There’s NO way this happened TWICE in one day 😱😳🐊 I was paddleboarding through the croc canal on a VERY murky day when this giant “big potato” suddenly came up for air DIRECTLY under me 😭 He was NOT there seconds before. I thought I had eyes on all of them, and then suddenly… boom. We both scared each other at the exact same moment. I stayed completely still because if I had panicked and started paddling away, I could’ve scared him even more or fallen right into the canal… and who knows where the crocodile could be 😳🐊 The craziest part is this exact manatee has been following me around in here for days 😂 We can tell him apart because he unfortunately has a small boat strike scar on his back. We named him Flip. Right before this happened, a boat started heading straight toward the group in the murky water. I started pointing out where each manatee was so the captain could avoid hitting them. He slowed down and swerved around every single one thankfully. That’s why my paddleboard was a bit closer to the group than I usually get. It’s important to give animals space and respect. Boat strikes are one of the leading causes of death for manatees, especially in resting canals like this. So yes… I’d rather get flipped off my paddleboard than watch Flip get hit by a boat🥺 And before anyone asks… thankfully it was NOT the crocodile coming up from the depths this time 🫠 Follow along for more manatee, shark, dolphin, and crocodile adventures 🐊 crocodile manatee florida paddleboard ocean