Greetings from Secret River, Florida

Hi Everyone, This is the first day of my new blog. I hope to share with you my love for the manatees of Florida. I live on a beautiful spring fed river in Florida which is frequented by the Florida Manatee. I kayak nearly every day and see these "gentle giants" all the time.

I am the owner of a Hobie Pedal Kayak. See my picture to the right. Its great for picture taking and exercise and what ever else you want to do when you need your hands free while kayaking. It pedals just like a bicyle. Doesn't go into reverse however, that is when I use my paddle.

Today, Ken, my husband, Ivy, my daughter and I went kayaking. The temp. was about 87 and the breeze was cooling and delicious. We went swimming at the end of our canal, The Big Cypress, and the river. As we were standing there a mama manatee and a child manatee went right by us and proceeded into our canal. They were in pretty good shape, not many scars from boat propellors. I was glad they went into our quiet canal. Sundays on the river can be dangerous for people and manatees. The boat traffic is nasty, many people respect the no wake speed, many people do not. Ken and I proceeded up river. As usual we asked eachother how manatees can possibly survive in our usually crystal clear river with all the boat traffic. By Sunday afternoon the river is a muddy murky mess. By Monday morning it is a beautiful crystal clear turquoise and I have it all to myself again. I avoid weekends on the river if at all possible. Its too depressing. People just don't seem to care that manatees live here.

We kayaked for a couple of hours and returned to our dock only to see three manatees and a little manatee baby. This baby was the cutest thing in the world. I estimate his age at a month. Fat and wrinkly. Staying as close to mom as possible. Ivy took some great pics as you can tell. Have you ever seen anything as cute. They hung out at my dock for an hour and then disappeared, on to greener pastures. Hopefully they will stay safe and the baby will grow and flourish.

I am really lucky to see something as wonderful as this.