It's not everyday that one sees a manatee at Patriots Point, but it does happen more than you think. The last couple of summers we have seen frequent almost weekly manatee activity at Patriots Point from our pier and ships. They winter in Florida and move north when the waters warm. Learn more about manatees at Save The Manatees website.
I noticed this pair today returning from lunch around 1 PM. They were not moving, but seemed to be feeding on the bottom and frolicking in the water close together. Lots of our visitors were snapping pictures from the pier.
I returned to my office for my camera and when I returned the manatees had moved over near submarine Clamagore and were feeding on the growth on the lines seen in the picture above. They then swam over closer to the submarine and began to wrestle together...I don't think it was wresting though...watched them for about 40 minutes.
You can learn more about South Carolina's manatee population and report sightings at SCDNR's website here... I filed a report and the DNR folks quickly asked for the photo with the prop scar seen below in the next to last picture.
