Fort Lauderdale beachgoers got a pleasant surprise Sunday afternoon after a mother manatee and her calves came close to shore just north of Sunrise Boulevard.
The mother and her four to five pups stayed in the area for about half an hour as the nursing babies fought over their mother’s milk, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Husband and wife Craig and Gina Hossack, who filmed the event and put their video on YouTube, first thought the marine mammals were a patch of seaweed.
"But then they stuck their snouts out of the water and I was like, no way," Craig Hossack was quoted as saying.
His wife said she felt lucky to be able to see the endangered species.
"It was not only a miracle, it was a gift," Gina Hossack was quoted as saying. "It made us feel amazing that we were able to witnesses such a thing, who gets to see something like that?"
The beachgoers, who were close to the animals, were eventually controlled by lifeguards in the area.
