HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — When diver James Preslick saw a dark, shadowy figure moving closer towards him in the water Sunday morning, he said he thought it’d be a shark or a stingray, but what he saw was something he’d never expect.

“I expected a shark or stingray, but not a manatee this time of the year,” Preslick told WFLA.

While diving off Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island around 11 a.m., Preslick was greeted by a curious manatee. The cute encounter was captured by Preslick, who could be seen waving at the manatee once he realized what sea creature he was dealing with.

“My first reaction was, ‘What the heck is that coming towards me!?!'” James said. “I saw its nose come out of the water and figured out what it was. Super cool experience.”

Preslick said he typically dives near a reef called “Spanish Rocks” off the coast of Holmes Beach, one of the few shore dives in the Tampa Bay area, but for the diver, this experience was special as he said he’d “never been that close to a manatee.”