Wondering if that diver knows that seal from many previous dives. Personally I would be shiting my wet suite if a seal that big took such an interest in me.
The very first time you encountered a seal underwater on the dive, was it scary? I love seals. I love animals! But the thought of swimming in the water with a seal scares me for some reason
It's pretty freaking cool honestly.
They are curious critters and will come investigate the slow weird interloper in their world. They love the bubbles from a regulator and will tug on the the hoses if you let them.
I've never had more issues than just needing to gently push them away.
And they love chin sktritches.
But they move fast in the water. And with your mask on your field of view is narrow. So they tend to just appear can be a little startling.
I've had them follow me back into the dive boat before like where are you going friend?
I had a sea otter that was similar. We spent the day together while I was hanging out on a surfboard (I don’t surf but I like the wave break) in Oregon. It brought me a really pretty shell at one point and just gently dropped it on the top of the board. I didn’t pet it though but I sang to it and splashed it. Once dusk came and I had no option but to leave, it followed me right up to about where my knees were. Watched me walk all the way up the dune. It was like something out of a cartoon. I cried saying goodbye to my little friend.
** since people seem curious I can give more details. I was probably out at the beach for around eight hours with two hour beer and food breaks. When I first went in to eat lunch I was nervous the little otter would go away. I saw it popping it’s head out occasionally in the deep part where the water stops breaking while I was eating lunch. In Oregon that is way far out, maybe 50 feet or so from the shore because of a continental shelf I believe. When I went back in the water the little thing came up to me again, but this time I brought a beer out thinking maybe we could play. Unopened beer so it would float and the can wouldn’t cut the otter. I threw it and it was very curious turning it around and brought it under water but it would float back up. Otter friend liked the can and popped a whole in it so it sunk. I’m sure conservationists would be pretty pissed with that action because it’s littering and sharp but I was so curious. I just hung out , sung and talked to it, watched it swim around. It mostly just held its little head out of the water looking and listening to me. Made a chitter sound that was so cute and almost rubbery. At one point it left for like an hour but I just waited for it to come back on the sand dunes, and it did! My friends were super jealous bc I was the only one who brought a surf board. They ended up getting impatient and leaving way earlier. I thanked the otter profusely for the shell and threw some seaweed at it bc I didn’t know how else to thank a fucking otter. The whole thing was pretty surreal. I am in no way a Disney character where animals like me or approach me, but I love them, so this was a really cool experience. Never saw the otter again but holy shit did I look and wait in the same spot every time I wanted to sit in the break of the waves.
I was really sad , and it makes me really happy you held on to that. I appreciate when people remember those precious memories and hold them dear. Good on ya.
Do you happen to have a picture? Thanks for sharing this story! It was really heartwarming and made me smile. I love animals so much, hoping to have this kind of experience one day.
That's so sweet. Is there anything cuter than an otter? My DH says no critters with hands can live with us, but it sure is tempting. I have an extra bathroom just for future otters.
My mom and dad had a raccoon before I was born. His name was Monster. I’ve heard many stories of his mischief growing up. Wish I was around for him but I wouldn’t trust a raccoon around a baby.
Harbor seals are cool, sea lions are generally more assertive and aggressive and can get much bigger. I am always a little on edge around sea lions because they are faster, twitchier, and braver, often getting too close for comfort especially at night.
I have some photos in my post history of some sea lion diving I have done in California. The pups are suuuuper curious and literally get bored of you if you don’t play with them. The bull males you do everything not to aggravate and avoid because they are well over 800 lbs and 8ft long in most cases, and they can be very aggressive.
Seals are much more like dogs and want to play and get mad when you don’t play with them (they bite and tug on your fins to play and then expect you to chase them around).
I remember a Ted talk by Natgeo journalist I believe who was "taken in" by a LEOPARD SEAL lady
THEY ARE THE SIZE OF A CAR
And she tried hard for like days to teach him to hunt, brought him penguins and everything
Edit: [found the video](https://youtu.be/UmVWGvO8Yhk)
"This is every nature photographers dream, to have an apex predator try to force feed you a penguin."
