FORT PIERCE, Fla. (WSVN) — A little boy enjoyed the waters off the Sunshine State on a surfboard, and a friendly and gentle sea cow decided to join him.
The Blais family was surfing off the Fort Pierce Inlet on the Fourth of July, when they saw something in the water.
“We thought it was a diver, me and my grandpa, and Logan thought it was a shark,” said Evan Blais.
Turns out it was a group of manatees swimming toward them. Brandon Blais recorded his son, Evan, hanging out with one of the sea cows.
“It started rolling around and swimming towards me, and it put its flipper on my board, and then it put its nose on my board first, and then it put its flipper on,” said Evan. “I got scared, so I got off my board, and then there was another manatee under me and I didn’t realize, so I got even more scared. It was just really like, frightening.”
Evan’s brother, Logan, said he was also surrounded by manatees.
“At first, like I was just trying to paddle into a wave, and then I didn’t see the manatee cause it was under my board, and then like the fin just went and hit me, and then it was just laying on my board, and I got really scared because I thought it was a shark, so like I paddled away, and then there was another one just came up to me,” said Logan.
The manatees eventually swam off to another crowd of people. The family said it was a great experience, especially since it happened a day before the boys’ 11th birthday.
“We interacted with them for about 30 minutes with the Go-Pro, under the water, just kind of playing around, not touching them of course,” said Blais. “It was a really cool experience to have it happen right before their birthday.”
“It’s not everyday that you get to see a manatee swim up to you and wanna take your surfboard away,” said Evan.
According to experts, anyone who comes in close contact with a manatee should never touch them.
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