The main focus of Homosassa Springs State Park, the wildlife park we visited Saturday, is manatees. It is a rehabilitation center for injured manatees and a place to educate the public about these gentle aquatic mammals.
There are two areas of the park dedicated to educating children about manatees.
Manatees, also known as Sea Cows, are most closely related to elephants. They are herbivores, who seem to really enjoy lettuce and carrots. Three times a day, a ranger in a wet suit gets into the water with the manatees and hand feeds them chunks of carrots.
There was an observation deck overlooking Crystal River, at the edge of the park, and right below where we stood on the deck, this wild manatee was laying in the shallow water.
What you can't see very well in the picture is the large cross of scar tissue on the manatee's back.
Manatees have no natural enemies, but they are often injured by motor boats. This manatee, which had so obviously been hurt in the past, was surrounded by another form of Florida "wildlife", the weekend boater.
If you are interested in adopting a manatee, here is a link:
http://www.savethemanatee.org/adoptpag.htm
I was surprised to see how social and playful the manatee eating the carrots was!
ReplyDeleteLooks like it was a good learning experience and a lot of fun, too, at the park.
I am assuming the Manatee is pretty similar to our Dugong. There is a bit of an uproar around hear at the moment as the Government are trying to change the laws to restrict fishing commercial and recreational as well as the speed limits and activities that are allowed to be carried out in the newly appointed 'Green Zone' in our bay to give more protection to the wild life who live in the bay namely the Turtle and the Dugong which are regularly seen in our area. Every little bit helps.
ReplyDeleteI think Manatees and Dugong are basically the same.
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