HOPE SPRINGS

Manatee habitat was threatened in Florida but is being restored, one blade of grass at a time

- LYNN HOUGHTON

NORTH-WEST FLORIDA'S LUSH, TREE-STREWN coastline is incredibly shallow where it meets the Gulf of Mexico. Scattered mangrove islands form a natural barrier between coast and N open sea and throng with birds such as white pelicans, storks and herons. Dolphins are often spotted playing, hunting and chasing airboats, while crabs and scallops thrive in the bays. Move inland and clear, spring-fed waters host snails, damselflies, insect larvae and crayfish.

But I am not here for dolphins and damselflies, lovely though they are. Today, I will be out on a pontoon - a flat-bottomed boat - in the Kings Bay area of the Crystal River, searching for a mysterious aquatic mammal. I am seeking sea cows.

'Sea cow' is the alternative name for the Florida manatee - and all manatees, in fact and is an apt moniker for an aquatic herbivore that is relatively slow-moving and spends most of its time grazing on seagrass. These animals are also remarkably agile, able to swim upside-down, roll, somersault and manoeuvre vertically in the water. Using highly sensitive whiskers to locate food, their stiff, prehensile snouts, similar to an elephant's trunk, tear up and feed on the vegetation underwater. These enormous but gentle coastal creatures are the area's biggest natural attraction.