Mating manatees draw crowd in Pompano Beach

The sex life of Florida's favorite seagrass-munching mammal was on display Monday afternoon, as a dozen manatees gathered to mate on the surf in Pompano Beach.

A crowd gathered, kept at a respectful distance by lifeguards and Broward Sheriff's deputies, as the manatees engaged in mating behavior that involved a cluster of males chasing a female into shallow water. The males bumped each other for position, trying to climb onto the female, in sluggish, manatee-like manner, their whiskered snouts protruding from the water.

"It's awesome," said Gabrielle Mento, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, who came to the beach with her boyfriend Domenic Zenga, after seeing the manatees on the news. "It's amazing to…