He recognized her face, he said, but he couldn't quite remember her name. This misty morning, like countless other winter mornings over the past 20 years, Hartley conducts manatee roll call with total recall. During a leisurely canoe trip along a pristine spring run, which measures about a third of a mile, he sips coffee and rattles off the names of dozens of individuals, tallying them and spinning their life histories. Fourteen years ago, Howey dumped Hartley out of his canoe. Not on purpose.
Manatees have about as many aggressive tendencies as they do eyelashes.
It's the only time in 20 years something like that's happened, Hartley assures me. Next, we encounter Delain, Lilly and Success. Success, says Hartley, was the first successful calf of Sweetgum, who lost many pregnancies. At 2, still nursing, she was hit again in exactly the same place. Hartley counted four bones sticking out of her side.