Watch this manatee frolic under a water sprinkler off the Outer Banks
A couple on a kayaking trip got a massive treat when a manatee swam near a North Carolina dock.
The creature made its way toward a sprinkler, putting its whiskered face under the stream of water that poured into Kitty Hawk Bay, video from Facebook user Mike Jamison shows.
The 8- to 9-foot sea cow lifted its head close to the hose for a few moments before retreating beneath the surface, according to the footage from Saturday.
Jamison says he and his wife were preparing for a kayaking tour when they spotted the manatee off the shore of the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands sometimes abbreviated OBX.
“We were very excited to see something rare for the OBX,” Jamison wrote to McClatchy news group.
There are usually only a “few sightings” of sea cows in North Carolina each year, according to the state park system.
The West Indian manatee species is found in warm waters along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast, where they can migrate as far north as Virginia in the summer, wildlife officials say.
In North Carolina, the endangered animals enjoy “brackish waters of estuaries, bays, and large river mouths,” according to N.C. State Parks.
As adults, manatees usually grow to 10 feet long and weigh about 1,000 pounds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says.
This story was originally published November 7, 2019 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Watch this manatee frolic under a water sprinkler off the Outer Banks."