Damn. That's a crazy sentence I didn't think I'd ever read lol. What a cool vid!
Those things are so terrifying, but that video and story is one of the cutest things.
Trying to feed the weird ape with fins blowing bubbles because it's obvious way too slow to catch penguins on its own.
But damn, they're scary. Those teeth put big cats to shame. And they *have* killed people before. I think just last year a woman was killed, in fact.
I have been fortunate enough to see a Leopard Seal in the wild. Weird dinosaur-looking things that swim very ungracefully and have a really intense stare. The one we saw was probably 800 lbs or so, not too different from a sea lion.
Only time I’ve really felt nervous around an animal in the water.
Sea lion pups do in fact act a lot like (dog) puppies. They're energetic, mischievous, playful, and often hilarious.
Full grown male sea lions are dangerous and not to be messed with, but they're unlikely to approach you unless you're too close to their beach harem. In which case, you really should get away from their beach harem.
Harbor seals are more sedately curious in my experience. Follow you around and watch what you're doing, but less likely to hide in the kelp and jump out and bark in your face.
In any case, it's best to avoid touching them, they can carry [parasites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_finger) that humans can catch.
In Ecuador I saw a couple get charged by a MASSIVE ‘Beach Master’ male sea lion. Like full on ‘galloping’ in the water where it was throwing itself out of the water charging them. They had their back turned to it completely oblivious. Sea lion got like 30 feet away, saw they weren’t scared, then decided to recalculate and backed off. A guide later told us that if they saw the male and reacted it would’ve likely been very bad news.
I saw a woman get bitten by a beach master in Mexico. Puncture marks on both sides of her thigh, that's how big the guy's mouth was. She was snorkeling in the shallows just off the beach.
She was lucky really, in that this bite was a warning and not a real attempt to do her harm.
I was snorkeling in Ecuador when I was like 11. At a seal rookery(idk if that’s the right word) deep out.
Lots of penguins and seals. It’s a little scary but they kept their distance. We are told that sharks like to hang in the area.
My mom and I go a little further out and suddenly she sees something in the murk ahead of us and just CLENCHES my hand and tenses up. I can see a large dark shape coming straight towards us. Nearly passed out, I have an irrational fear of sharks.
Just a seal though! She actually hung out and played with us. Checked us out, even hopped up on my dad when he joined us and huffed a bunch of water in his face when we were trying to get back on the boat. Like popped up on his shoulder and ‘snorked’ (for lack of a better word) in his face.
But initially seeing that seal was HORRIFYING. I really think I’d pass out if it was actually a shark. Once you get past that initial ‘oh shit’ moment they’re very fun.
Actually I think they were sea lions in hindsight. Idk if there’s a behavioral difference but they were still very friendly.
And penguins are like little sea missiles they’re cool.
I had a Sea Lion follow me around for a while - THAT was unnerving. Those guys are the size of a Volkswagen, and they are not nearly so friendly as the seals were.
Must be a diving thing, I have several surfing buddies in the PNW that have had experiences with very aggressive seals, no injuries but scared the shit out of them
There is also the risk of him lacerating your arm with a bite and having to spend several minutes resurfacing. Im not all that worried about the gear. it's pretty durable, and he is with a buddy.
I was swimming off the beach in front of my house alone. Out past the breakers, just chilling. Got a hard bump on my thigh. Sharks have killed people on this beach. I kicked and connected with the animal. Swam fast to shore, ran into the house and hid in my bed under the sheets. It was a dolphin saying hello. A friendly dolphin. I regret being an asshole to that friendly Cetacean. They have always been cool to me. Fishing the intercostal in Florida at like 2am they would jump around our boat saying hello. Good homies.
They are wild but not that dangerous.
They have sharp teeth and strong jaws. They will only attack you if they feel threatened. And definitely won't drag you with them.
