This mother and child immediately caught my eye last Friday when I arrived at Three Sister’s Spring, Crystal River, Florida.  I’m sure that Bob Bonde, in my opinion the top manatee researcher in the world, noticed this pair too when he was there with his USGS (United States Geological Services) boat right before me.  (For the best and most comprehensive book in print about the Florida Manatee - Bob Bonde and Roger Reep wrote the book, ‘The Florida Manatee Biology and Conservation - you can purchase it at Amazon by clicking here).

A very little baby it is, probably only a few weeks old, if that old and it has made its way along with its mother up to the warm Three Sister’s Spring.  In fact the general area where these two came from can most likely be determined from the type of algae that is on their backs.

I also photographed these two from the front and while that is generally considered a better or more intimate view, I like this image better.  This mother was very, very protective of her calf.  So this photograph from behind shows them at their most relaxed.  Manatee moms are usually protective of their little offspring but this mom was much more so.  I suspect the reason is obvious.  The horrible propeller scars on the mother manatee’s tail is nothing any manatee should have to endure, much less a new mother.  But manatee are tough and resilient and this mother was making sure nothing happened to her baby!

So even though the scars on the mother are sad, this mother’s devotion to her youngster was inspiring.  Sometimes I wouldn’t see the little one and I’d realize she has just “tucked” him under her large tail and he would fit right in that safe nook - impervious to any stress or dangers that might crop up.  In fact they both could even swim and travel like that, baby safely tucked away under mom’s tail.  Then something happened that I had seen before but not with a baby so young as this one.  There were quite a few manatee around but it hadn’t been even a minute since I photographed this mother.  I looked back and saw her resting and - hmmmmm, no baby.  The little one wasn’t even tucked under her.  Mom was resting and there was no calf.  I then realized that what I had seen before had happened.  See many new mothers, in fact many females form “groups”, a few females that travel together and they are often related.  I had seen these “groups” share care of calves that were a little older than this one but this is the first time I’ve seen a calf so little “passed off” to another female so the mother could get some rest.  Mother’s nap didn’t last long though.  Not even 10 or 15 minutes later this mother retrieved her calf and took it on a feeding excursion (and lesson).  See at a very high tide there are lots of plants and algae that aren’t normally underwater.  Manatee take full advantage of this bountiful time to feed on some of these mostly terrestrial delicacies.  This mother gave her child a lesson in what to eat at high tide.  But from what I observed his attention span was a little short (like some other species we know?).  I think that is why manatee stay with their mothers for two years and even more.  There is a lot to learn and lots of cool stuff to act as a distraction!

More to come, I’ve been going to see the manatee a lot.

Best, Carol