Rescue Diver
Yesterday I ventured south to Crystal River, FL to finish up the open water portion of my Rescue Diving Certification. Dad decided to tag along with Dave (my dive instructor) and I and we all made the 2 1/2 hour drive together. We met a friend, Gary, down there and took his pontoon boat to 3 Sisters Springs which is a refugee for manatees. This time of year is mating season for them and there were literally hundreds of mom’s and calf’s! We were not able to go more than idle speed and even then we were constantly dodging them.
Before we dove we spent about an hour snorkeling and enjoying the manatees. It was my first experience swimming with them and it was amazing. The river was about a quarter of a mile wide, 10 feet deep, and there were hundreds of them congregating in one area. It was crowded to say the least. I kept bumping into them as I swam and vice versa. I cant tell you how many times I was hit by one of their massive tails. The best part was when we stood in waist deep water they came to us and wanted to be scratched. One even rolled over and let me scratch his belly. Dad got tired and sat down thinking it was a rock, but when it moved realized he was sitting on a manatee.
After we played with the gentle giants we donned our scuba gear and I did rescue scenarios with Dave. The area we moved to to do the scenarios had zero visibility which made it extremely difficult. I was literally feeling my way along the bottom trying to find Dave who was acting like a lost diver in distress. Once I found him and brought him to the surface it was much easier to tow him to the boat.
The good news is I passed! I am now working toward becoming a Divemaster which should take a few weeks but I will continue to keep you updated.
