On our recent trip to Tampa, J entertained my desire to go out and see the manatees who congregate at the nearby power plant during the cool winter months. It was quite an overcast and slightly drizzly day, which didn’t make for nice viewing: the reflections off the water made it near impossible to spot them and I still don’t have even a basic set of filters (polarizing being my most desired one and the one that would have been useful in this situation) for my digital camera.
There is a nice setup for viewing, both platforms up above a certain bay area, and a dock that goes out into a channel where they often congregate. There is also a visitor information center, but we didn’t stop in there.
I’m not sure where it popped into my head from, but I started to wonder about the origin of the name ‘manatees’ and its possible relationship with the word ‘humanity’. Manatees are always noted as such calm, peaceful creatures who are, unfortunately, usually told apart by the scars inflicted upon them by the propellers of motor boats. Most likely there is no actual connection between the words, but it could be construed from the calm, peaceful nature that is the ideal of humanity. Oddly enough we stray so often from this ideal, we cause deep scarring to each other for generations.