The Calming Gentle Giants – Manatee Park in Lee County, Florida

The Calming Gentle Giants – Manatee Park in Lee County, Florida

           

            What kind of impact do you expect animals to have on humans? Manatee Park exemplifies the power that animals have to people. During the beginning of December 2017 to the beginning of March in 2018, there were over 200,000 visitors to the Park. The people came in from all across the country, and even the globe. The demographics of people were rich in diversity by having every walk of life come through the Park. From toddlers to the elderly, people were enthralled by the exciting moment of getting to see the protected animal, the manatee, live in action. My mother lives in Fort Myers, Florida, so the Park was very close to our general vicinity.

This is the waterway where the manatees gather during the winter months in Florida.

 At first, I was apprehensive to go the Park and be surrounded by children and parents of the like. However, surprisingly there were not only more than just kids at the Park, but there was so much more to the Park than just seeing the manatees. There are educational programs to learn about the local wildlife, the history of the Park, and immense amounts of information about the manatees themselves. In short, the consensus amongst everyone that I have talked to working and casually visiting the Park spoke of the same three words describing the manatees with being “calming gentle giants.” When I began to see the wholesomeness of the Park itself is when I knew I was stumbling on something special.

            After my first visit, I began to go to the Park every time I was able to visit my mother. Due to the vast amount of people that come through the Park, I became interested in the kinds of people that entered the Park and their reasons for coming. I devised a plan of people to talk to, which goes as follows: meet with a photographer, a maintenance employee, a random pedestrian, an employee of the Park, and a higher up in the Park’s staff. The purpose of the eclectic group chosen is to get as broad of a perspective as possible to understand why the people attend the Park.

A photographer is important choices to make because he/she is a professional in capturing life’s beauty, so a reason as to why they would be attending the Park instead of other places that have just as beautiful sights to see. A maintenance employee would be a great choice for someone to interview because of their experience being at the Park. Due to working at the Park for an extended period of time, the employee would be able to gauge the kinds of people that come in and the potential character that people entering have. A random pedestrian is crucial to eliciting the type of person that comes in since the pedestrians are making up for more than half of the prescribed character of the people that enter the Park. More general questions can be asked since the more focused-based questions geared towards the employees would be less relevant. An employee of the Park, some that are not a maintenance worker, typically a gift shop employee or traffic director would make for a successful interview because they are well versed in the people that come into the Park, but on a more interpersonal level due to the interaction with visitors that is required through their job. The last person to interview is the more empirical side of the report where I ask them why their professional opinion as to why people enter the Park, and through their years of supervisory works, why is the Park special?

The Southern Live Oak! Below has more information on
this beautiful tree. (Much better in person.)

            The photographer interview was named Nick Knickerbocker, who specialized in flying drones in the use of photography. Nick was a charismatic person who has continuously come to the Park in order to get shots of the beauty of the Park itself and to capture beautiful shots of manatees. Nick has been a photographer for several years and has always admired the little details of life. During my interview with Mr. Knickerbocker, he was telling about what it means to be a photographer. “My life revolving around seeing things that other peoples don’t,” he exclaims. His work ties into his own philosophies of life and photography because he is able to capture a perspective that many people cannot experience. The genuine experience that was created allowed me to add to the case that the Park brings out the positive, lighter side in people.

       The maintenance employee, Rick Highland, was the soil of the Park. Rick is a down to earth person that seemed to be in good spirits despite what many people would consider unfavorable work. When asked what is unique about him as a person, he surprisingly replied, “I love my job.” Being able to help something bigger and outside of himself is something that I would say is one of the most important things in life. Rick was riding in a maintenance cart that was happily going around the Park doing the yard work. He told me that he would make more money working at other bigger parks, but Rick chooses to work at Manatee Park because of his love for his Park. Taking less money to work at the Park speaks volumes about the nature of the Park itself, as well as the community’s nature of being pleasant to work with.

            The random person that I interviewed, a commoner to the Park, was named Bill Cobb. Bill talked my ear off a bit, but I enjoyed the interaction with him. He was telling me all about himself and how he used to be a train engineer. Bill told me about his son who was a National Coast Guard and the reason he was at Manatee Park was to do something with his family. Since his son is frequently out of state, Bill views Manatee Park as an opportunity to spend time with his family. Due to the limited time that Bill has with his son, I believe that speaks highly of the Park since he chose to spend his time there. When I asked why he believes that the Park is important, Bill shared “The Park gives life to animals that need it…and allows people to appreciate it their own more.” With great sincerity, Mr. Cobb explains the view that the feeling of the park draws people in with, and that is the feeling of wholesomeness.

            When I was looking for a person to find, I thought about buying a souvenir in the Park’s gift shop. I began talking with the employee working at the store named Yvonne. Yvonne was an expert in traveling; she told me that she has been to over a hundred countries across the globe, and ultimately, ended up choosing to spend most of her time working at Manatee Park. She explains that the relations with the volunteers, the civilians, fellow members of staff, and the fact that she is able to work and benefit nature are nothing but a positive experience. The importance that Yvonne displaces on being able to not only help wildlife but have meaningful and pleasant interactions with other people tells me that the park is a hub for creating relationships with positive influences outside of one’s self. Yvonne’s testimony of the park gave me eyes an even brighter perspective on the park since out of all of the beautiful places in the world to live, she ended chooses an area near a fairly small, innocent park.

            The final person I spoke with was a phone call with Laura Carr, who is one the Senior Program Specialists of the park. Her duty is, as she told me, a jack of trades. Basically, it is better to question what she doesn’t do for the park. Since Laura told me that she had been working with wildlife for nearly 18 years, I asked why she felt that Manatee Park was special enough to warrant her time and experience. She passionately replied by stating, “My favorite part of the job is working with the dedicated volunteers that make her life easier and fun with people coming to the park that she is able to educate and see their eyes light up with excitement.” Due to Laura having a rich background in wildlife ecology and environmental conversation, her skillset about chooses these gentle giants, more specifically working at the park, exemplifies how special the park is to so many people.

Facts about manatees and their nearest relatives.

            Manatee Park is an adjunct for those looking for a universal feeling of appreciating the world around you. Nothing compares, for those attending the park than being in nature and being surrounded by something bigger than one’s self. Every time they tell stories about people spotting manatees, only the essence of pure kid-ish excitement captures what it truly means to visit Manatee Park.

 Three websites to learn more about Manatee Park:

o   www.MyFWC.com This is good to a website to use because it gives the user information about the manatees as an organism, and after research, one could find a reason as to why manatees are special. The FWC stands for Fish and Wildlife Conversation Commission.

o   http://www.leegov.com/parks/facility?fid=0088 This is the government website that gives the user everything they would need to know about the Lee County Manatee Park on a surface level.

o   https://www.facebook.com/ManateePark The Facebook profile would be fantastic to account for the kinds of people entering the park. The responses to the posts would be a great highlighter for the people that care about Manatee Park.

This a drone shot that I pulled from the web to show what it looks like when Manatees are present during the winter months.
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