C-Dory Meets Mermaids and Manatees on the Weeki Wachee

The Beach Donkey took a long weekend from July 2-5, 2022 to hang out on the Weeki Wachee River. It was not the first time we enjoyed the Weeki (as locals call it) but it was a weekend of many firsts. This is a short, but sweet, video which did not capture all of the fun and adventure we experienced. We tried to scallop just outside the mouth of the Weeki with no success. We saw more manatees and other wildlife on this trip than we ever had. This is interesting because it was warm, not usually when you see manatees up in spring water. Also there were ALOT of people and vessels. One would think that this would deter the animals from being seen. I have to say, the turtle you see me snorkel with towards the end of the video was an anomaly. It was at the Hernando flats on Tuesday...the day after July 4th. So I believe there were a total of like 4 boats including the beach donkey. It was probably the clearest I have seen the water there because of that and the reason we saw the turtle as well as all the baby needlefish. Another first was a midnight cruise up the Weeki with me, Kevin, Finn, Mark and Rachel (of which I did not film). We took Mark's boat and it was absolutely beautiful. We heard owls and saw some crazy people doing crazy things in the moonlight. Finn even got to drive in the dark and did a great job! The whole weekend was definitely an adventure not to be forgotten.