters also.