I was recently treated to a once-in-a-lifetime event: I witnessed the birth of a baby Manatee. Making it even better was that I was able to photograph mom and baby extensively for days…and I only had to walk 5 minutes from my back door to do so!
Okay, a bit of background here. I think Manatees are one of the absolutely best things about Florida, and I’ve spent 25 years photographing them. I live in the middle of the state, far from where Manatees are commonly found. So in the past, I’ve had to spend a couple of hours driving over to the Crystal River area on Florida’s west coast (one of the few places you can actually swim with Manatees). Then I’d have to struggle into a wetsuit, drag my cumbersome underwater camera rig onto a boat, jump in the chilly water to take photographs until my body parts went numb. If it doesn’t sound like fun, well, at least it was always an adventure…and I got some great photos.
I’ve always wished I could photograph them closer to home, after all, my neighborhood backs up to the Wekiva River, which in turn, flows into the St. Johns and out to the Atlantic. And the St. Johns does have a resident population of Manatees, but unfortunately, the Wekiva is narrow and shallow, and manatees have only rarely been spotted in its waters. In fact, I’d lived here 30 years and never seen one.
Sunday
So, when my wife got a text late one afternoon from the Neighborhood Ladies Chat Group (NLCG) saying there was a manatee in the park by our neighborhood dock, it took me about ten seconds to grab my camera and hoof it down there.
And, as it turns out, not only was there a Manatee, but she was giving birth!
Within a couple of minutes, there was a little baby Manatee cruising around its mom. Now, newborn Manatees (calves) are nearly 4 feet long and weigh over 60 pounds, so the term ‘little’ has to be taken in context, but it sure was a cute little guy.
One of our residents noticed a distinctive scar on the mom’s back and remembered that the same manatee had been near our dock a few weeks before. We speculated that she had been on a recon trip looking for a good place to have her baby.
As you might expect, the neighborhood’s kids were well represented at this event, and within moments, they were competing to come up with the best names for mom and baby. Someone yelled out: Potato and Chip.” It was perfect, and by popular acclaim, Potato and Chip they would be!
But all too soon it was dark. The crowd dissipated along with the light. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that the conditions for photography had been so poor. No National Geographic covers for me, but hey, it had been a helluva a thing to see.
Monday
My wife, Anita, and I take a walk before dawn every morning. We have a set route, but the next day, we started with a detour across the little footbridge that leads to the neighborhood dock where the manatees had been the night before.
And, holy crap, Potato and Chip were still there!
Our walk was cut short as I ran back to the house to grab my camera gear. Anita was left like a bride at the altar, but I was on a mission.
Of course, being the OCD type of guy I am, I had prepped two cameras and all the gear I would possibly need…in the hope that the manatees stayed the night. I thanked my obsessive nature and hustled back down to the footbridge.
Conditions couldn’t have been more perfect. No direct light on the water. No wind…the water was perfectly calm. The few reflections were easily tamed by my polarizer, and the water was clear as glass. Even better was that Potato and Chip were right below a small footbridge, so I could move around directly above them to get different perspectives.
.
It was a peaceful morning…and quiet. Even though I was engrossed with photography, I gradually became aware of some odd but faint high-pitched sounds. It took me a while to realize that the quiet squeaks and squeals I was hearing were from the Manatees! At that point, I actually put my camera down, pulled up a chair, and just watched (and listened).
I was kinda fascinated. Frankly, I had kind of assumed Manatees were mute…because over the past 25 years I’d never heard a solitary sound from them. But then again, those previous experiences had been while snorkeling and, inevitably, there had been a bunch of loud, splashing humans around.
Mr. Google quickly informed me that manatees do vocalize, particularly in their interactions between mothers and their calves. While much of their communication occurs at ultrasonic frequencies, I could still hear some audible squeaks as they chatted about their day. It was a touching and charming moment.
I would spend the next five hours enraptured by these two. But eventually, the sun rose over the treetops, and the direct sunlight made photography problematic. Plus, I had missed breakfast and was facing that long five-minute commute. I headed home smiling about the incredible morning and my insane luck.
Tuesday
And the next morning, they were still there!
It was pretty clear that Chip was a hungry boy (girl?), and since baby Manatees feed every couple of hours, he was keeping mom pretty busy. Manatees have their teats under their front flippers. Every so often, I would see Potato do a slow roll onto her side, and Chip would slide right in there for a snack.
I was impressed with how active little Chip’s lips were…they were always in motion, going every which way. Manatees have dexterous prehensile lips that allow them to grasp vegetation like living salad tongs. The left and right sides of their top lip can move independently, a feature also found in the trunks of their closest living relatives, elephants.
Baby Manatees grow quickly, packing on the pounds before being weaned in a couple of years. Eventually, Chip will grow to 9 to 13 feet in length and weigh 800-1,200 pounds. They may be gentle and adorable, but Manatees can’t be called svelte.
Wednesday
I was back again on Wednesday morning to see the Potato and Chip Show and wasn’t disappointed.
My neighbors were beginning to think that the manatees might take up permanent residency. The HOA said they were willing to waive dues, so it sounded like a great deal for all.
Manatees can sleep 12 hours a day, but like human females, those sleep patterns are disrupted by the birth of a infant. Poor mom rarely dozed off for more than a few moments. She was regularly nudging Chip to the surface for air since he hadn’t yet developed his (her?) own reliable surfacing rhythm.
Manatees really don’t have natural predators; this gator, for example, gave them a wide berth.
Thursday
Another day, another dawn trip down to the dock.
But this time, no Chip, no Potato. I looked up and down the waterways, but no luck. I came back a few times during the day. Same depressing result.
Over the next week, I would stop by regularly, hoping they had returned.
Didn’t Happen.
Halloween 2025
Over the next month, I continued to look for Chip and Potato. But no joy.
Then we had a cold snap at the end of October. Okay, in Florida, that meant it was in the 60s, but overnight it actually dropped into the 40s. Manatees don’t like cold a bit more than any other self-respecting mammal, which is why they crowd fresh-water springs when the thermometers drop (our springs have a constant temperature of 72°, which is comparatively toasty).
Now, as it turns out, we have a 3rd magnitude freshwater spring located in our neighborhood that flows out into the Wekiva. So, I was hopeful that Potato and Chip might feel a chill and want to come back to a familiar place to warm up.
Sure enough, around lunchtime, I got a text from one of my neighbors saying: “They’re Back!”
I ran down to the dock, and it was just like they had never left. Except that chip was noticeably larger.
It made my day to know that they were doing well. With that said, the photography was challenging: the wind was blowing, making it difficult to see under the surface, and the direct sunlight was pretty harsh.
But I was hoping they’d stick around a while. Maybe tomorrow morning?
Halloween +1
But it wasn’t to be. The next morning, the surface of the water remained calm and unbroken. No humped gray backs breaking the surface.
And in the weeks since, no more sightings.
But there will be more cold weather in the future. Plus, female Manatees can have babies over a 40 year span, and they have site fidelity (they tend to return to the same general, quiet, and secluded areas to calve ), so I’m hoping that Potato returns many times over the upcoming years to have more babies.
Until Potato’s next visit, Cheers!
Jeff
PS: All I’ve shown in this blog are photographs, but I did take some video as well. I put together a short HD video from clips that you can see here.
PSS: If you are interested, underwater photography of Manatees (where legal) can be incredible. I’ve written a couple blogs with tips on how to make the best of your experience, check out here and here!
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