A group of clueless beachgoers received a visit from a friendly manatee whilst going for a swim on a beach in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Footage captured on June 5 shows the marine mammal wading through the water in between a large group of swimmers, who seemed unaware that it was just a few metres from them.

The filmer told Newsflare: ''It's a regular occurrence in this part of Florida that a manatee will come up to someone in the water and brush up against them or even push their hairy snoots against you to check you out.

''Many of these people [beachgoers] have never heard of or seen a manatee, they regularly scare or startle the heck out of people. The guy in this video probably would have jumped out of his shorts if this manatee had bumped him or if he just turned around and saw it.''

This manatee was cruising down the beach and went between a lot of swimmers and people wading in the water. Only a few people saw it though. I kept thinking the guy or the girl in the video playing catch would see it, but it came within a couple feet of him and neither one of the ever saw it.
For such a large animal, manatees can be very sneaky. It's a regular occurrence in this part of Florida that a manatee will come up to someone in the water and brush up against them or even push their hairy snoots against you to check you out. And since many of these people have never heard of or seen a manatee, they regularly scare or startle the heck out of people. The guy in this video probably would have jumped out of his shorts if this manatee had bumped him or if he just turned around and saw it. Even when the water is clear, it can be easy to miss something like this if you aren't wearing polarized glasses. When the water is murky though, even with polarized glasses they can sneak up on you.