This is the moment a scared manatee almost knocked a woman from her kayak near St Petersburg, Florida earlier this week.

According to the filmer, the female kayaker, who was part of a tour group, ignored instructions not to paddle up to the manatees and steered straight into a group of the gentle creatures.

One of the animals immediately took fright and panicked, whacking the kayak and almost knocking the tourist into the water.

"A perfect example of how not to conduct yourself around manatees," the filmer said.

"The best way to have an awesome manatee encounter is to not paddle right up to them and instead keep a respectful distance. If you're patient, one will almost always come up to you to check you out," the filmer added.

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

This woman was part of a group of kayakers on a tour. Before the tour the guide specifically told the group not to paddle right up to the manatees and to keep their distance. He stressed the point a couple times. While the rest of the people in the group were keeping a respectful distance and watching a large group of manatees, this woman went and paddled right through the group of manatees that everyone was watching. She paddled right on top of one and scared it and caused it to panic and almost capsize her kayak.
This woman was a perfect example of how Not to conduct yourself around manatees. The best way to have an awesome manatee encounter is to not paddle right up to them and instead keep a respectful distance. If you're patient, one will almost always come up to you to check you out. You just need to be patient and not force yourself on them by paddling right up to them.