ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Staff and guests at See Through Canoe Company in Seminole never know what to expect on their guided trips down Tampa Bay’s rivers.
There are days when you just float effortlessly with the current.
Then there are days when your canoe gets stuck on an alligator’s back.
What?
A group of sight-seers were taking a leisurely trip in one of the company’s transparent canoes on Wednesday, Sept. 20, when their canoe came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the river.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what caused the holdup. A glimpse through the clear bottom of the canoe showed they were hung up on the back of a giant alligator.
Thais Porto happened to have a camera handy and videotaped the encounter, which she later posted on the company’s Instagram page.
The caption reads: “That moment when you realize your canoe is stuck on an alligator’s back.”
The gator seems unperturbed to have a canoe stuck on its back and is in no hurry to get away.
One person who saw the Instagram post commented that gator seemed almost relaxed, as if it was enjoying the back rub.
“There really wasn’t time to do anything but hold on when this gator rose up from the muddy water below and bumped the See Through Canoe,” said Porto. “He stayed there for what seemed like forever, with the canoe sort of stuck on his back. When the gator finally backed up and submerged, the canoe moved with him for a few feet before he went down.”
Image via Thais Porto