The Deep — Birds Bugs Buds

I didn’t see the movie. Seems too scary. Though, for some reason, I happened to watch Open Water which has essentially scarred me for life.

Three Sisters Springs / Crystal River, Florida

But I digress. After all, the water wasn’t all that deep – maybe six feet. And no one mentioned sharks, only manatees.

Just weeks before the Covid pandemic shut everything down, we were lucky enough to have a few nights in Crystal River, Florida and try our hand at snorkeling (first time) with the hopes of spotting a manatee or two.

Although a snorkeling novice, I thought I’d take to it…well, like a fish to water.

Mangrove Snapper, Three Sisters Springs / Crystal River, Florida

Not so.

Six a.m. on a chilly February morning, I sat in a pontoon boat with lovely hubby and four other people slowly motoring to an area to find our quarry. One captain manned the motor while the other showed us how to manage the snorkel and mask. Piece of cake!

The boat anchored and we climbed down the ladder. The water seeped through my wetsuit and while the air was cool, the water felt like a warm bath owing to the underground springs that keep it roughly 70 degrees year-round.

Frog, Three Sisters Springs / Crystal River, Florida

Bouyant thanks to the wetsuit and with camera in hand, I put my face in the water. In moments I would capture images that rivaled Jacques Cousteau even though my past work had only been terrestrial in nature.

And that’s when the panic set in.

Maybe it was the buoyancy from the wet suit. Or maybe the mask over my nose. Or perhaps breathing through my mouth with a large tube of plastic helping me to keep air – rather than water – in my lungs. Only a couple yards from the ladder, I dog-paddled back to the boat, gasping. Though I could swim, clearly I was a fish out of water.

While the other took the group out in search of manatees, the boat captain gently insisted that I don’t climb back aboard to watch the others and choke down tears of failure, but stay in the water and get used to the environment.

I was grateful for his kindness and though far from confident or even comfortable, I was becoming slightly more used to my aquatic surroundings when the snorkeling captain returned.

“Just hold my hand and relax,” he said.

Mask on, snorkel in (and underwater camera stowed on the boat so I could concentrate on only breathing), the captain guided my floating self around the water, pointing out fish along our path. Though the current was light, another wave – again, of gratitude to this captain – engulfed me as I encountered a world I only experienced in high school filmstrips or television documentaries.

Mangrove Snappers, Three Sisters Springs / Crystal River, Florida

We did see manatees that day, as well as the next morning on our second trip. I never had the chance to photograph them owing to the dark water and my inexperience. But both snorkel trips did bring us to the Three Sisters Springs where the water was extra warm, shallow and clear, giving me the chance to capture images of bubbling underground springs, Mangrove Snappers, and my fellow boat mates.

Underwater springs, Three Sisters Springs / Crystal River, Florida

I’m certain that another trip to Crystal River to see its manatees will be in our future someday and I look forward to seeing the captains and crew at Plantation Adventure Center. But in the meantime, you’ll find me in the bathtub working on my snorkeling techniques.