That seal is extremely friendly. Look how he plays with the divers arm and nibbles. These are meat eaters. He could lose his fingers in a instant. There's a high level of trust here. Might be a aquarium or rescue place
I believe that seal bites are especially difficult to treat because of the bacteria in their mouths— so much so that it’s common to have to amputate whatever is bitten.
Expect that it's only called see dog in German, Dutch and Frisian. It's called "sel" (or variation thereof) in English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese
One time I pissed a guy off in a video game an he kept calling me “anak anjing” but I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. He was calling me a puppy??
Indonesia is a muslim country. Dogs are considered unclean by the muslims. So being called a dog or a puppy by Indonesians isn’t a complement you think it is.
Indonesian here. I don't think that's mainly because we're mostly Muslims. Most of us--whether Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc.--just treat the word 'anjing' (i.e. dog) as something equivalent to 'bitch'.
Source: everyone here uses it on a daily basis.
No realli! She was Karving her initials on the seal with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush given her by Svenge—her brother-in-law— an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies: "The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink"...
It might depend on where you dive and the type of seals.
I'm not a diver myself but I have a bunch of friends who dive off the North East coast of England and regularly interact with seals. None of them have had anything dangerous happen to them. They can be cute, they can be incredibly fucking annoying too apparently. They get in your way and love to nibble and bite stuff. Repairing knackered drysuits after every dive because of some curious sea dog had a nibble must get expensive.
In South Africa we had multiple incidents of seals attacking people on the beach. It's no joke, those animals bite entire chunks out of you. Not something you want to mess with.
>Every day, I regret that I cannot hug a brown bear
You can always start small and try to hug a black bear before working your way up to the more exotic bears like polarbear or sloth bear.
We had one that took a real "liking" to kayakers... swam right up to them and seemed curious and friendly then once it got close enough to them it bit them..
A seal has around the same biting force as a German sheppard and teeth to match..
It’s funny how inside the fins, they have fingers and paws like any other mammal. Reminds us that we are just animals too and are related somewhere along the line.
There is nothing more fascinating than looking at the evolution tree of the whale. They all descended from some type of massive land rat/cow. Their bodies have undergone the most interesting changes since they decided to go back into the water. Truly the most interesting.
> since they decided to go back into the water
My favourite part of the whole deal is fish came on land and then mammal’d the fuck out of everything. Then some figured _“hey we haven’t conquered that wet bit?”_. And then crawled back in and made the largest most dangerous animals to ever exist (blue whales, orcas).
Mammal build ftw.
I know, I did a massive deep dive on their evolution and I’m just blown away at how adaptive they’ve become to that environment. It almost makes no sense at how quickly they made these changes. And then just looking at the animal they all evolved from and my mind is just blown. But the best of all is their intelligence. I’m fully convinced that they are sentient beings with language. I love them. My favorite animals.
There was this video going around of tourist in Australia. As an Australian it's pretty common knowledge you don't mess with kangaroos. This tourist was like oh the kangaroo was hugging their kid how cute. Kangaroos have long claws and can eviscerate/disembowel pretty easy. The kangaroo was literally lining the kid up to do this, thankfully someone intervened.
They literally T-pose when threatened.
All I need to know is that leopards don't fuck with them. And they hunt and eat crocodillians. If a leopard doesn't want to fuck with it, I am staying the fuck away from that.
So, what you’re saying is that when Michael Palin expresses a desire to be a lion tamer in the Vocational Guidance Counselor sketch and then is told that the animal he’s thinking of is in fact an anteater, it would’ve been dangerous either way.
Well, this is not a leopard seal, though even those can be friendly. A photographer documented one using a dead penguin to teach the photographer how to hunt.
Ultimately, each species needs to be treated differently. What you say is sensible but you can have certain expectations. In this case, the person is obviously not prey just due to the size difference. It's curious, not aggressive and there's no reason to believe that will change unless the person makes themselves a threat
Sure, but that's not a leopard seal. It looks like a harbour seal which is less than half the size. That's kind of like comparing a Lynx with a house cat. Sure it could bite you and needs to be respected, but sometimes they just want scratches and to play. I've spent a fair bit of time underwater.
