But the water is lapping around his face and his body is lifeless.
The boy, in a red T-shirt, blue pants and tiny shoes with Velcro straps, was one of 12 people who drowned off Turkey and washed up on a beach Wednesday.
A photo of him lying alone and being approached by an official has been shared widely around the world, often with the Twitter hashtag #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik or "Flotsam of Humanity" in Turkish.
'No humanity'
Some said they hoped the images of the boy lying on the beach and his limp body being scooped up by a rescue worker could be a turning point in the debate over how to handle the surge of people heading toward Europe.Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, described the pictures as "haunting."
"Biggest indictment of collective failure," he wrote.
