A man wading in the water off a beach near Clearwater, Florida, was totally oblivious to a curious manatee that swam up next to him and sat motionless for a good 20 seconds before being noticed.
And when the unsuspecting man did spot the manatee, he wasted little time in reacting in a panic. He bolted to his left, and the startled manatee swam off to its right.
Michael McCarthy, owner of the See Through Canoe Company, posted video of the recent encounter on YouTube.
“This guy had a moment of serious panic but fortunately it was just a Manatee being curious,” McCarthy wrote in the YouTube description. “Manatees are super curious and often check out anything new in their environment, including people sometimes.
“It’s often hard to spot them below the surface of the water though, even when it’s really clear.”
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Manatees are known as gentle giants as they are a docile, calm creature and pose no threat to humans. Except to scare them occasionally.
Photo courtesy of See Through Canoe.