Since today was our last full day on the keys, our professor decided to surprise us with this quick little stop to feed the tarpons. The tarpon feedings began about 18 years ago and have been a big hit throughout the tourist and the Florida Keys community. I’ve heard from friends that this attraction was a must, so I was extremely excited to get my fingers bit off by some tarpon.
As soon as we arrived the whole deck was packed with people and tarpon flooded the waters. When you took a closer look at the shallow water, I noticed a huge solid mass appear. It slowly floated through the tarpon while surfacing its head and flared its nostril taking a deep breath. That’s when I noticed its whiskers and nose, it was a manatee. Everyone was shocked and surprised that a manatee was around the dock. It carelessly drifted around the dock. After a few minutes of being nosey, the manatee went on its way and disappeared into the bay.
The one animal I wanted to see and experience on this trip was the manatee, and little did I think I would spot it with a massive amount of tarpon jumping around feeding. The reason for the manatee being spotted at Robbie’s is deemed to the fact manatees enjoy fresh water, which the dock could provide. There is no proven reason for this other than the fact manatee finds the fresh water rather enjoyable. The spotting of the manatee totally put my trip above and beyond my expectations. But not only was the manatee a hit, the tarpon feeding was as exciting and adventurous like people talk about.
http://robbies.com/
https://defenders.org/florida-manatee/basic-facts
This was seriously the last place I expected to see a manatee, I thought if anywhere we'd see one in the mangrove forest while we were kayaking. I also thought it was funny how the other groups were specifically looking for manatees and didn't find one, and yet we just stumbled upon this one by accident, and in such a random place too.
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