I Fell On A Manatee Today

The two hour sunset paddle was coming to a nice finish. I was only a couple hundred yards to my car when the water exploded underneath me. I had been warned about manatees and paddleboards.

Last year, Josh warned me that our speed with racing boards could easily put us on top of a manatee before it realized we were coming. Apparently they don’t have very good early warning sonar or something. Which is why they get hit by boats. Typical speed during my training is about 4 to 5 mph (a fast walk).

Josh had told me that spooking a manatee could cause a paddler to fall in. When spooked, a manatee will flip, roll, dive or otherwise do underwater gymnastics to scurry away. Being as long as a car (13 ft) and nearly 1,000 pounds, their sudden movement displaces a LOT of water. If a 14 foot paddleboard is on top of a 10 foot manatee that suddenly vacates the space, the board will actually drop into that “foamed up” water. Which is exactly what happened to me.

I had just paddled around a point at a park next to a marina. Being less than 10 feet from the shoreline, I was saying “hello” to people strolling and sitting along the park’s path. I had just said hello to a gentleman sitting on a bench. Digging my paddle in for the next stroke, the water suddenly exploded underneath me.

My board is 14 feet long; the disturbed water was about 2/3’s of that. So the manatee was probably about 8 or 9 feet and a couple hundred pounds. The disturbed water was equally on to the left and right of my board; so I must have got right on top of hit when the back rudder fin tapped it.

My weight had been on my left foot for the paddle stroke. So naturally, when the board dropped out below me, I fell to the left.

I landed right on top of the manatee.

I fell onto the manatee with my left rib cage. Having a 180 pound man fall directly on it spooked it for a second time. It freaked out again; violently twisting away and smashing my ribs.

In that brief moment of touching the manatee, I could tell that sucker was B I G !

Just as quickly as it happened, it was over. I was floating in the water, stunned.

I leaned back to float and catch my breath.

My feet touched bottom!

For the love of God, it happened in three feet of water. I was literally standing in belly deep water.

A couple people on the park path asked if I was okay. The man who I nodded to had seen the whole thing. Taking a couple deep breathes, I could tell nothing was broken. After a couple minutes, the adrenaline went away. So I got back up on the board to finish the workout. Whoops! That left side was NOT doing so well. I could not move my left arm very well because the rib pain. So it was a right-handed paddle back to the car.

I always check in with my wife after finishing a paddle. When she asked how it went, I was not sure how to explain the scratches across my chest.

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