The Manatees Playground

By Mike Jastrzebski

It sounds like a book title, doesn’t it? The Manatees Playground that is. But it’s not. I’m actually talking about the marina basin here in Titusville.

We’ve lived on our boat in Florida now for nearly nine years, only five months of that here at Westland Marina in Titusville, but on several occasions we’ve seen more manatees here in one day than the rest of the time we’ve been in Florida. One day we counted at least ten floating in the sun.

Here’s a small herd of them.

And here’s one basking in the sun.

Sometimes it makes my day just sitting on the boat and watching as these behemoths (they can grow to 13 feet long and weigh as much as 1300 pounds) wander between and around the boats looking for a source of running fresh water. If they can’t find someone washing off their boat they’ll gather under a dripping faucet or the water outlet of a water cooled air conditioner.

Unfortunately many of these gentle beasts get struck by boats, so if you’re down this way watch out for them, go slow so you don’t hit them, and enjoy the show. And don’t forget to watch for the dolphins in the river. They can be entertaining too.

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