Crystal River Manatees - Article and Location Guide

[Don Silcock 14]

Last year I spent 10 days in Crystal River, Florida swimming and snorkeling with the manatees. It was a great experience and one I have wanted to do for a number of years, but Florida is so far from my part of the world that I just never was able to do it before.

 

It's also pretty confusing from a distance to understand what is actually required to swim with and photograph the manatees... There seemed to be a lot of rules, but exactly how they apply to underwater photographers was not clear till I got some great help from Bill Oestreich and Marty Senetra at Birds Underwater and Gregory Sweeney - who freely offered advice despite the fact that my dates could not work with his guided trips.

 

It looks like (for once in my life...) my timing was superb as I had a great time and had some real quality moments with these wonderful creatures, plus I was able to understand a lot more about them and their overall, somewhat troubled, relationship with the terrestrial residents of Crystal River - a very interesting situation!

 

My timing was good because access to the manatees is changing and some of the new rules were being put in to place when I went back to the Crystal River in January after a shark trip to the Bahamas.

 

I have written a pretty comprehensive location seven-page guide to Crystal River and the Florida manatees on my site to help others who are interested in experiencing these interesting and photogenic animals. Just follow the links at the bottom of each page or click on the relevant page you are interested in on the sidebar.

 

I also had a 18-page article on the Manatees of the Crystal River published in Anima Mundi magazine, with my favorite photograph from the trip getting the front cover!

 

I will update my site when the ramifications of the proposed changes at the Crystal River go in to place.

 

Don

[Ken Kurtis 20]

It's also pretty confusing from a distance to understand what is actually required to swim with and photograph the manatees... There seemed to be a lot of rules, but exactly how they apply to underwater photographers was not clear . . . access to the manatees is changing . . . I will update my site when the ramifications of the proposed changes at the Crystal River go in to place.

 

There are some severe restrictions being proposed for Three Sisters (the best viewing and interaction area) for the upcoming season that will, IMHO, pretty much eliminate much of what we've enjoyed in the past. Three Sisters has certainly become overrun in the last few years to the point where manatees are getting crowded out. Visitor counts have gone from 60,000 in 2010 to almost 140,000 in 2014. There's opportunity for public comment but here's the gist of what's being proposed:

 

1. No more than 29 people (including guides) in Three Sisters at any given time.

2. All people must be escorted by FWS-certififed guide, max 4:1 ratio.

3. Only 5 companies will be issued guide permits, to be determined by application & lottery.

4. Access limited to 9AM - 4PM.

5. No kayaks.

6. Full closure of Pretty Sister and Little Sister lobes.

7. Full closure to people of the small slough (spring run) from the channel.

8. They will build inside the spring area, a floating dock and create a parking area for access.

9. No flash photography allowed.

10. No fins allowed.

11. Wetsuits required, must be predominantly black.

12. Photogs may not submerge to take a picture (so your lovley cover shot would have been illegal).

13. Commercial photogs (which includes people who post photos just on their own sites) need to get an SUP (Special Use Permit - $300), plus have a guide with them, to shoot.

14. No more than 2 photogs at a time, lottery system to be instituted during "open application season".

 

There's other stuff, but this ought to be enough to horrify you for now.

 

I will say that the the FWS people are really good about communicating with the stakeholders. Because I've taken groups there over the years, I'm on their contact list and have had frequent conversations with them about all of this. And while this all may seem pretty Draconian, they're really getting overwhelmed with visitors, far beyond what the Springs can handle, and the Manatees suffer for it. So it all comes from a good place and comes partly from an inability or unwillingness of the general public and the local operators to do any kind of self-policing or self-limiting.

 

Public comment is open until September 4. The full PDF document is available here: http://www.fws.gov/southeast/refuges/pdf/TSS-Draft-EA-InWater-Crystal-River-NWR-07312015.pdf .

 

- Ken

The above is from me. Don't know why it posted as "Guest." I'm singed in as me. Weird.