About a month or so ago, at the recommendation of a respected family member, I started following Paul Nicklen on Instagram for my only consensual dose of animal content. Nicklen, a talented animal photographer, has a particular affinity for manatees, the best creature on earth, and as you can see from the photo above, one of his trips to see them found him accidentally engaged in some decidedly frisky play.
“While I was photographing these amorous activities, a manatee grabbed me from behind, pulled me underwater and would not let go,” he wrote. At first glance, it might not be clear what is happening on the right, what with the fact that manatees have skin that sometimes resembles a barnacled rock, but you will note that the pair are engaged in the position in which the head of one is directed towards the genital area of the other, and vice versa.
69 is not okay, but this is beautiful.