Manatees Feel Like Elephants

Rain. Rain rain rain rain. So much rain the area floods temporarily! I want to see sunshine! I miss sunny tropical weather. Rain rain go away and don’t come back until I am no longer in Mexico!

It was such a letdown to wake up to it pouring rain out. My first thought this morning was “oh please let that just be someone taking a loud shower!” but no such luck. The flooding here is really incredible. I certainly wouldn’t want to be anywhere near here if a hurricane hit. Makes me wonder what Grenada would look like with this much water. Probably not good!

Despite the rain and mild to moderate flooding, we headed off to Dolphin Discovery bright and early for another day of lectures and a swim with the manatees! We had several hours of lectures by the staff veterinarians talking about everything from feeding control to daily physical exams to their laboratories to their reproductive care. It was interesting because English was for sure a second language for each person but they did really well and we enjoyed filling in the small occasional gaps. Dr. Tarpley also hit more high points in make-up lectures from yesterday. During our quick lunch break, I had a waffle from a shop called the Hip Hippo. A unique name for sure!

It finally stopped raining this afternoon in time for us to hop in the water with the manatees! I decided a full wetsuit was the best way to go given the current and previous weather and boy was I right! It felt great and not too cold in their pool. We broke into groups of 3 and each group got to go over the steps in a daily physical exam performed by the trainers. We got to touch them, feed them, palpate them, and even kiss them! An amazing and unforgettable experience for sure! At the end of the session, they let us swim around the pool with them. There were 2 adult males (Romeo and Robertito), one adult female (Julietta), and a cute little 7 month old baby (Lorenzo). They were such piggies when it came to consuming whole heads of Romaine lettuce – grabbing it with their prehensile nose and mouth and then holding it there with their flippers! Very cute!

Manatee skin feels rough and bumpy in most places, except for the parts where smooth, slimy algae is growing. They have a nose covered in vibrissae that can grasp and grab and search your hands for lettuce.  They certainly are little piggies! Their mammary glands are located in their "arm pits" and frequent flatulence signals a healthy manatee!