So I spent 4 days on the island of Sanibel. Very quiet and sedate. No phones. Very relaxing. The house was just steps away from the beach. By day 3 i was bouncing off the walls. We went snorkling the first day and in 10 feet of water i could still see the ocean floor. It was beautiful. Off in the distance you could see dolphin fins in the water and most people were fishing or looking for shells. It is the shell capital of the world. All shapes colors and sizes. I snorkled for quite some time and was consumed by the diverse fish and things that were visible. several times i went don to the bottom to retrieve an odd something. There were many large sand doillars but i wanted a conch shell as big as my head. it eluded me.
Anyway...while out in the water i heard Jessica calling me to turn around. I turn my head and a very large grey blob was moving toward me. I duck my mask into the water and it was a Manatee. It was about 6' long and qiuite round. I swam to it and touched its back with my hand and it stopped in the water. It felt like a wet footbal with 5 o'clock shadow. It submerged all the way to the bottom beneath me and I swam down toward it. I put both my hands on its back and swam back up with it to the surface. We were in about 10 - 12 feet of water. When i came up for air Jessica had swam out to me and as it came up for air she ran her hand down its back. It stayed with us for about 15 minutes and other beachgoers started swimming out to it with thier kids and stuff and it went back out to sea. I had not brought my snorkel camera so i missed it but it was quite an experience. They are very personable animals and like human interaction. There are more stories but here is time for that.
It was a very relaxing trip with no sharks.