SARASOTA, Fla. — The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles are just days away from facing off in Arizona for Super Bowl LVII.
And around this time each year, Tampa Bay turns to its local sports experts to predict who will reign victorious: manatees Buffett and Hugh at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium in Sarasota.
The resident sea cows made their picks Tuesday morning in front of eager football fans on the other side of the tank.
And just like Travis and Jason Kelce, these manatee brothers are rooting for different teams this year.
Buffett went first, slowly floating toward the sign before placing his flipper on the helmet with the Philadelphia Eagles logo. The manatee is known for correctly predicting the winning team most of the time — he has an impressive 11-4 record.
Hugh picked second, booping his nose right on the Kansas City Chiefs logo. Hugh's Super Bowl prediction record is a little less accurate at 6-9, but it's still anyone's game.
Manatee half-brothers, Buffett and Hugh, have been making Super Bowl predictions for 15 years. Last year, they selected the Cincinnati Bengals only to be proven wrong when the Los Angeles Rams narrowly came away with the 23-20 win.
The animals make their picks using something called target training, Mote PR Manager Stephannie Kettle explained. A target is placed in the tank directly between the two team photos to draw the manatees over so they can then make their predictions. Aside from Super Bowl picks, target training is used for things like veterinary check-ups to monitor the animals' health, Kettle added.
Born at the Miami Seaquarium, Buffett and Hugh arrived at Mote in 1996. They stick to a simple plant-based diet of between 72 and 84 heads of romaine lettuce a day.
The boys serve as animal ambassadors by spreading the word about protecting manatees in the wild and are the only manatees in the world trained to participate in certain special research projects.
You can watch them make their Super Bowl LVII picks below.