A group of hearty divers descended on the Crystal River area of Florida for some frolicking with the "Other White Meat" (manatees).

Brian Chouiniere, Guy & Kitty Willin, Lynne Casey and Sandy Canning braved the 72 degree water for a drift dive down the Rainbow River on Saturday. Lynnan Chouiniere was a bubble watcher as she had a bout with the flu. On Sunday the group was joined by Ron & Dawn Steedman, Heidi Schmid & her son Christian (Lynnan did brave the chilly water on Sunday for some one-on-one with the manatees).

We went in search of the elusive West Indian Manatee and were pleased to find a number of them who were interested in some scratching and petting. At the end of the day it was hard to get Lynne and Sandy out of the water. Sandy was overheard saying that she wanted to take one home with her. All in all we had a fantastic weekend.