Beachgoers in Fort Lauderdale were having such a good time swimming in the shallow waters of a South Florida beach that a group of manatees decided to join them for some fun.

A video recently uploaded to Youtube shows a group of Florida manatees playing in the surf among a group of people. The friendly sea cows swim in between the swimmers and let a few people reach out and touch them.

The bewildered group of beachgoers take pictures and videos as they watch the rare encounter.

Blog Alabama reports that it isn’t clear why the manatees came so close to shore with so many people present, but say that the manatees may have been nursing along the shallow coast. At the 3:50 mark you can see a group of manatee pups nursing in the shallow water.

Halo Protagonist, who uploaded the video, believes that the male manatees may have been fighting over a female. The Youtube user writes:

“When we decided to go to the beach today (05/06/2012), we had no idea we would be treated to a very special appearance by some very large and very cute manatees. It appears as if there were multiple males wresting for the affection of one female.”

Here’s the video of the Florida manatees swimming in the shallow surf.

Florida Manatees Put On A Show At Fort Lauderdale Beach [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr