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Manatees mate - and onlookers ogle - Crowd cheers on sea cows

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - August 19, 2006
Author/Byline: SETH ROBBINS - STAFF WRITER
Edition: Final
Section: Section C
Page: 03C

ORMOND BEACH - The birds, the bees and the manatees.

Nearly a dozen male manatees thrust, nudged, nuzzled, poked, pushed, prodded, rolled, heaved and hoisted their
portly bodies onto a lone female buried in the muck of the Halifax River in attempt to win her attention and affection.
Children pointed and parents snickered as snouts and flippers emerged Friday afternoon from the mass of blue-
gray mammals undulating in the water just north of the Granada Bridge.

"I don't know if I should be watching," 14-year-old Stephanie Eddins yelled, covering her eyes with her hands. Wearing a
blue sundress, she grinned, glancing back at her mother, Elayne Masters, for approval.

"That one guy back there," Stephanie said, "he has a big smile on his face."

The mating manatees, whose lovemaking techniques seemed as awkward as our own, became a quick lesson in biology
for the gawking crowd.

"I think nature provides a lot of great moments to talk to your kids," Masters said. "But we've already had that talk, so this is
a refresher course for her."

Opinions varied, especially between men and women, when it came to the mid-coital maneuvers of the manatees.

"It might be nice," Masters said, "She has all these guys paying attention to her and giving her nuzzles."

"It's like she is the only girl in the bar at last call and it doesn't matter that her flippers are all covered in mud," said 54-
year-old John Gavin, who has lived his entire life in Ormond Beach and never seen manatees mating. "None of these
males are coming with chocolates or flowers."

His sandy haired son, Johnathan, crawled over the rocks searching for crabs and occasionally looking up when the
manatees splashed some water in an attempt to get in a better position or move someone else out.

"What is that manatee doing?" he asked. At the age of 4, it was a conversation his father would leave for a later date.

"He just sees the manatees," Gavin said. "Even most of the adults don't know what is going on."

Eventually, police officers shooed away the leering people, leaving the manatees some privacy to do what comes naturally.
Caption: 2 Photos
Photo 1: Ormond Beach resident John Gavin and his son, Jonathan, 4, watch about 18 manatees mating Friday near
the shore of the Halifax River off North Beach Street. Photo 2: Manatees came close to shore to mate Friday in the
Halifax River, drawing a crowd. News-Journal/ JESSICA WEBB

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Dateline: ORMOND BEACH

Record Number: 409685638
Copyright, 2006, The News-Journal Corporation

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