10 Dec 95 18:04, Lee Bell wrote to Jay Hanig:
 ->> OTOH, if you just act like you're ignoring them, they may come right
 ->> up to you and allow you to scratch their backs.  On one memorable
 ->> day, I got to watch two manatees making little manatees about 10 feet
 ->> away from me.
 ->>
 ->> Even my cat demands more privacy than that......
 LB> This brings a great story to mind.  On our last trip, while most of us
 LB> were away from the boat looking for manatees, several came up to the
 LB> boat where the less hardy were trying to warm up.  One of them was
 LB> clearly, and demonstrably, interested in one of our diving ladys.  I
 LB> can't imagine many things more terrifying in the water than a horny male
 LB> manatee in full display.  I've been told, those at the boat had to be
 LB> real careful how they rubbed that one's stomach.
Well, I wasn't going to tell this one, but I had contact once with a *really* 
friendly manatee once.  I scratched its back, and he came back for more.  
When it rolled over, I scratched its belly.  It was so happy, it didn't know 
whether to s*** or go blind.  It chose not to go blind.
I tried not to consider it an editorial comment......
Jay
PADI M-9033
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