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denbot

(9,900 posts) Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:32 PM Jul 2014

42

Oh the Hugh Manatee!!!

Yesterday Alley (my wife) forced marched us through the Merritt Island Wildlife refuge during a biblical monsoon. We waited in our car for a break and were rewarded with a Manatee sighting at the Manatee viewing area

A mom and calf (the calf is farther out and not visible in this picture).

[IMG][/IMG]

They swam back into the channel so we crossed the bridge to a near by boat launch ramp and hit the Manatee Mother Load. Alley is sitting on the dock watching the Manatees that in turn started watching us..

[IMG][/IMG]

They started to investigate Alley's feet, and we all got to scratch and pet Manatees before we left the dock.

[IMG][/IMG]

30 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Oh the Hugh Manatee!!! (Original Post) denbot Jul 2014 OP

Wow! Very cool and such great pix! Rhiannon12866 Jul 2014 #1

Thanks for looking. denbot Jul 2014 #6

Thank you! Rhiannon12866 Jul 2014 #7

How marvelous, my dear denbot! CaliforniaPeggy Jul 2014 #2

They really are fascinating. denbot Jul 2014 #5

Erm, you might want to delete your OP... Lars39 Jul 2014 #3

Meh, we did not drag a baby out of the water. denbot Jul 2014 #4

how cool! Kali Jul 2014 #8

They come by my buddy's sport fishing dock to get a drink from the water hose, or if it's raining, Dustlawyer Jul 2014 #9

Cool! I love manatees, but I've never seen one in person. Lucky you! catbyte Jul 2014 #10

Awesome. n/t Skip Intro Jul 2014 #11

This is my favorite thread BrotherIvan Jul 2014 #12

They bite! Enthusiast Jul 2014 #13

... In_The_Wind Jul 2014 #18

Aww. They cute ones. Enthusiast Jul 2014 #26

This message was self-deleted by its author demigoddess Jul 2014 #14

ahem In_The_Wind Jul 2014 #15

Humanity panader0 Jul 2014 #22

Using Hugh for huge was a meme here a while back denbot Jul 2014 #25

Coolio! progressoid Jul 2014 #16

They are so gentle. In_The_Wind Jul 2014 #17

Manatees are so cool! nt avebury Jul 2014 #19

You should delete the part about petting them NightWatcher Jul 2014 #20

Relax. littlemissmartypants Jul 2014 #28

And his name is Hugh? rickyhall Jul 2014 #21

Hey! A local. skydive forever Jul 2014 #23

I live on the left coast. denbot Jul 2014 #24

I was just there a couple weeks ago cpwm17 Jul 2014 #27

Oh yeah. littlemissmartypants Jul 2014 #29

Thanks for your post. littlemissmartypants Jul 2014 #30

Rhiannon12866

(205,552 posts)

1. Wow! Very cool and such great pix!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:36 PM

Jul 2014

Thanks so much for sharing them with us!

denbot

(9,900 posts)

6. Thanks for looking.

Reply to Rhiannon12866 (Reply #1)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:52 PM

Jul 2014

I will see if I can add a few more pics.

Rhiannon12866

(205,552 posts)

7. Thank you!

Reply to denbot (Reply #6)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:54 PM

Jul 2014

Lucky you! I've never seen one in real life...

CaliforniaPeggy

(149,642 posts)

2. How marvelous, my dear denbot!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:38 PM

Jul 2014

Those are really nice pictures and what fascinating creatures they are...

Thanks for sharing!

denbot

(9,900 posts)

5. They really are fascinating.

Reply to CaliforniaPeggy (Reply #2)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:50 PM

Jul 2014

Those tiny eyes almost buried in their heads are a little creepy up close.

Lars39

(26,109 posts)

3. Erm, you might want to delete your OP...

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:40 PM

Jul 2014

Seems it's illegal to touch them...

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/touch-a-manatee-spend-six-months-in-jail-24670630/

denbot

(9,900 posts)

4. Meh, we did not drag a baby out of the water.

Reply to Lars39 (Reply #3)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 10:48 PM

Jul 2014

My wife and daughter would have killed me for even suggesting such a thing. The Manatees in question initiated contact, and are surprisingly curious about humans.

Kali

(55,014 posts)

8. how cool!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Sun Jul 6, 2014, 11:42 PM

Jul 2014

I would love to see them sometime. fascinating critters.

