Manatees: So Far this Season 24/25

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Carol Grant

A prolonged chill in the air. Snow in the northern part of the state? Burr! Is this Florida? Our manatees must be saying “This is NOT what we signed up for!”

Yes, the warm natural freshwater springs, like Three Sisters Springs, are about 72 degrees Fahrenheit year round. But manatees are marine mammals and must surface to breathe. Air temperatures in the 20s, 30s and low 40s can quickly cool surrounding waters near the springs. During the colder days manatees may be cautious about taking too many frequent breaths as very low temperatures can chill snouts. If you have seen ariel photographs of manatees tightly packed around the warm springs, this is what the sea cows are dealing with. And this is why Three Sisters Spring’s snorkeling water access is closed for the manatees only when the water temperature gets colder. Alternatively, above water viewing is available throughout the year via the Three Sisters Spring’s Boardwalk.

Currently, as of today, January 28th, Florida is on a warming trend! Anyone who is familiar with manatees can almost “feel” their relief as manatees can now spread out more.

Three Sisters Springs will open when the cool water temperatures have warmed past a certain threshold and are no longer a concern as manatees can come and go as they please. There have been a handful of days when the clearer water springs have been open to in-water manatee observation this season. I thought you might like to see a few current photographs and a short video. These are left over from a couple of manatee projects I’m working on. It is truly amazing how resilient Florida springs, like Three Sisters, are! She is still lovely, even after facing the last few potent tropical systems in 2023 and 2024. Let me show you:

Manatees enter Three Sisters Springs, Jan. 2, 2025.

Sometimes, an uninvited guest is helping themselves to the richness of Three Sisters Springs. In this case it’s a cormorant photobombing my manatee photo composition! Don’t get me wrong, I love birds and seeing cormorants underwater. I just wish he had announced himself first so I could have upped my camera shutter speed. Those birds swim fast, like a torpedo! Continue reading →

Manatee Mother and Calf––On the Cover

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Carol Grant

Ever since the first edition in 2006 of The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation by Roger L. Reep and Robert K. Bonde, I’ve experienced heartfelt joy every time a manatee question of mine has been fully answered in the interesting pages of this book. Now, a second edition of the book is coming out soon with a tender photograph of a mother manatee with her young calf on the cover.

The photograph was taken by me on the Spring Equinox in 2019. I am so proud to have this photograph on the cover of this new second edition.

I remember every detail about this heartfelt encounter. Would you like to know more about this charismatic manatee mother and approximately two-week-old calf?
Continue reading →

BIG—Manatee Appreciation

Posted on March 26, 2020 by Carol Grant

For this Manatee Appreciation Day I want to spread a little warm cheer that’s so much needed at this time. I’m going to tell you the story of these giant manatee buddies from the building in Chicago.

Manatees greeted Chicagoans this past winter. Photo courtesy Crystal River Boat Builders Photo credit: ©️Donna Martin

When I saw this photograph posted by the Crystal River Boat Builders on Facebook, I knew it was my photograph of two of my favorite manatees but I didn’t know who was behind it? Continue reading →

Look Back at 2019–Manatees, Dry Tortugas and more

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Carol Grant

I’m taking a fond look back at what a memorable year we had in 2019. Yes, manatees were a big part of it, as always! But we also trekked over 1,000 miles across Florida, making it all the way down to Dry Tortugas National Park at the western tip of the Florida Keys. Here are some highlights:

Mustache, the baby boy manatee with the white mustache—that is a good place to start. Spring Equinox, March 20th, was the first time I saw the adorable little youngster with his mom. I’ve seen baby manatees before, most notably the little one “Angel” confirmed by Dr. Bob Bonde to have probably been born in the springs the night before that early morning Leap Day in 2008. It is interesting comparing the little calves and seeing the differences between a newborn and a manatee calf that is about two weeks old. Both are absolutely adorable!

Little Mr. Mustache the baby manatee with mom. Spring Equinox, March 20, 2019

Now look at some of the differences between the documented newborn, Angel, and the slightly older calf, the one I called Mustache, from March 20, 2019. Continue reading →

Happy Holidays from Us and the Manatees

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Carol Grant

What does Christmas have to do with Manatees? In Florida, a lot! By the time the holidays roll around, most of this area’s manatees are sheltering in and around the warm freshwater springs or using various warm water power plant channels to stay warm. With our early cold snaps this season, one is sure to see some manatees jaunting about. Now that’s another special Christmas miracle if you ask me.

