Author

Captain Gene Parker

Master Captain and founder, Swim With Manatees · On the Homosassa River since 2000

Master Captain Gene Parker founded Swim With Manatees in 2000 with his own little docks, a couple of boats and two captains, and has spent the 26 years since taking small groups to observe wild manatees on the Homosassa River. He grew up watching Flipper and was a scuba instructor in Oklahoma before moving to Florida, where he found his passion for manatees. Today the business runs five boats with a family of seven captains who teach as much as they drive, and every boat carries six guests, not sixty. Gene built it all around one idea: let the manatee decide. On the blog, he writes about manatee behavior, the seasons on the river, and how to plan a trip that puts the animals first.