Street Manatee Spotted in Miami.

Big beauty by ROA kicking off Primary Flight for 2011.

Mumbling about Manatees.

(Aerials courtesy Digital Globe.  Obv.)

So that is the spot.  We live surrounded by Maule Lake, which connects to the ocean through the Oleta River, which you can see on the bottom of the shot.  All the green areas are protected parks.  We always dreamed of living in the Reef Club, and the red spot is on the building we eventually landed in.  For years we took the kids out in the canoe in the lake and realized what a perfect hidden gem the property is.  I still pinch myself every day when I realize how happy we are here.

And then yesterday when I revealed Mystery Pic #2 to be two Manatees that swam around the spiral into the canal that faces our parking lot, lordoflimbo said…

Manatees?

I think a drum playing snow leopard was the more logical guess from the given picture.

Well guess what?  I have a true story about drum playing low steppers that fits the occasion.  Nina and I were out in the canoe one morning, floating in the place where you see the red spot on the second map.  We were drumming on the sides of the boat, with a deep groove going for about 12 minutes.  Suddenly a full size Manatee surfaced two feet away with a snort and a curious look.  She came to join the party.  Not quite a snow leopard, but she did have whiskers.