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Today we visited some schools in the area to find out what kids here would like you to know about manatees. We also had time to visit some old historical places. The historic places we visited had some connections to manatees. Manatees have always been part of Florida's history. Florida's earliest inhabitants first came to Florida about 6,000 BC Most early peoples in Florida lived along the coastal areas. The coastal areas along the northern Gulf coast of Florida provided easy access to areas for harvesting seafood. Oysters and fish were a big part of these peoples' diets. Manatees were an occasional part of that seafood diet. Manatees were not hunted a lot by these early peoples. Manatees were usually hard to find since they were cautious of people and widely spread out (not in groups) in the coastal waters during most of the year. Manatees were hard to catch because they had excellent hearing, had thick, tough skin, and were very large, strong, heavy animals. When a manatee was caught it provided not just food, but also materials for making things. The thick skin of a manatee could be made into leather goods such as shoes, whips, shields, straps, and more. Manatee fat could be used for cooking or medicine. The bones, such as the ribs, are thick and heavy, making them good for weapons. Early European explorers and settlers used manatees for food, too. During the time of the Florida plantations with their large sugar cane fields, manatees were caught and used as food for the slaves that worked on the plantations. Even as late as the 1960's manatee meat could be found on the menus of local restaurants. The Marine Mammal Act was a law that was passed in 1972 to protect marine mammals from hunting. Marine mammals included seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea otters, and, of course, manatees. Today manatees are still a part of life here in Florida. Now people do not look for manatees to hunt and eat them. People here now look for manatees to swim and play with them. The people of Florida, especially the kids we met, know that manatees are a very special animal that need their care and protection. Tomorrow we will look at ways people here in Florida are trying to care for and protect manatees.
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Near Crystal River Primary School is the Crystal River State Archaeological Site. This is the remains of the temple mound of early Native Americans that lived in the Florida area from 500 BC, until around 1,400 AD This mound is at the edge of the Crystal River and was made 30 feet high. This mound was what the temple was built on. (Now grown over with plants, this temple mound is shaped like the temple mounds found left by the Mayas and Aztecs of Mexico. Many archeologists believe these people came to Florida from the Yucatan.)
Near Homosassa Elementary School, Karen stands by the ruins of the Yulee Sugar Mill. This was part of a large 5,100 acre plantation that had over 1,000 workers.
These big heavy rollers crushed the sugar cane and squeezed the juice out of it. The rollers were turned by the big wheels. The wheels were powered by a big steam boiler. (The boiler is inside the rock wall.) Wood was burned to heat the water in the boiler into steam. (Smoke came out the rock chimney.) The steam pushed a piston the turned the big wheels. TODAY'S DATA PHOTOS TAKEN SO FAR |
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Day 13
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