I came across a photo of a dugong this week and thought it looked a lot like a manatee, so, during a brief break between work things, I looked up dugongs and manatees in hopes of finding out the difference.
The first page I found was this splendid page about Manatees and Dugongs at the Marine Mammal Center - it filled me with delight with its gorgeous pictures of these wonderful creatures.
I hadn't thought about the Marine Mammal Center in a long time - and although I've actually visited the center, I don't think I'd ever been to their website before.
I loved getting to know their current guests, looking at their amazing photos of whales near the Golden Gate Bridge, and exploring their pages about different kinds of marine mammals - especially sea otters. (Long, long ago, I used to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and I remember the sea otters they rescued. And after I moved away, I returned for a vacation and took a kayak tour on the bay, and got to see a few otters just a few feet away.)
I was so delighted to stumble across the Marine Mammal Center's website and to spend a few happy moments looking at these splendid creatures.
I'm so glad there are people going to work every day (and volunteering, as well!) to take care of these marvelous animals, to protect the oceans where they live, and to make the world a better, healthier, more wondrous place for sea creatures and land mammals alike.
Photo of sea lions at Pier 39 by Carol M. Highsmith, found in the Prints & Photographs collection at the wonderful Library of Congress