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West Indian Manatee, Florida, 1998

A West Indian manatee drifts through crystal-clear water in a North Florida spring. Hundreds of these gentle giants migrate from coastal habitats to the springs each winter to bask in their constant and comparatively balmy 72-degree Fahrenheit (22-degree Celsius) waters.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Unlocking the Labyrinth of North Florida Spring," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)

Photograph by Wes Skiles