My husband and I love Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne. Immediately following Christmas 2020, our friends, Steve and Susan, joined us at the park for a week of adventure and relaxation on Liberty, our 38 foot sailboat. We love vacationing with Steve and Susan, they are as fun as they are funny. Steve is adventurous and pretty much game for anything, and Susan, well, let’s just say that she loves being stretched outside her comfort zone!
Susan and I waited for a calm day to kayak around the harbor because we really wanted to see colorful fish swimming in the mangroves that surround No Name Harbor, which is part of the park. We had already seen a dolphin in the harbor, and heard rumors of manatee, but we didn’t know that we were in for a real treat! As we paddled off, Susan mentioned something about not kayaking into any dark caves like we did in the BVI. I simply smiled knowing that there are no caves in this harbor.
Susan and I had only been paddling for about 10 minutes when I saw a manatee about 10 feet in front of us stick his nose out of the water to take a breath! No sooner than I spotted that manatee Susan looked down and saw a second manatee directly under our kayak! I admit that seeing a 10 foot sea cow, that clearly weighed several hundred pounds, directly under our kayak was a teeny tiny bit alarming, but I wasn’t about to let Susan know that I thought so! We slowly backed away and no one was any worse for the wear. Then Susan said, “New rule, no kayaking on top of manatee!” She’s so funny. Seriously though, Susan and I sat in our kayak and just watched the manatee for what must have been half an hour.
West Indian Manatee can be found along the East coast of the United States, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. I am a native of Iowa and had never even heard of a manatee until 2018 when I spent some time in Charleston, South Carolina. Manatee are not exactly what I might call cute and cuddly, but they are gentle giants that I really enjoy watching as they swim by. By “giant”, I mean that the average manatee is 10 feet long and weights between 800 and 1200 pounds. Maybe what fascinates me is that manatee are herbivores. They spend most of their time slowing swimming around, eating aquatic plants and resting. Now how on earth does Mandy Manatee grow to 1200 pounds on a diet of salad alone? It’s a crazy mystery! The water in this part of Florida is a beautiful blue/green color and very clear. It is easy to see eight to ten feet down, so if a manatee is near, you’ll see it! I took the three pictures above while walking along the sea wall when a manatee was swimming along side it. If the manatee is further away when you spot it, you may simply see the nose stick up out of the water to breathe (they take a breath every three to five minutes), or you may see it come up and dive back down like the picture below. I spend a lot of time sitting in the cockpit of our boat just watching for dolphin and manatee.
Following our manatee sightings, we continued kayaking along the mangroves in search of tropical fish. We weren’t very successful in that quest; however, we did see several large iguana sunning themselves on the branches. At one point, we were directly underneath the green iguana while attempting to get close enough to see the orange iguana. Yikes! As if on queue, Susan said, “New rule, no kayaking underneath iguanas-they could jump on me!” Pretending that I didn’t share her concern (because I love teasing her), I replied, “Susan, new rule: no making up new rules!”
I’m just going to assume that Susan is keeping track of all her rules and that she will continue trying just as hard to keep me within them as I do to drag her into adventures where we just might need them!
Thought of the day: Love and appreciate your friends, and tell them so every chance you get!
