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JOL · Finger Mullet Joined: 01 Jun 2006 Posts: 11

Well boys and girls this is one for the ages. A friend and I were anchored up in the channel near marker 79 that leads into North Night Hawk Bay when he asks, "J.O., what is that dark colored object under the water?" About that time, the object appears from beneath our boat heading east towards Night Hawk from the ICW. I told my friend it's probably just a wad of bait fish of one type or another when the object surfaced for a breath of air. My friend (who is from Washington state) said it's a sea lion! I laughed and told him we don't have sea lions in Texas but I had heard a manatee had been spotted near Packery Jetties recently. It submerged again and made a wide turn underwater heading back to the ICW surfacing only briefly for a breadth of air along the way. We lost sight of it when it entered the ICW. I've been told they do not do well in cold water. Water temps along the ICW on Saturday afternoon were in the high 50's. It appeared healthy and uninjured. I also understand boat props are a serious cause of injury and death to these large docile creatures. I would guess this manatee was somewhere in the 6-8 foot length and probably weighed in the 500-750 lb. range. Pretty neat, huh?