Sunrise With a Manatee

I woke up very early this morning (I think my internal clock has adjusted itself to my previous life's schedule).   Yesterday, when I posted the sunrise photo, it reminded me of how serene I feel when I am on the dock watching the awakening of the day.  Being that I woke before the crack of dawn, I decided to head out there and see what I would see. 

In the past, when Johny and I were enjoying our morning coffee on the dock, we would trickle water from the hose over the edge into the river.  Every now and then, if we were lucky, a manatee would come by and drink (the Indian River is brackish, meaning a mixture of salt and fresh waters, so they love to treat themselves and drink the fresh stuff).  So I turned the water on.  After a while, I went to turn it off, as I had no large swimming mammal coming to my fountain.  To my surprise and sweet delight, when I came back, there she was!

 She actually arrived face down...

 ...then began a slow roll...

  ...then she was totally inverted, letting the water trickle into her mouth...

 Doesn't she look so relaxed?  So awesome!

A little later, another gentle giant swam by...you can tell they are approaching by the trail their tails make as they are swimming, sort of looks like a round, flat bubble...so I knew he was coming.  This one did not stop to drink, maybe he learned to fear people...you can see the propeller scar on his back (don't know he or she, just guessing).

And this was sunrise...

...there were lots of fish at the surface, jumping every now and then but I never could capture the jumping action with my camera, just my eyes:)

I did catch a dolphin passing in the distance...

...the water almost looked like glass!

I still miss my mountains, but I surely do love the river!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise