Manatee moment: Video shows playful sea cow hanging out with surfing family

Happened at Fort Pierce Inlet

A family out surfing had an incredible encounter with a couple of manatees in St. Lucie County.

Leesa Blais said her family was surfing off the Fort Pierce Inlet on the Fourth of July when they saw something in the water.

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Turns out, the shadow lurking near them was a group of manatees.

“Evan and Logan were out surfing when two manatees appeared. It was a relatively calm day, and the water was clear,” Leesa Blais explained. “The manatees kept swimming around the boys despite their best efforts to avoid them.”

She said her husband quickly grabbed his GoPro and started recording the wild close-encounter.

Video shows the moment one of the manatees quickly turned their attention to one of the boys’ surfboards and even hanging on for a short moment.

“Evan was definitely scared in the beginning — he thought it was a shark,” Blais said. " I think he was a little intimidated by how big the manatee was and how it grabbed his board. Evan thinks he just wanted to surf, too.”

The two manatees only hung around for a short time before swimming off.

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, anyone who comes in close contact with a manatee should never touch them.

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