Seal Hugs

It has been a slow year so far for me in a number of ways. Blog posts for one, so apologies on that front. The fish also have been reluctant to show themselves to me and the Basking sharks haven't put in an appearance - reports suggest record low numbers of sightings which is a real shame. Still I can't complain because the seals are really coming through for me :)

I have always been jealous of some of the films I have seen on youtube of scuba divers getting seal hugs and wondered what the main differences are. Is it the fact that the divers are deeper and more static? That they are in a location where the seals are friendlier? Or just the familiarity of constant exposure to scuba divers? Well I have just returned from an incredible dive with a new seal at one of my favourite spots. He was a young male and was MUCH more friendly than any other seal I have yet encountered.

I had spent some time hunting (and failing to find) Bass and was frankly surprised not to have bumped into one of my regular seal friends. It was only when I returned to the shallows along the shore that I noticed I was being tailed by a seal I didn't recognise. I unloaded my gun and turned on my camera and waited to see how this newcomer was going to react. It was quickly apparent that he was extremely inquisitive, he glided elegantly around me and straight away decided my fins looked tasty. Unlike the other seals he was happy to swim right underneath me and was attracted rather than nervous when I dived down.

I began to realise this was going to be a special dive and I wasn't wrong. The seal played with me for over an hour, getting bolder and bolder, clearly completely unphased by close proximity he would pop up right next to me and look around turning his back on me. Or swim right underneath me, even sniff my hand and let me scratch his chin. It was like playing with a friendly underwater dog :)

I will let the video do the talking. Suffice to say it was a magical experience! (HD Fullscreen and chuck me a like on youtube if you er like it!)

The start of a beautiful friendship

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.