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Photographing Manatees

Swimming with a West Indian manatee is an incredible experience. I can still remember seeing my first manatee. I was snorkeling near King's Spring in Crystal River, Florida. The water was murky and I saw what I thought were gray boulders on the bottom. All of a sudden one of the boulders moved and surfaced right next to me. It was enormous. I suppose that I should have realized that there wouldn't be boulders lying on the bottom of a river in Florida but it did not occur to me. The manatee took a breath and sunk to the bottom. It did not seem to notice that I was there. I fell in love with these gentle giants immediately. My wife, Veronica, and I have been back to visit many times.

Please remember all the do's and don'ts of a manatee experiece when you are photographing manatees.

Remember, the manatee should initiate any encounter. Let it come to you. Do not swim after or chase it. Don't worry! Manatees love encounters with humans and it will happen.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

You will need a mask, snorkel, fins and a wetsuit. The water temperature around the springs is 72 degrees. This is warm enough for the manatees but you will get chilled quickly. You will get even colder when you get out of the water. During January and February, the air temperature in Florida can get as low as the 20's and 30's in the morning. That's pretty cold but when the temperatures are low, the manatees are found in large numbers around the springs. As an example, the winter of 2000-2001 was very cold in Florida. My wife and I visited Crystal River during the first week in January. We went to our favorite site to photography manatees - Three Sister's Springs. In previous years on a really good day, we might see a dozen manatees here very early in the morning and by ten o'clock, they had all moved out into the river. On this trip, we did not get to the site on our first day until about 9:30 am. Boy, were we surprised. There were more than twenty manatees and they stayed in the area for a good part of the day. In four days at the Springs, I shot twenty-seven rolls of film. It was incredible.

GETTING TO THE MANATEES:

Once you are in Florida, you have to get to an area where manatees congregate. If you have never been on a manatee encounter, you might want to go on a guided tour. Most of the hotels and motels in the Crystal River and Homosassa Springs area can hook you up with a tour. The people that run these operations know where the best places are to see manatees. The downside is that you may find yourself on a boat with twenty or more snorkelers.

PHOTOGRAPHIC ETIQUETTE:

Many manatee encounters occur in shallow water. You will find yourself standing on the bottom while waiting for another encounter or just to rest. Try and be aware of what you are doing to the visibility when you stand up. The movement of your fins near the bottom will stir it up and cause the visibility to drop. Sometimes, this can't be helped but if possible, try to get down current from photographers when you stand up. This will take the stirred up sand particles away from the area rather than clouding up the area where photographers and sight seers are trying to have a great encounter. I have seen people who think that the entire spring area is their domain and no one else matters. Please don't be one of those people! Here are two examples of what you do when you stand.

PHOTO TIPS

Once you are at the spring and are ready to take pictures, the following are a few helpful hints.

AUTOMATIC CAMERAS:

Manatees are great subjects to shoot with an automatic camera. Camera light meters try to balance each scene so that midtones are an average gray color.  The manatee is that average gray color. I used to shoot manatees with an Nikon N90s camera in a Nexus housing. I shoot in Aperture priority mode and try to use a shutter speed of at least 1/60th of a second. Now, I shoot digitally with a Nikon D100 camera in a Nexus housing. I still use Aperture priority mode and try to use a shutter speed of at least 1/60th of a second.

FILM OR ISO CHOICE:

Since you are shooting in shallow water, there is no reason to use a fast film. When it is sunny, use an ISO of 100 or 200 (if that is the slowest ISO on your digital camera) and if it is overcast, use an ISO of 200. If you use a point and shoot film camera, you might want to use a film speed of 400. I shoot with slide film. My choice is Kodak Ektachrome 100VS.

PHOTO TIP: ALWAYS HAVE THE SUN AT YOUR BACK

When the sun is at your back, it lights up the subject. When you are snorkeling with a manatee, look to see where the sun is and orient yourself so that the sun is shining on the manatee. This same rule applies to any situation when you are photographing a marine subject without a flash.

PHOTO TIPS - DO'S AND DON'TS

If the sun is behind your subject, it will put the part of the subject facing the camera in the shadows. Your eyes will adjust to this and you will see the subject just fine. Your camera will not adjust to the situation in the same manner. The camera's meter will see a lot of light coming into the lens and either close down the lens opening or change to a faster shutter speed. The end result will be an underexposed photo.

For samples of my manatee photos, click here.