The humble manatee

I'll never look at manatees the same.

As a child, I had family in Albany, GA. I stayed for a week at the time with grandparents there. Walking distance, down the street from my Granny's house was Tift Zoo. It was pretty much a full-fledged zoo complete with elephants and lions. Heck, I remember waking up in the wee hours of the morning to the sounds of huge roars and never thought twice about it...because I was outside the zoo!

As a child of the 60/70s I wasn't brought up to think ecologically. It wasn't popular nor deemed as necessary. So, my memories of manatees are of this one big slug-like creature in a small pool at Tift Zoo in Albany, GA. It didn't roar like the lions nor did it trumpet like the elephants. It didn't move frantically like the monkeys. The manatee pretty much just "was." In short, it wasn't very impressive. It was one of those creatures that people walked by without fascination - and kept on going.

So, when I viewed this video I learned a whole new respect for the humble manatee. I hope you will, too.


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