Last weekend, a most peculiar incident happened in the city of Tampa in Florida, US. A dog fell into the Hillsborough River and was kept company for several hours by a manatee that stood guard over it until help arrived.

Witnesses say that the manatee kept swimming around the dog, named White Boy, until the pooch was finally pulled out of the water by local police officers. A photo showing the marine mammal circling the dog is available next to this article.

How the incident played out

The dog is believed to have fallen into the river sometime at the end of the workweek. Thus, folks living in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood remember that, on Friday night, they heard strange noises coming from the area.

All things considered, chances are that these strange noises were made by the dog as it was struggling to get out of the water and get back on land. Unfortunately, the pooch failed to free itself on its own, and remained stuck in the river.

Come Saturday morning, locals alerted the Tampa Police Department, and a team of Marine Patrol officers soon arrived in the area. When they got there, they found that White Boy was not alone. On the contrary, the pooch was accompanied by a manatee.

Officer Randy Lopez, who pulled the dog out of the water, believes that the marine mammal approached White Boy because the noises made by the pooch when splashing around got its attention. For some reason, the manatee stuck around until help arrived.

“They're curious by nature so I'm sure the the sound of the dog splashing in the water trying to get up the sea wall got his attention and he came over to investigate, maybe calm the dog and tell him it was going to be alright,” 30-year-old Randy Lopez said in a statement, as cited by Daily Mail.

“While setting up the rescue operation, look closely, this manatee kept our scared, wet pup company until TPD Marine Patrol could complete the rescue,” the Tampa Police Department wrote in a Facebook post documenting this incident.

One really lucky pooch

Despite the fact that it spent several hours stuck in Hillsborough River, White Boy did not suffer any life-threatening injuries. Thus, its rescuers say that, at the time they finally pulled it out of the water, the dog only had some bug bites and a few scratches on its paws to show for its experience.

Shortly after being rescued by the Tampa Marine Patrol officers, the dog was reunited with its owners. Hopefully, it has learned its lesson and will from now on be a wee more careful when exploring its home neighborhood.