Manatees at Blue Springs, Florida (November)

Hi everyone, sorry for the delay. We've been camping out in Florida's state parks all month and internet connection is hard to come by. Excuses, excuses.

After Mercedes's birthday we visited Blue Springs state park where the manatees had just begun showing up. This time of year as the water off Florida cools the manatees swim up the rivers to stay warm. During the summer months you can swim in these crystal clear waters. Once the manatees show up you're no longer allowed in the water, it's for the manatees. That was ok with me since we saw a large aligator on the bank of the river not far enough away from the swimming area.

The first manatees we saw were a mom and baby team that swam slowly by us, it was a beautiful moment. The next day we saw about a dozen, mostly in family groups. They look very calm and relaxed, rolling about and pushing eachother around, babies nursing, big noses popping up for a breath. They were awesome.

We were also lucky to see a busy armadillo in the woods here. She (?) was gathering up piles of leaves and guck and pulling it all under the boardwalk where we could hear her engaged in more busy-ness of the leaf/guck type. The river itself was beautiful and misty with large mossy trees hanging over. You could see all the fish through the clear water, schools of large gar and catfish.