I was out in the mangrove swamps taking some pictures for a children's novel that I'm working on. I need the pictures to show to an illustrator so that she'll get the idea of what the main character has seen. Took about 300 so far. Here's one that will give you a feel of the place. So beautiful... and haunting.
But on the way in, I had the strangest experience of my life:
That is the nose of a manatee. It is over 4m long!!!
You can see from its back that it has been pretty badly scarred by boat propellors. Ugh. But it looked liked they'd scarred over well. I have been told that if they scar, it is not much of a problem. And if it doesn't they die.
I was so busy taking pictures that I got a little too close.
He's (or she) actually swimming under my kayak. It got really scary when I actually bumped into him! And when he took off, my kayak nearly tipped over.
I wasn't worried about me, as there was another boat around, but poor camera would have been toast. But it was worth it.
Posted by jason at March 23, 2003 04:31 PMPoor manatee...
Sche meows sadly
What a wonderful experience you had! Hope the manatee have a long enjoyable life.
Posted by: yuka kajihara on March 23, 2003 11:45 PMAmazing! A manatee with a nose that's 4 metres long. Lucky we don't have to change your name to Jonah!
...couldn't resist...
...just jealous 'cause your weapon of mass destruction is bigger than mine...
Posted by: alan on March 24, 2003 10:56 AMManatees are awesome. I think I wrote about them in a paper not related to manatees once, but I forget.
Posted by: Brin. on March 24, 2003 01:37 PMI think this was the Manatee's version of a peace protest (civil disobedience?) ... a little "leave me alone, damnit!"
Posted by: Julia on March 24, 2003 04:04 PM