Date: 28 July 2024. Mangrove Munching Manatee.

© janice142

In the spring and summertime manatees come through the canal where I am based. There is a lovely mangrove behind my Seaweed. That mangrove is brimming with life. I do so enjoy the variety of critters, small and large who have made the mangrove home. One family of green herons have been consistently nesting in the trees each spring. I wrote about them in the Green Herons article.

This green heron ↓ lives in the mangroves. He is hanging out on my dinghy, Algae.

 

The mangroves are a true circle of life. Tiny minnows dart about under the branches in the water. Larger fish and small birds hunt the minnows. I have seen dolphin chasing still bigger fish into the mangroves. The branches shelter a variety of birds too.

My Buddy hangs out in the mangrove. He flies up to Seaweed whenever he sees me.

Manatees are frequent visitors to the mangroves.
They eat the leaves growing on low branches of the trees.

The larger birds catch mullet from my swim platform. Charlie, the great egret, and Ella Fitzgerald, the blue heron both hunt fish that frequent the mangroves.
 

←Charlie.   This is Ella. ↓

Recently I saw several moon jellyfish floating by the mangrove trees behind Seaweed. Details
about the Moon Jellyfish can be found in the Seashore Life (Golden Field Guide Series) ↓ book.

 

Snook also ply the waters in and around the mangrove trees. They are easiest to see in the wintertime. For
the whys, that information can be found in the Snook Surface (cold weather consequence) article.

Snook are in the shadows near the transom of a boat by the mangroves.

My favorite visitors are the gentle giants, aka manatees. Manatees, also called sea cows eat the leaves growing on the mangrove trees. While walking out the dock I heard the distinctive sound of a manatee exhaling. A quick search located the source.

Standard YouTube blurb: In my spare time (stop laughing!) I am attempting to learn YouTube. No, at present I have zero intention of starting regular posts there, however I have read that it is a good way to share videos with folks. Thus the following gizmo/thingy.

This is a link to the video short via YouTube:

 

If you'd prefer to go directly to a link on my website you may download the file here:
 https://janice142.com/Videos/ManateeEatingMangroveLeaves.mov

Watching the manatees meander up and down the canal fascinates me. They tend to come in at high tide. I believe this may be deliberate as then the leaves are in the water. That makes the tender leaves more easily accessible for the manatees.
 

If you ever get a chance to see manatees in person, I would suggest you do so. Really, any observation of wildlife can be quite fascinating. I enjoy trying to figure out the patterns I see in their world. Watching them live a free life is heartwarming. When the calves appear my heart sings. This is a link to one of my favorite articles filled with baby pictures of a newborn: Manatee Newborn  Enjoy!
 

Thank you for being a part of my world. Thanks too for reading.  

Do you have manatees near you?
And, have you ever explored a mangrove area?
 

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