My friend and I got in for an afternoon spear. The conditions weren't ideal, the wind was chopping up the surface of the sea a bit, which meant murky water, but we could see a sheltered spot in the lea of some rocks and headed across the channel to check it out. As soon as I saw the low visibility I realised that it wasn't going to be the best dive but I was just glad to be in the water, and you can never tell when you will find a patch of clear vis, or run into a big shoal of fish unexpectedly!
The water did clear up as we got further out and into the shelter of the rocks, but there were no fish to be found, then we saw the reason, a seals head just poking above the water observing us from close by. I quickly unlimbered my gun and turned on my camera hoping the seal might get close enough to get some footage.
What I never expect was for the seal to approach us and play with us for over half an hour, it was the most fantastic experience. When I have seen seals in the surf the always seem to be a little menacing, the big bull seals have a habit of surfacing near you and catching you by surprise, splashing and huffing their huge scarred heads and looking quite intimidating up close.
But this female grey seal was inquisitive and so elegant underwater as she swam circles around us, not at all threatening. Instead she was clearly curious about us and kept approaching from different angles before retreating then trying to sneak up from behind. Often she would sink down and watch us motionless from the seaweed, allowing me at times to get within 3 ft of her.
She began doing flips and lazy rotations seemingly unphased by our presence, if anything it looked as if she was showing off. She would regard us with her dark eyes then turn away, running the seaweed through her flippers. It was enchanting and one of the most memorable encounters I have ever had in the sea.
Finally she tired of us and swam off into the murk to find something more interesting to do and we returned to shore. I was buzzing all the way home. Here is the edited highlights of the footage, although the wide angled lens makes her look further away than she actually was.