Dustlawyer

(10,495 posts)

9. They come by my buddy's sport fishing dock to get a drink from the water hose, or if it's raining,

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 01:08 AM

Jul 2014

where the rain gutter lets out. It's really cool that they are so trusting, yet I imagine with the assholes out there they might not be better off keeping their distance from us, protection or no!

catbyte

(34,408 posts)

10. Cool! I love manatees, but I've never seen one in person. Lucky you!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 01:17 AM

Jul 2014

Skip Intro

(19,768 posts)

11. Awesome. n/t

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 01:36 AM

Jul 2014

BrotherIvan

(9,126 posts)

12. This is my favorite thread

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 01:37 AM

Jul 2014

I loves me some manatees. To see one in the wild is a rare gift indeed.

More pictures!

Enthusiast

(50,983 posts)

13. They bite!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 07:14 AM

Jul 2014

Maybe not.

In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)

18. ...

Reply to Enthusiast (Reply #13)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 05:35 PM

Jul 2014

Enthusiast

(50,983 posts)

26. Aww. They cute ones.

Reply to In_The_Wind (Reply #18)

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 05:18 AM

Jul 2014

Response to denbot (Original post)

demigoddess This message was self-deleted by its author.

In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)

15. ahem

Reply to demigoddess (Reply #14)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 05:26 PM

Jul 2014

Methinks it's a huge mistake.

panader0

(25,816 posts)

22. Humanity

Reply to demigoddess (Reply #14)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 08:51 PM

Jul 2014

denbot

(9,900 posts)

25. Using Hugh for huge was a meme here a while back

Reply to demigoddess (Reply #14)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 10:10 PM

Jul 2014

Mostly from misspelled freeper/teabagger signs and posts.

progressoid

(49,992 posts)

16. Coolio!

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 05:31 PM

Jul 2014

In_The_Wind

(72,300 posts)

17. They are so gentle.

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 05:33 PM

Jul 2014

avebury

(10,952 posts)

19. Manatees are so cool! nt

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 06:28 PM

Jul 2014

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)

20. You should delete the part about petting them

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 06:44 PM

Jul 2014

I'm not telling you that you shouldn't touch them (even though you shouldn't because it gets them used to humans and that in turn leads to more boat strikes), but it is technically illegal to do so.

I'm glad you got to see them, they're really cool animals. I've been lucky enough to work as a marine endangered species observer in the past.

A woman recently got fined because she posted pics on facebook of herself trying to ride them. Authorities used her posts to find her. I'm not going to narc on you (but you never know if you've enemies in here)

littlemissmartypants

(22,695 posts)

28. Relax.

Reply to NightWatcher (Reply #20)

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 09:45 AM

Jul 2014

It's not like they are big silly animals and we are the stupidest predator on the planet...

Oh, wait wut?

Love, Peace and Shelter. Lmsp

rickyhall

(4,889 posts)

21. And his name is Hugh?

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 08:13 PM

Jul 2014

skydive forever

(445 posts)

23. Hey! A local.

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 09:16 PM

Jul 2014

I live in Rockledge and have some great video from about a week and a half ago of a momma manatee and at least 2 babies. Drop me a line if you'd like to talk sometime. Its kind of hard to believe sometimes that there are any other DU visitors in Brevard County.

denbot

(9,900 posts)

24. I live on the left coast.

Reply to skydive forever (Reply #23)

Mon Jul 7, 2014, 10:07 PM

Jul 2014

I'm long distance trucker, and I took my wife and daughter on a FL run. We rented a condo in Cocoa Beach for the long weekend. Today we loaded up more juice at Howey In The Hills FL (I ran a load of "Florida" orange and grapefruit juice from Los Angeles to a Vero Beach Juice Co.) and will deliver to Chicago before catching a load back home to L.A.

cpwm17

(3,829 posts)

27. I was just there a couple weeks ago

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 06:21 AM

Jul 2014

I was showing some visiting friends from San Diego the Manatees. You got clearer water than we had. Perhaps the rain chased the boaters off of the water and you had smoother water. The spot is at 28°44'15.1"N 80°45'16.1"W

I was driving on I-95 through the heavy deluge. I'm glad I just bought my new tires.

littlemissmartypants

(22,695 posts)

29. Oh yeah.

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 09:48 AM

Jul 2014

I see how you play...
Pet the manatees and then high tail it out of town to escape legal recourse.

Hee hee.

littlemissmartypants

(22,695 posts)

30. Thanks for your post.

Reply to denbot (Original post)

Tue Jul 8, 2014, 09:49 AM

Jul 2014

Kicking.
Love, Peace and Shelter.
littlemissmartypants

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