Orlando

No, you can still dive the cave, you just can't swim or float down the run.
And if you harass the manatees you get tossed.
But in all fairness the rangers watch very closely and they know sometime
the manatees will approach you without you knowing it. It can be a suprise
to come nose to nose with an 800 lb gray blob.

gary
Deltona Fl


""Magilla"" <cavey_curtis@$$ yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:mpCHf.15628$id5.978@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> "Grumman-581" wrote
>
>> and if you're lucky, you might see some manatees in
>> the spring run on the way up to the spring head...
>
> Not the case anymore, have reports the eco-terrorists have won, divers
> now chased out when the damn things are present. They seek the contact,
> divers get penalized.
>
> Of course, I'm sure those cute little photos on the net of divers
> approaching them gave ammunition to the manatee-hugger cause.
>
> Curtis
>

"Lee Bell" wrote

>> Not the case anymore, have reports the eco-terrorists have won, divers
>> now chased out when the damn things are present. They seek the contact,
>> divers get penalized.
>
> You still might see them. You can still walk the trail along the run.
>
> Chasing divers out should not surprise me, but it doesn't sound right
> anyway. Are you sure or is this something being considered? Is it just
> divers, or divers and all the swimmers, canoes, etc.?

Divers were the last to get it, last time I was there we were allowed in
while swimmers had to wait, because they knew we were headed to where the
manatees didn't go. We did, of course, avoid them to the very best of our
ability. Since then, a friend and regular there reported they started
making divers wait too (for the upper run to be clear, not just an opening
where we could pass). Don't have first-hand knowledge of the extent, just a
reliable report things had been tightened.

Curtis

""Magilla"" <cavey_curtis@$$ yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:SQIHf.382149$qk4.80541@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> "Lee Bell" wrote
>
>>> Not the case anymore, have reports the eco-terrorists have won,
>>> divers now chased out when the damn things are present. They seek the
>>> contact, divers get penalized.
>>
>> You still might see them. You can still walk the trail along the run.
>>
>> Chasing divers out should not surprise me, but it doesn't sound right
>> anyway. Are you sure or is this something being considered? Is it just
>> divers, or divers and all the swimmers, canoes, etc.?
>
> Divers were the last to get it, last time I was there we were allowed
> in while swimmers had to wait, because they knew we were headed to where
> the manatees didn't go. We did, of course, avoid them to the very best of
> our ability. Since then, a friend and regular there reported they started
> making divers wait too (for the upper run to be clear, not just an opening
> where we could pass). Don't have first-hand knowledge of the extent, just
> a reliable report things had been tightened.
>
> Curtis

Ah well. Another case of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Lee

"Lee Bell" wrote

> Ah well. Another case of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.

Well said.

I have no problems with the diver protection rules, they make sense even
if seem strict to some. Just seems to me the manatee protection rules go
beyond what's necisary.

Curtis

"Magilla" wrote:
> "Lee Bell" wrote
>
>> Ah well. Another case of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
>
> Well said.
>
> I have no problems with the diver protection rules, they make sense even
> if seem strict to some. Just seems to me the manatee protection rules go
> beyond what's necisary.

A similar battle has been going on in La Jolla for years. They built an
artificial cove called the Children's pool, which the harbor seals
decided was quite nice. I think the current status is that you can use
the beach as long as you don't scare any seals into the water. Either
extreme kind of made sense to me (California has lots of seal habitat
and California has lots of beaches and dive sites), but now we have a
situation where federal wildlife officials have to make decisions based
on the interaction of human and animal behavior, which I think is
guaranteed to both fail to protect the seals and fail to please the
people trying to use the beach.

Last time I was there was Dec, but we live only 15 min from there, so as
soon as the weekend schedules clear a bit, I'll go over.
If its a very cold day, the manatee will stay near the cave in the 72 deg
water, but as the day warms up they move downstream to the St John's.
gary
Deltona, Fl



""Magilla"" <cavey_curtis@$$ yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ZQIHf.382150$qk4.167968@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
>
> "Gary Owens" <gowens1@cfl.rr.com> wrote
>
>> No, you can still dive the cave, you just can't swim or float down the
>> run. And if you harass the manatees you get tossed.
>
> That's what it used to be, hear that's changed, maybe for just the peak
> weekends? I haven't made the trip since tipped off may not be able to get
> in. Have you been there in the past month?
>
>> But in all fairness the rangers watch very closely and they know sometime
>> the manatees will approach you without you knowing it. It can be a
>> suprise to come nose to nose with an 800 lb gray blob.
>
> In all fairness, most of the rangers have been very realistic about the
> situation, and their diving rules enforcement in general has been strict
> but fair. I've always found them very pleasant.
>
> Curtis
>
>
>

""Magilla"" <cavey_curtis@$$ yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:mpCHf.15628$id5.978@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Not the case anymore, have reports the eco-terrorists have won, divers
> now chased out when the damn things are present. They seek the contact,
> divers get penalized.

So, you have to enter from the boat ramp instead of the park and swim up the
stream... Navigable waterway, they can't do a damn thing to you... Long swim
though... Upstream swim to boot...

"Gary Owens" <gowens1@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:ZpKHf.1422$_c.1380@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
> Last time I was there was Dec, but we live only 15 min from there, so as
> soon as the weekend schedules clear a bit, I'll go over.

Anyone made it past Cork/Cap Rock and explored the rest of the system yet?

Not that I've heard, and I can guarantee It won't be me. I managed to look
down that little hole once when the flow was light. There is a reason I'm
just "Cavern", not "Cave". Something to do with 4000+lbs. a cubic yard for
that limestone.

Gary
Dalton, Fl


"Grumman-581" <grumman581@DIE-SPAMMER-SCUM@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:bSKHf.4081$Ob5.1453@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> "Gary Owens" <gowens1@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:ZpKHf.1422$_c.1380@tornado.tampabay.rr.com...
>> Last time I was there was Dec, but we live only 15 min from there, so as
>> soon as the weekend schedules clear a bit, I'll go over.
>
> Anyone made it past Cork/Cap Rock and explored the rest of the system yet?
>
>

"Gary Owens" wrote

> Last time I was there was Dec, but we live only 15 min from there, so as
> soon as the weekend schedules clear a bit, I'll go over.
> If its a very cold day, the manatee will stay near the cave in the 72 deg
> water, but as the day warms up they move downstream to the St John's.

Next time you're there, don't be a stranger, introduce yourself. I do
the hole there several times a year, just not this year yet.

Curtis