The mother and child that had been entertaining us for over an hour, letting us glimpse into their secret world. They had instantly become our new found friends. We certainly didn't know how much they would touch our hearts and our funny bones.

Our granddaughter climbed down off the dock, and gently stuck her foot into the water, and rubbed the gentle mother's belly. Her child shyly hung back, waiting to see if this intruder was friend or woe.

As if in answer to her child's question, the mother seemed to laugh at Kaela's folly, and then promptly sneezed several times in rapid succession. Unexpectedly covered in black gooey manatee boogers, she quickly climbed back upon the dock.

She was quite indignant over our laughing and attempting to take pictures of her mishap, with the mother manatee and baby. Her hair and face were covered with manatee snot.

On this delightful spring day, we had stopped at a marina near Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida. We were looking into what kind of prices they had for renting boats and what type of boats were available. Apparently, the mother manatee and her calf were local residents, who hung out around the boat docks. The human locals there knew them well, and had taught them to enjoy clean water drinks from a hose on the dock.

Kaela now claims she was part of the mother manatee's lesson plan to her calf, on how to get rid of kids who want to rub your belly with their stinky feet.

Sebastian Inlet State Park

About a mile down the road, we arrived at Sebastian Inlet State Park, for what turned out to be just the beginning of many such visits to this area. After first taking a dip in the Atlantic and watching surfers, we ambled over to the lagoon side of the park after a great lunch at the park ran food pavilion.

On this first visit, our granddaughter had great fun chasing and catching (and releasing) tiny hermit crabs. She spent a couple of hours just doing this with other children she met, also in crabbing pursuit.

Then, the kids moved into the lagoon and we joined them. We kept seeing people gathering together from time to time on the lagoon. We never gave it much thought, just thought they were families or friends. About that time, Kaela who was swimming beside me, squealed, "A fish just bumped into me."

That was no little fish, it was a juvenile manatee, who next swam between us and around us, and then stayed nearby watching us. By then, we understood why small crowds were gathering in the lagoon. We were swimming with the manatees!

This slow swimming mammal takes life at a lazy pace as they move gently through the water. Here are some of the more interesting facts:

• They have a thick layer of fat (blubber) which insulates them against cool waters
• Their fat also is a food storage reserve
• Their eyes are very small and they have poor eye sight
• Despite their poor vision, their eyes are how they hunt for food and travel
• The manatee's teeth wear down as they grind up plants
• New teeth in reserve, move forward to replace the worn out teeth
• Manatee's use their flippers for swimming
• Manatee's use their flippers for holding food, just like hands
• Manatee's use their flippers for digging
• Manatee's have nails on the digits of each flipper
• The snout of a manatee has two large, stiff hair covered lips, that they actually use to hold onto and tear off vegetation
• They have a natural life span of sixty years

Manatee's have a very sweet and placid temperament that we all should emulate. They live life in the slow lane, unhurried, uncomplicated, deliberate routine.

In terms of feeding, they prefer grazing throughout day and night. When they aren't feeding they rest. Floating around on their backs seemingly without a care in the world, is a big part of their day.

Sleeping or resting on the bottom, just below the surface of shallow water is another big part of their day. They also kill time by swimming in slow motion (about two to four miles per hour). However, if scared enough they can maintain a speed of about fifteen to twenty miles per hour for short distances.

These gentle giants aren't exactly social amongst themselves. However, the mothers will maintain a close relationship with her offspring. Otherwise, they don't socialize except during mating season. They do have the ability to communicate with short-range squeals and grunts.

Pretty strict vegetarians (herbivores) is the manatee way of life. Even though occasionally manatees will accidentally eat a small fish or other marine animal, their preferred foods are are green.

In seawater they eat underwater plants, including seaweed. In freshwater, the manatee loves nothing better than a rooted plant that flowers above the water. It takes a lot of greens to feed a manatee -- around one hundred and ten pounds to be exact. Manatees have refined taste buds and can be quite choosy in what they eat.

To eat, manatees can stay under water for around fifteen minutes, before going to the surface for that all important breath.

The manatees found in the U.S. are a species known as the West Indian Manatee. They are classified as a threatened species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).

Here in Florida, in the 1940s we had a population of West Indian manatees at just over 10,000 animals. Today, we have less than twelve hundred manatees. Manatees have a huge problem, their natural habitat is smack dab in the middle of the country's fastest growing property and tourism area.

Developers have been raping our state for decades. They dredge channels, build waterfront condos, reduce the water quality, contribute to soil erosion, and chemical or sewage spillage. There is a deliberate effort wherever man lives to rid bodies of water from vegetation -- the very plants that the manatee needs to survive.

Manatees are the original "lazy river" swimmers. They like to rest or slowly swim just below the water's surface. They can't tell when a motor boat is near them. Ninety percent of all manatees have scars from accidents with boat propellers. Some have the flippers and tails amputated.

Veterinary workers in Florida are only able to save about half of the manatees, and those are the ones that are found before they die.

Despite the 1978 Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act, there is still a dramatic decline in the numbers of West Indian Manatees left.

Another threat to the manatee is a deadly waterborne virus. It also doesn't help that female manatees only give birth after they've reached the age of nine. Plus, female manatees only have young every three to seven years. They are pregnant for fourteen months.

Even eco-tourism, while raising consciousness about the endangered manatees, has contributed unwittingly to their decline in number, largely due to unscrupulous tour operators or uneducated tourists.