Manatees celebrating the festive aspects of the season. Taken on Monday of this week in the canals of Kings Bay, Crystal River, Florida.

Here is our “Holiday Greetings from the Grants” we have been sending out to friends and family for over 25 years. I’ll post it here too: Continue reading →

Baby Manatees Are Like Babies Everywhere

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Carol Grant

A bright, excited and eager face greets you with overwhelming curiosity, wrinkly skin and a messy snout with algae not yet washed off. I’m talking about this adorable baby manatee, but I could be illustrating many other species of cute little ones across our planet!

Baby manatee with a messy snout and fish friend explores his environment in the springs. Recent image. Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida.

This is another in my series telling stories behind my recent images from the past two seasons. Continue reading →

Manatee Prehensile Snout

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Carol Grant

Imagine… A mammal that lives in shallow waters, eats an array of over 60 different marine and freshwater aquatic plants and literally feels its environment with tiny body hairs! And what is up with that cool manatee snout?

That’s what I’m talking about in this recent photo, the manatee’s prehensile snout.

“1: adapted for seizing or grasping especially by wrapping around”

Merriam-Webster: Prehensile Definition

A manatee flexes its snout with help from a flipper. Recent image. Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, Florida.

What? You mean to tell me the manatee’s snout has about the same accurate sensitivity as the prehensile snout of an elephant? Continue reading →

New Manatees

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Carol Grant

Lovely blue spring water with adorable pudgy wrinkly faces and warm Florida rainbow sunlight? Sign me up! That’s what one who loves manatees dreams about! We are lucky to still have opportunities to experience these charismatic sirens on their own terms.

I’m updating my site with recent manatee photographs from the last two fall/winter seasons: 2016/2017 and 2017/2018. There’s over twenty new images already with more to come. Manatee photography has always been an adventure and a challenge, but I relish the challenge. I’m just glad there are still some opportunities to chronicle the manatee’s antics in pretty conditions.

Here’s a partial screenshot of my Oceangrant.com site (Portfolio Site link in menu above). If you click on New Images you will see new additions over the next few weeks. All from the last two seasons:

I’ll tell you a story about one of the new images.
Continue reading →

More About Bday Manatees

Posted on February 19, 2018 by Carol Grant

My last post about all the amazing manatees that have made many of my birthdays memorable, drummed up a lot of interest. I thought I’d delineate which manatees and friends showed up on which of my Feb. 11th birthdays these past few years 2011-2018 and tell a bit of the story behind the shots. Of course I’ve seen manatees on birthdays before these years, but this is the best number for an impactful photo collage.

Manatees and Friends who showed up for my Feb. 11th birthdays from 2011 to 2018 years listed below. Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River, FL.

I’ll start with the latest, Feb 11, 2018 Continue reading →

Happy Holidays from Carol and Manatees

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Carol Grant

Happy Holidays 2017! I wish everyone a fun and joyous time with relatives and friends! A few days ago this sweet mother manatee and her calf swam up behind me. It was quite the seasonal surprise! Of course the charismatic pair got dibs to be featured on our holiday E-Card:

HOLIDAY GREETINGS!

We have had odd weather lately, either too hot or too cool and not much in-between, On December 19th I visited the springs when it wasn’t too warm or too cold. Here is another Continue reading →

Manatees on Halloween and DEMA

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Carol Grant

Manatees for Halloween? As it turns out it’s not spooky at all… I love seeing my sirenian friends on Halloween – no costumes required! Then I packed up right away and headed off to DEMA (Dive Equipment and Marketing Association) convention in Orlando, relaying tales of the Halloween manatees!

Mom brought her young male calf into the springs for Halloween! October 31, 2017

Last time I saw manatees on Halloween was in 2012 Continue reading →

Manatee Selfies

Posted on March 13, 2017 by Carol Grant

Selfies…, well we used to call them self-portraits, but now it seems they have taken on a viral life of their own! Those who know me realize I’m always very focused on making the most of my time photographing manatees in Florida’s striking springs. I know I’m a bit light on photographs of myself as it’s not an area I put much attention on. Mainly I want compelling photographs of Florida manatees, the lovely springs, and polite passive observation of our Sirenian friends. Therefore, I often forget that some people would like to see pictures of me in the springs.

Periodically I do get requests, usually from magazines, for a photograph of myself underwater with a manatee. I didn’t have much in my archives, so I took up the new challenge! These three “selfies” are just the beginning of what turned out to be numerous photos from this day, the tip of the iceberg so to speak. I donned a more flattering mask than my usual black non-photogenic one I always wear. Then I really hoped there would be an interested manatee who wanted to be in the frame with me. It turned out I got much much more than I bargained for!?

Manatees are curious about what Carol was up to? My vision was to include as much of the beauty of the springs, the striking light, lovely blue sky and engaging manatees in my self-portraits. I wanted to show what it is like to be underwater and photograph these unique marine mammals. February 2017.

Since I’ve got several manatee projects on-going, I’ll include just three photographs from this experiment. The self-portrait showcase will continue after I get caught up. Continue reading →

Baby Manatees Are Too Cute!

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Carol Grant

Baby animals have a particular penchant for being very cute! Little manatee calves rank right up there with the absolutely most adorable junior creatures I’ve encountered! I’d go out on a limb and say they are the “cutest” but I don’t want to upset any other animal moms, especially the mother humpback whales who I witnessed underwater showing off their own offspring a few years ago!

Since I upgraded my underwater camera outfit a couple of years ago to the Nikon d7200 I’ve been able to take some nice HD video and my catalog of clips of adorable young manatees is growing. I still have it housed in a trusty Subal underwater housing and their glass dome port works well for video also. Before this camera that produces video I used a GoPro mounted on top of my setup and captured some incredible moments also, although not quite at the quality of my Nikon. Still, my video vaults are bursting at the seams with cute little manatee antics and I want to share them with you.

Here is the first in a series of manatee compilation videos. I will keep them under 60 seconds so I can post on Instagram, etc. Possibly I’ll put together a longer one if anyone can’t get enough of the pudgy little manatees?. Best, Carol

Manatees Are Just Too Cute! On Vimeo:

Wrinkles the Birthday Manatee

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Carol Grant

Believe it or not, “I want more Wrinkles for my Birthday” said the 50-something year old lady. That’s me and that was my wish!? I have a tradition of setting out to observe manatees on my birthdays. This past February 11th I wondered what adventure awaited? Little did I know a very fat little male manatee calf with deep wrinkly folds that jiggled as he swam, was also in search of adventure! We met that day and here is his story in pictures and video:

I Have Seen Many Manatee Calves Underwater But “Wrinkles” Is Definitely One Of The Fattest! His Mom Feeds Him Well! Here He Is With Mom, Look At Those Fat Folds Of Wrinkles! Feb. 11th, 2016.

To celebrate my foray into Instagram, this photo and short video is the first thing I’m going to post @carolgrantinsta. Here’s the HD version of the video on Vimeo. Look at those precious deep fat wrinkly folds! Now that is a healthy male manatee calf – Well Done Mom! Continue reading →

Leap Day Manatees

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Carol Grant

Leap Day! It’s a phenomena that happens every four years at the end of February to keep our calendars on point. I look on it as an “extra” or “bonus” day, and who doesn’t need an extra day! ?

This Leap Day 2016 I wanted to use my day to go see what the manatees were up to. You may know I had a very lucky Leap Day in 2008 when I happened upon a newborn manatee in front of Three Sisters Springs. But more about that later… See, I also wanted to see the manatees on Leap Day 2012, although it was so hot so early, that the manatees had already skedaddled out of the springs to warmer, more food-rich waters. Thus I was determined to spend February 29, 2016, this recent past Leap Day, observing manatees as I felt it would be another lucky day. I was right!

A Female Manatee Is Quite Curious About The Company and Poses Along With A Friend! Three Sisters Springs, Crystal River. Leap Day, February 29, 2016.

It wasn’t just this adorable gal manatee who came out of the manatee-only resting area to see what we were all about…, there were many manatees in clear, blue water on this lucky Leap Day. Here’s a sampling: Continue reading →

Manatee Tales

Manatees & More Blog by Carol Grant | Oceangrant Images

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