January 29, 2026. Thursday. 5:53am.
We’re headed to Crystal River today to spend some time with manatees.
My buddy Chris rented a pontoon boat for half the day, which is perfect. It gives us time to scout, move around, and hopefully find a good spot with clean water to swim with the manatees.
Our friend’s Brad and Mina came along, and Chris’s daughter joined us too… Just a fun day on the water, moving slowly, looking for Florida wildlife, and seeing what the river decided to show us. It is going to be a fun day.
Chris has been here many times before, so he knows the area well. This is my first visit.
I’ve photographed manatees before, but that was in Mexico, in the ocean, over a reef. This feels very different.
I still haven’t had what I’d call quality time with manatees. If the light cooperates today, I’m hoping to capture a few images I’ve been wanting for a long time.
WIld Minute | Episode 38
There are a lot of animals around right now, so expectations are high.
We arrive and load up the pontoon. It’s a nice, roomy boat with plenty of space for gear. The afternoon is chilly, but the sun is out and there’s no cloud cover, so it feels good out here.
Our first stop is one of the main manatee gathering areas.
Behind it is a small spring where people are sometimes allowed to swim with them. When too many manatees pack into that space, the area gets closed to give them a refuge from the crowds.
Today is one of those days… the spring is closed.
The problem is that this is where the clear blue water is.
Once it’s closed, the surrounding areas where the manatees spread out has much dirtier water. We swim around for a few minutes, but visibility isn’t great, and the images are terrible, so we decide to move on and search for something better.
Chris takes us to another area that might have cleaner water. After a slow twenty-minute ride, we find it, a calm closed off swimming area with a lot of manatees resting.
We jump in and immediately find a patch of beautiful, clear water over white sand. This becomes our spot for the next couple of hours.
There are easily thirty to forty manatees in the area, and we have a blast photographing them.
They are incredible animals. True gentle giants.
It’s easy to understand how they were nearly brought to extinction by early seafarers. Slow-moving, curious, and without an aggressive bone in their bodies, they were easy targets.
They sadly never learned to fear humans.
Manatees were once hunted for their meat, oil, and skins. Strong protection helped populations rebound, but they’re still not out of danger.
Today the threats are different, pollution, habitat destruction, and boat strikes remain serious issues.
Manatees blend with their environment making it difficult for boats to see them.
They really are remarkable animals, and a joy to photograph.
I’m already looking forward to getting back here and spending more time learning from these gentle giants.
