U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area
 [Register]
Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area Manatee and Sarasota Counties
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 05-09-2009, 02:24 PM
 
Location: Punta Gorda and Maryland
6,103 posts, read 14,427,937 times
Reputation: 1245

Advertisements

Well it wasn't exactly a joke on me, but it is a funny story! I've been meaning to tell it here for a while.

I moved down to SWFL this past winter, and never saw a manatee until just a couple weeks ago. People have told me how friendly and docile they are, and not to pet them.

Sooooooo.
I bought some kayaks and decided to go fishing. I took my kayak to Eldred's and launched it from there. Eldred's is a nice place where you can park, launch your boat or kayak, get some bait, and maybe some other gear if you need it. It's on the way to Boca Grande, just before the toll bridge. Anyway, I launched my boat, got my fishing gear, and went kayaking across the bay. I stopped a few times and fished in some of the deeper channels. The bay is only a foot or two deep in places, but deepens a bit where the channels are.

It was a beautiful day, and I caught some snapper, and paddled across the bay. After i got there, the wind started to pick up, and was blowing accross the bay toward Eldred's so I could pretty much just drift and float. It was really nice. Anyway about half way across, I saw this face pop out of the water about 30 yards away, and it looked like a walrus! So I paddled over in the direction, and started to get my camera out so I could take a picture. I recognized it was a manatee, and thought (based on all I've heard) that they are docile, and I could go pretty close to it since (I'm not supposed to pet them) I thought I could get really close and get a great picture (to post here!). LOL, anyway I drifted closer than I wanted, but since I was getting my camera phone ready to focus, I didn't notice I was getting really close!

Well, I got too close, especially for the manatee! It became startled (me too!), and it charged forward rather than retreating, and it went underneath my kayak, and started bucking like a bronco! Needless to say, I dropped my phone (in the bottom of the kayak luckily), and didn't get a picture! ;-( I thought it would dump me over! As it came out the other side, it kicked mud, grass, water, and I'm sure manatee poop at me! I know it pooped on me! It was not pleasant at all then, or the whole way home, no matter how much I tried to clean my self up! LOL

I honestly did not intend to get more than 5-6 feet near the poor animal, but the drift and the wind pushed me closer to it. Once it decided to swim a way, it swam about 30 yards in about 2.5 seconds. Those things can move! One thing for sure, I will keep a wider distance next time, and hope to use the zoom feature for a better picture.

I have to say, I feel really bad about causing that manatee to become startled! I certainly did not intend to upset the poor animal. There is a lessoned to be learned by my mistake, if you see them give them wider clearance so that this doesn't happen to you or them. I know there are many kayakers here. I'm just a novice. I hope this story does some good.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the manatee's joke on me, only without the smell.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 05-09-2009, 03:14 PM
 
Location: sittin happy in the sun :-)
3,642 posts, read 6,750,882 times
Reputation: 1862
I can see the sign now......


BEWARE BIG HOUSE IN WATER.........................................
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 03:16 PM
 
Location: FLORIDA!!!!
657 posts, read 1,730,124 times
Reputation: 242
thats a great story! it would have made my day to be there for that one!!
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 05:16 PM
 
Location: Punta Gorda and Maryland
6,103 posts, read 14,427,937 times
Reputation: 1245
Quote:
Originally Posted by hdzup3 View Post
thats a great story! it would have made my day to be there for that one!!

It was a learning experience! That's for sure! For parts of it I wish you were there instead of me.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 06:10 PM
 
Location: Ohio
1,217 posts, read 2,685,362 times
Reputation: 2250
your story made me laugh out loud, very vivid. I read it aloud to my DH.
but you caught snapper! we have been trying but nothing big of any fish, just throwbacks.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 06:31 PM
 
Location: Venice Florida
1,380 posts, read 5,691,609 times
Reputation: 878
Man that's the first time I've ever heard of an aggressive manatee. I've had them follow my boat, scratch their back on the bottom of my boat, but never get upset. Maybe you came up on a mother with a calf, that might explain the behavior.

As I was reading I expected that the kayak might be over turned, but never expected to read that you got pooed on by a manatee.

Great story thanks for sharing.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 06:32 PM
 
10,599 posts, read 16,904,612 times
Reputation: 17331
I love the story AND the great telling. Great sentence with "(I'm not supposed to pet them)" ROFL. Now we know why.
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 07:07 PM
 
Location: Central Connecticut & North Port,Fl.
425 posts, read 1,060,434 times
Reputation: 145
Default Big House your a PiP

oh lord that was a funny story, read part of it the DH, he chucked at it. its sounds like something only you could do
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 08:49 PM
 
Location: Sarasota
190 posts, read 737,540 times
Reputation: 146
It is a funny story but even more so a once in a lifetime experience! How many people can say they got pooped on by a manatee? It would have been nice to get a picture but I think you will get one eventually, hopefully without the poo. But ya know... The way that kayak was bucking and bouncing are you absolutely sure it was manatee poo you was smellin? he he ha ha lol....had to say it.
ps.
thanks for the info....
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 05-09-2009, 09:10 PM
 
Location: FL
1,138 posts, read 3,079,230 times
Reputation: 792
You have just helped me to decide to go and learn to kayak. Great story!
Rate this post positively Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Florida > Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice area
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2023, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top