So, this was my fourth time going out with River Ventures, and there's a reason I will only use them on my annual pilgrimage to Crystal River: they are stewards of the environment and fierce guardians of this incredible and fragile ecosystem. Today we went out with Irish Dave and his captain Emerson, and had a wonderful time. But what made it special was the way our group stood out from the crowd. While we were quiet and patient, respecting the manatees and giving them space, other groups were loud and raucous; I even saw a woman from another charter reach out and touch a manatee's tail, which spooked him off. Um...that's not okay, and because of River Venture's efforts to educate customers, I know this.
The nice thing was Irish Dave's patience and ability to break away from the crowds while respecting wildlife -- and it paid off. We were able to see an adult manatee, a VERY large female manatee sleeping (and our group spent time observing this giant for a nice chunk of time without waking her up), and ended the day spotting a manatee mom and her calf. Thanks to Irish Dave, we had an incredible encounter that didn't cause the manatees to do anything but be themselves.
Tl;dr, folks, River Ventures does more than run a business, they protect the precious springs that allow us humans to have these incredible encounters.