ORANGE PARK, Fla. – An Orange Park couple helped save a baby Manatee's life Wednesday and were able to catch the rescue on camera.
The rescue happened on the couple's boat dock when they saw the baby manatee get caught in a rope underneath their boat.
Julie and Tom Williams decided they had to act quickly to save the baby sea cow.
When the couple ran over to check out, they found a couple dozen manatee trying to help free the baby from under their boat.
"The big daddy lifted the boat up," explained Julie Williams. "The little baby got really scared so he took off with the boat."
When the baby manatee took off, so did Tom Williams.
"I grabbed a large knife and jumped off the dock in jeans and a shirt and eventually found the right rope and cut it, saw it release from the manatee and him go off," said Tom. "It was one of the most scary and exciting adventures I've ever been on. That was pretty cool."
Florida is in a manatee crisis right now. According to the defenders of Wildlife website, more than 582 manatees have died so far in 2013, that's about 10 percent of the world's manatee population.