Captain Barry And The Manatees

We finally had a beautiful day, the last one here before we head to the Port of Miami to board the Norwegian Sky. A call was placed to Captain Barry’s who guarantee manatee sightings or you don’t pay for the trip. Now, that is pretty good because most whale watches that you participate in don’t offer a similar guarantee. Of course, sightings are not the same as actually seeing manatees. Manatees are mammals, breathing air as we do so they must come to the surface every three to five minutes to breathe. The rest of their time is spent submerged near the bottom grazing on sea grasses or snoozing. SO, to see manatees, you must be patient, watch for noses at the surface or see a “footprint”, the disturbed water where there tail fluke was. In fact, we saw the shapes of more than a dozen manatees swimming along beneath the surface. I managed to catch a shot of a couple of noses but after having had the experience of actually snorkeling with these gentle giants in King’s Bay a few years ago, I was less than amazed with the whole trip. What was entertaining was the Osprey nest and youngster who, we’re told, just a day or two ago was testing his wings to strengthen them. Our guide, Captain George, says that once the young leave the nest, they never return. We also saw a few alligators and as it turns out, they are unusually aggressive this time of year because it’s mating season. The excitement was provided for us by two guys who had been out fishing and were cleaning their catch when we returned to the dock. The guts were tossed into the canal and caused a frenzy among the Jack fish. The water roiled as if Piranha were devouring some hapless creature. A good day for the fishermen means a good day for the Jack and everyone is happy. On our way back to the resort, we swung into the little community of Goodland for munch at a place called the Little Bar Restaurant. The food was good, the service was amiable and the bill didn’t send us into monetary shock. Filled to our max, we saw a young Osprey in the nest along the road. The only thing to put a damper on this day was I had to do laundry and pack, again. If you'd like a pleasant 1 1/2 hour tour of the waterways leading out to the Gulf, you can check out Captain Barry at http://www.see-manatees.com