Overly Friendly Manatee Keeps Touching Diver-Knowing She 'Can't Touch This'
Interacting with wildlife comes with a lot of rules, especially when it involves protected animals like manatees. Brooke Faris, a Florida girl who spends plenty of time in the water, recently found herself in a hilarious situation when an overly affectionate manatee kept swimming up to her, touching her, and demanding attention.
Brooke knows that it's illegal to touch manatees, so she was doing everything possible to avoid touching the animal back, while the manatee seemed completely determined to ignore the personal space policy. And make sure your sound is on because the song she chose to accompany the video could not have been more perfect.
@brooke_farris Can you touch manatees? No. Can manatees touch you? Absolutely! And this guy was all kinds of touchy grabby! We nicknamed him Rico Suave @GoPro #manatees#protectedanimals#manateetiktok#manateehug#snorkelguide
оригинальный звук - Mdj Mdj
We laughed when we read the nickname Brooke gave the manatee: "Can you touch manatees? No. Can manatees touch you? Absolutely! And this guy was all kinds of touchy-grabby! We nicknamed him Rico Suave."
That's seriously the perfect name!
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Viewers Loved Watching This Diver Try Not To Touch the Manatee
Brooke's video of the touchy-feely manatee racked up more than 1,700 comments, and some of them cracked us up. @Rae spoke for all of us when she said, "I'm not disciplined enough for this."
@Auryn shared, "Me to the wildlife ranger that arrests me: He hugged me, it would have been rude not to hug him back." @Emmy agreed, "He's thinking, why won't they hug me?!" @AMC got nearly 15k comments when they added, "Can someone let me know the fine so I can properly budget?"
People may want to reconsider whether touching a manatee is worth it. Under the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act of 1978, it's illegal to touch, feed, or harass manatees in Florida. Violating the law can result in fines of up to $500 and/or up to 60 days in jail.
In more serious cases, violating the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 can lead to civil penalties of up to $50,000 and even a year in federal prison!
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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 10:00 PM.