<H3>• #43: Islamorada Journal 2014…02 MAR </H3>

---

Click on any photo to enlarge...see a slide show: Friday night's sunset. Saturday morning, it's Mildred the manatee, come for a visit. It appears that she spent the night in the warmth and security of the boat basin. "Manatees...are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species...the Amazonian manatee, the West Indian manatee, and the West African manatee.... They measure up to 13 feet (4.0 m) long, weigh as much as 1,300 pounds...and have paddle-like flippers." (Wikipedia) Her back, spotted with barnacles, was totally free of prop scars. Many manatees have nasty scars left from contact with boat propellers. Mildred hanged around for about half an hour and then slowly found her way out of the basin and back to Florida Bay. Later that day Bridget and Shannon went for a ride on Shoo-Fly. We saw two pods of dolphins... ...about a half-dozen sharks... ...and a bunch of rays. (Got photos of only the dolphins.)