Watch: Swimmer Gets Kisses From Wild Baby Manatee

Lucas Ebert lives in Hawaii and he spends a lot of time in the water between the ocean, rivers, and lakes. Even so, nature never ceases to amaze him.

One day while out for a swim in what appears to be Florida water, Lucas was greeted by a friendly and curious face: a wild baby manatee!

The manatee didn’t just swim up to Lucas, but it got close enough to touch him and started giving him “kisses” and nibbles. Lucas had a huge grin the entire time, clearly loving the experience.

According to Save The Manatee, manatess are “gentle and slow-moving animals.” They’re not known to be aggressive and don’t bite or attack.

It’s no wonder Lucas was able to smile and enjoy the encounter!

Lucas shared a video of the experience on TikTok and it naturally went viral.

Some people in the comments pointed out that it’s illegal to interact with manatees because they’re endangered. Others, however, suggested that the location was Crystal River in Florida, the only place in Florida where you can swim with manatees.

In the comment, someone asked what it felt like to be kissed by a manatee and Lucas replied: “Magical …like someone said ‘Youre so cute I just wanna eat you’ and they took it literally.”

If you’d like to see the video for yourself, check out the clip below:

@travelingtarzan Manatee monday…#manatee #crystalriver #floridaman #bestfriend #keeses #nature #freediving #springs #makeoutmonday ♬ You are my best friend – Jayce & Jax