I never feel so blessed as I do when a wild animal approaches me.
This gorgeous thing made it’s way to the canal in front of our house in the keys seeking warmer waters during the winter (if I can call what South Florida has ‘winter’ anyway).
If you know anything about manatees, it’s that they move slow and eat seagrass.
You may not know how gentle they are. Once, I followed a bull manatee for just a bit too long and he abruptly stopped to stare me down.. I won’t lie to you, I was momentarily scared. I stopped the gentle pulsing of my fins and let the current carry me backwards as I tried to guess it’s next move. Silly me. Manatees are not fighters. Before I could do anything else he was gone. A thousand times the swimmer I will ever be.
Quick fact, manatees were downgraded from endangered to threatened in 2017. Some of the laws that helped achieve this also state that if I laid a hand on or gave fresh water to this viejita (= little old lady) I would face hefty fines and possibly jail time.
I would be reprimanded for helping another animal.
Yeah, ANOTHER animal. You are animal.
People tend to forget that – no matter how capable our thumbs or shiny our gadgets.
I understand the goal is to not let animals get used to human interaction because – albeit, humans are occasionally evil and destructive; but I think our logic is flawed.
I think we should fix the humans… not turn our backs on the animals. What do you think?
Stay Fascinated
Nicole Jaimee 