This morning, as we were sitting on our balcony enjoying a cup of coffee as the sun rose, there was a splash across the canal and Dale yelped, “Shark!”

But it wasn’t a shark. It was a dolphin, feeding on fish in the canal.

And he wasn’t alone. We counted three dolphin – an unusual sight in our canal. Though we’ve seen them just offshore from our neighborhood, this is the first time we’ve seen dolphin in our canal.

Then, as we and our house guests were scanning the canal for the dolphins to resurface, a mother manatee and her cub popped up alongside our seawall.

These marine mammals were in search of fresh drinking water, so we turned on the hose for them.

The mother Manatee was nearly as big as the Elephant Seals we saw in the Falkland Islands. And, though they’re not strictly related, I think it would be appropriate for now to call these manatees our Easter Seals.

We were also surprised by the white Hibiscus blooming, given that the iguanas have eaten the plants down to stumps. Today, the Hibiscus has risen again.

Fitting on this Easter morning.