I got a hug

We dove at Crashboat today with a couple of new divers. I've been lucky enough to dive with manatee several times but never anything like this.

Some Department of Natural Resources people standing around on the beach told us there was a manatee swimming nearby and they thought she was sick. There were a gazillion divers (okay, probably really only 50 or 60 - seriously!) and boats in the water so we figured any manatee was long gone.

Wrong. She (we think it's a she) was still there, hanging around one of the piers.

Through a quirky series of events Darryl had my dive camera and I didn't have one. As you can see in the video, I was swimming around her, just to get a better look. As she started forward, I was just trying to get out of her way. I swam up a bit to give her room. She followed me up and reached out and hugged my leg with her flippers!

It was a very gentle hug. She let go and swam on toward some other divers and the surface.

I was a little freaked out but not really scared (okay, a little - it's hard to tell what a 1200-pound woman wants). but like I said, she was very gentle. Mostly, I wasn't sure how to act so as not to upset or freak her out. At any rate, it was all good - a truly close encounter of the animal kind. After all, this - observing and interacting with other creatures - is really why we dive.

By the way, feel free to share this or any of our blogs with your friends. Thanks.