Description
LOCATION: Florida, USA
STORY BEHIND THE SHOT: The West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) is one of Florida’s greatest natural treasures. While some live around Florida year-round, others migrate as far south as Belize. But in the “cold” Florida winters, they aggregate around the freshwater springs. And I have been heading there to photograph them for decades. It truly is one of the most amazing marine life experiences on the planet.
I loved the way these three were coming right into the camera. And I want you to see a friendly group hanging and playing together, just like best friends hanging out and telling jokes. But the reality of the shot, is this is three males, in what’s referred to as a “rowdy group”, where these three bulls are competing for a single female. I got in the water on this morning about 45 minutes before sunrise. And within minutes, I had been bowled over by a herd of hormonally-driven males chasing a female in heat. It was fascinating to watch – the cow seemed mostly disinterested – aloof and just going about her day, trying to eat the very little plant matter that remained that late in the season. But the males sensed that she was in heat, and the rowdy group had formed. The idea (and this is the case for many marine mammals) is that they physically compete for the right to mate by ramming, outswimming, and even pushing each other down from the surface, preventing them from taking the next breath. It’s violence, but by a 1000-lb sea potato with nothing sharp, unable to bite, and a speed that just barely outpaces a tortoise. So these three, while I want you to see love and togetherness, are actually fighting each other over a girl! And how do they see me? In the world of a rowdy group of marine mammals, I am competition! So throughout the day, they’d actually jump atop me and push me under! It’s not dangerous – rather, it was kind of funny – seeing me at the surface breathing, they’d continually try to push me down. It was like a group of leathery pillows were trying to slowly play pile-on, over and over. But it was actually very easy to slide below and return to the surface. No real risk. And while I’d call it an honor and a privilege to be considered “competition”, I think that girl might have been a little more than I could handle!
For the manatee lovers, be sure to also check out the photo of a calf nursing with it’s mother in Tender Moment, and the ultra-cute portrait of a young manatee flexing his “ab muscles” in Six-Pack.
TO PURCHASE THIS PRINT: BFF’s is best kept at or near it’s original 3:2 horizontal ratio, but it can be slightly cropped into a horizontal panoramic. Available to purchase from 16×24′ up to 72×48″ in standard sizes online here, or contact our design staff to inquire about custom sizing for massive prints up to 150″ wide.