Whenever we go up the Wakulla River, we see manatees and yesterday was the same. They seem to hang out around the bridge on US 98 where people wade into the river and swim and the manatees don't seem to mind being around people.
There was a mom with a baby manatee swimming all over. We passed two cute girls in a canoe who nearly panicked when we pointed out the two manatees directly beneath them less than a foot away. I've been in a canoe where they try to stay beneath you for some reason but they never do anything aggressive.
I wonder how manatees protect themselves from gators as the river is filled with the lizards. Going downriver, we saw a dead gator about 6' long that looked freshly killed. We suspect a boat hit it.