manatee sighting in florida. cold water!!

these guys loved to be pet and scratched.

pet them under the arm and some would roll over and want you to pet them on the chest.

weird eyes. like a camera shutter.

this guy was a pre-teen. according to the guide. he was friendly.

manatee sleeping quaters. there were places that were blocked off to people from Nov to Mar. you could look but not touch unless they came out of the area.

most of them were pretty curious once they saw you were friendly to them. at one point i got to pet two at one time. not breaking the "one hand only rule" since there were TWO.

attacking manatees.

if they didn't want to be touched, they would kind of crawl walk along the bottom just out of reach.

not too smart.

some would swim right under you and then just hang out. one swam in front of me while i was petting him and it looked like i was hugging him. the guide told me that that wasn't allowed cause it looked like i was riding him. oops

coming in for a closer look. some were inches away. they would just sit there and check you out. waiting for a scratch.

some had algee on the top and some were kind of rough. most had little scars from being cut. probaly from boat props like we saw a few pics ago.