Manatee Induced Panic Syndrome

When experiencing Manatee induced panic during an open water training dive, please adhere to the following procedure:

1. Scream loudly and repeatedly into your regulator
2. Grab your instructor's arm and squeeze it until he/she cannot feel their fingers
3. Repeat steps one and two until the Manatee gets tired of being scratched and leaves

We were out at Service Club today (6-10' viz, with 1-2' breakers btw) working on Kellie's open water certification and just as were about to do the very last skill of the dive, a medium sized adult Manatee swam into the middle of our little group. The Manatee hung around a bit to get scratched and then swam off. Kellie, who was a real trooper today, doing her last two open water dives was - let's say a little scared. She hung in there and the Manatee swam off. After some slowed breathing, Kellie completed her last skill and was certified. Congrats!!!!!!

I just wish I could do that for everyone's certification dive. Greg