Hank49
Contributor
Personally, I think this mola mola appears distressed from the encounter.
No offense, but on what experience do you draw this conclusion?
Regarding manatees and other large animals in the sea that one might approach or touch, in most cases the person will get the bad end of the deal, not the animal.
Ever been in the water with a manatee? They could knock you silly with a flip of that tail. Whale shark? Large turtles? I personally would not try to grab, ride or even touch them. But looking at scars and wounds they seem to inflict on themselves and have inflicted on them by others, I seriously doubt a touch or contact with a human has any negative impact.
We do have a bad impact in the marine environment. Pollution, over fish etc. But when we're in the water we're the weak ones. The marine animals can pretty much kick our ass anytime.