In which Moominmama swims with manatees, meets otters and innumerable water birds while exploring Florida's Nature Coast.

Nature Coast, north of Tampa, has unique freshwater springs that bubble up from the limestone underground. These crystal clear lagoons allow you to see into the underwater caves from which they come -- with some brave locals even snorkeling through them, down one underwater hole and up another. The freshwater springs mix with the tidal rivers and salt marshes creating an ecosystem like no other.

These springs are the winter home of manatees who swim upriver from the Gulf to the more temperate springs and hang out until warmer weather returns. These are large lumpy creatures, actually related to elephants, and they hang out under the water, rising up periodically to snort out water from their nostrils and breathe in fresh air. It's quite startling from a kayak, but magical from the water!

I took advantage of a guided swim with manatees, traveling by boat to one the springs where they hang out. A couple of cold nights had driven manatees back to the warmth of the freshwater springs even though now is the time of year they tend to move back to the Gulf. 

We donned wetsuits, and if Moominmama didn't need her glasses, I could have worn a mask and snorkel. But regulations require you stay on the surface and forbid diving, so mask or no, we all see them when they come to the surface. 

I had a chance to swim alongside a mother and her yearling and watch another mother move her baby under her fin to nurse. Their size can be intimidating, and their protected status means you can't touch, splash or startle them.

Manatees are the very definition of mellow and do their own thing without bothering too much about the humans, though like most mammals, the youngsters can be curious. Manatees are so slow-moving, their skin gathers barnacles when they're in the Gulf and algae when they're in the rivers. The downside of this is that they are not infrequently hit by propellers from passing boats. The manatee who first startled me in my kayak, on closer investigation, had half a dozen short white stripes on his or her back, the scars from propeller blades.

While manatees may be the most unique denizens of this salt water/fresh water river ecosystem, the entire area is full of wildlife. I saw blue herons, sandhill cranes, heard and saw osprey overhead and watched silver mullet fly up and slap the water like skipping stones. 

I saw turkey vultures gather together high in a tree as evening fell. I saw a mother otter and her two youngsters scramble out from an embankment into the water. I swam with fish in a turquoise lagoon off an arm of the Chazahowitzka River where a deep underwater split in the limestone leads to who knows where.

This is a landscape that owes everything to the water. Trying to get around by car means traveling crazy roads through the salt marsh or along an eyesore of a highway.

But turn off the roads, and you're back in what looks like a jungle. The salt marsh would be difficult to travel on foot not just because it floods with the tides, but because the sawgrass throughout the marsh is aptly named. The grass stem has tiny barbs running up the central stalk to slice the skin. And then there are the alligators, of course!

It's clear that the earliest humans traveled mostly by boat. Moominmama got to visit an ancient archeological site dated around AD 50 to AD 1050 near the Crystal River where people clearly benefitted from the rich ecosystem, building a 28-foot temple looking out over the river using millions of seashells, about 318,000 cubic feet of shells, scientists estimate.

The site not only supported a village but also provided a burial ground, ceremonial center and location for trade. Objects were found on the site that archeologists say came from present-day Ohio and Michigan suggesting far reaching trade.

No one knows what the folks who lived here called themselves. The Seminole would eventually reach down into this area, but the Crystal River Archeological State Park predates the Seminole.

Much of this area would eventually be taken over by plantation owners and planted with crops like cotton and sugar cane. This history lives on in the term "sugarmill" which is part of the title of everything from restaurants to condominiums out here. 

But humans are the least interesting part of this region! The plant and animal life is the star of the show here. And it is unlike anything Moominmama has ever seen. Even if some of the creatures are familiar, nature remains mysterious.  Exuberant life has overrun the land and waterways, filling them with vivid views and startling animal encounters. May it remain always protected.