Manatees are awesome! I and my family swam, er floated, with some rescued manatees near Akumal, Mexico last year. I was a little concerned about bothering them as I have read they are shy animals. Apparently the small group we floated with were all raised from calves who were injured or abandoned and had been raised by humans. As long as you fed them lettuce and such, they showed a little interest in us other then that they just sort of floated around. We were instructed not to swim after or grab them, only to let them bump up against us. I don't know why, but it was just the coolest thing to float amongst these gentle animals. They have quite the interesting maws as well.