Manatees are endangered, and at the Xel-Ha Eco Park on the Riviera Maya coastline in Mexico, they are protected and treated like royalty. In this video adventure our team gets to swim with and touch manatees while examining ways to keep the mammals safe in nature.
While they are very safe to swim with, being the “cows of the sea”, spending time up close with the manatees was interesting and quite the underwater filming challenge. One of the manatees was in a full term pregnancy, and we were very sensitive to her emotional safety. She spent a lot of time hovering near her husband and family for emotional support. Imagine birthing a 4 foot long baby weighing 70 pounds? We were very careful around her and were fortunate to be able to hand feed her lettuce on our visit.
We also got a manatee “kiss”. WOW! I loved being kissed by a manatee – it was a wonderful trip to Xel-Ha Eco Park – our team is excited to go back soon.
*Video produced by "78 Pesos", a production team which is a partnership between Shawna Coronado (www.shawnacoronado.com) and Mario Salazar (www.mariosalazarphotography.com).
Special thanks to our sponsors:
The Riviera Maya tourism organization - http://www.rivieramaya.com
Grand Palladium White Sands hosted our stay during this adventure week - http://tinyurl.com/3zlbqcq
Xel-Ha Manatee Encounter - - To learn more about the Xel-Ha Eco Park Manatee Encounter, please go here - http://www.xelha.com/xelha/activities_xelha.php.
*Note – Because the FTC requires it, I am noting that the Mayan Riviera Tourism group sponsored this trip. I was not told what to document or how to document the experience, we were simply asked to attend and film – anything expressed in posts related to the activities is my own opinion expressed from my own personal experience.
Filed under: Eco-Travel
Tags: eco, empower, endanger, environment, green, green living, kiss, manatee, Mexico, nature, park, Riviera Maya, snorkel, swim, Xel-Ha
