This is the rare moment a group of 12 endangered manatees interacted with a canoeist in Florida.

The clip, which was filmed off the coast of St Petersburg on June 23rd, shows the marine mammals surrounding the see-through canoe, swimming beneath it and bobbing up to take a closer look.

"One of the most unique things about this group of manatees is that they perfectly represented the various shades of light grey to dark brown that a manatees skin can be," said the filmer.

"The group of manatees (properly called an aggregation) stopped for about 15 minutes to look the transparent canoe over before going on about their business," he added.

Manatees are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows.

This group of 12 manatees was chasing each other around a large shallow bayou for most of the day, leaving trails as they stirred up mud with the up/down motion of their tails. One of the most unique things about this group of manatees is that they perfectly represented the various shades of light grey to dark brown that a manatees skin can be. The group of manatees (properly called an aggregation) stopped for about 15 minutes to look the transparent canoe over before going on about their business.