It got down to 45 degrees here on the Treasure Coast a few nights ago, and as everyone knows, when it gets cold, manatees supposedly head to waters near the power plants to get warm. And so, I thought I would give it one more try to spot one and stopped by Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach yesterday afternoon. I did not really believe I would see a manatee, but it turns out I saw not one, but at least eight or more manatees swimming in the waters right below the Florida Power and Light Power Plant, as seen in the photograph on the left. I believe it is called a herd of manatees, also known as sea cows. I don't know what I was expecting, but it appears manatees do not poke their heads up out of the water so you can take a portrait of them. They usually just stick their nose into the air and then submerge again. And so how do you take a good photograph of one? Good question.
The answer, I believe, is to take photographs of them under the water. And I think this could have been done yesterday if Manatee Lagoon had more foresight before they built their center. If they had put in a lower level that went below the waterline and featured a wall of glass windows featuring views below the surface of the lagoon, I might have taken a really great photograph. As it was, I took something like 154 photos of the damn things, and the best I could come up with was the manatee in the photograph on the right. It is a bit blurry, taken from a distance with a point and shoot camera, but at least I caught it with its eye open, and it is indeed proof positive that manatees do exist. And I hold Manatee Lagoon personally responsible for this less than overwhelming photograph. I would ask them for a free lifetime pass to their educational center as compensation if it wasn't already free.
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