Text by Mary L. Peachin with photos by Dave Jaskey, M.D.
June, 2015, Vol. 19, No. 9
West Indian manatees surrounded me. They were waiting for me as I slipped quietly into the water from the pontoon’s sturdy ladder. Well, I could have done a belly flop and not scared them away. One nudged me from the left, another lifted me from below, and another swished his whiskers along the right side of my face. Behind them, others appeared to be waiting their turn to get close to me. What attracted them to me, a human snorkeler? Obviously, they were just curious as to what I was doing in their space.