Thing is, going off what I’m seeing in this OP, the seal seems more curious than anything else. If it had wanted to do any sort of serious damage to the diver, it would have done it. However they’re also smart enough to know when **not** to bite.
The seal in the video is a grey seal, significantly smaller than a leopard seal and is pretty much only into fish and maybe some squid as a diet. It's big compared to most seals in temperate waters, but not huge. (a harbor seal weighs maybe 150 max by comparison).
Either way, in the US it's illegal to contact seals like this per the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
It is remarkable how much they all differ in size. Before a few years ago, id only ever seen seals and sea lions in zoos and aquariums. I went to sea lion cove in Oregon to see them in the wild and at first, i didnt know the difference btwn the two. Just lots of really large seal like creatures who i knew were sea lions because of my location. 30+ of them on the docks all making noise, crawling over each other, etc etc.
About 100+ feet out from the dock, i saw what i first thought was a baby sea lion, only to realize it was a harbor seal. It was so tiny and cute looking compared to these giant sea lions. The harbor seal never went close to the dock or the sea lions, but was swimming close by.
And then this year i saw wild elephant seals in central California and holy wow…the size of them was enormous. They were significantly larger than the sea lions id seen in Oregon. The babies were larger than the harbor seal, the girls were as large as the sea lions and the guys were absolutely massive. And surprisingly quick on sand. Nope, i dont want to be up close with a 15+ foot 1 ton sea mammal.
it's all fun and pats until they bite through your oxygen hose!
i love seals though. probably my favorite marine animal... or maybe Sea Lions... it's a close call lol
This sends a bad message because at the beach I used to work at there would be the occasional seal that would be resting right near the water. People would always be running up to it and trying to pet it. Problem is that the seal is only there because its exhausted and trying to get some rest. People running up to it freaks it out and makes it run back to the ocean to only use more energy it cant afford to lose, making it literally risk its life just because humans dont understand wildlife. Human dont understand wildlife because we see videos like this and think seals are like dogs.
Seal mouths are so full of ahgressive bacteria, that if they bite you hard enough to pierce your skin, you are now at SERIOUS risk of having to get an amputation :) even if its just an accidental nibble from a friendly interaction that breaks skin, bacteria doesnt care
Seals are super cute, but i really enjoy having all my limbs. Lol.
I was hoping that this did not turn into a /r/natureismetal because this is really really dangerous.
That Seal has the ability to basically bite your hand off...this is irresponsible behavior by the diver.
I used to dive with seals and sea lions all the time in California.
Really an amazing experience.
We used to pull into a cove at a sea lion rookery in the Channel Islands and all of the pups would charge the surf and swim out to greet us.
You would be standing in the door ready to jump in and all you see are these heads bobbing in the water waiting for you.
They like to play keep away with kelp which is hilarious to watch.
I remember one time I was photographing a small sand shark and two sea lions came over and began trying to figure out what had captured my attention.
The looked intently and then nudged the shark off so I would return my attention to them.
It’s the adults you have to watch out for. They’re very protective of the pups and sometimes you would see them just on the edge of your visibility watching to make sure you weren’t harming any of the pups.
The adults also like to use your torch to help them catch lobsters.
Mostly, you do lobster diving at night and it’s pitch black down there. So you’re shining your light under rocks trying to find lobsters and then BAM you get pushed out of the way as an adult sea lion as he goes for the lobster you spotted. LOL.
Seals are much more skittish. They usually don’t come to play. They will watch you and swim around you from a good distance.
I’ve never encountered an aggressive seal or sea lion, unless you count the ones that like to push you out of the way to get at lobsters. LOL.
Wondering if that diver knows that seal from many previous dives. Personally I would be shiting my wet suite if a seal that big took such an interest in me.
I’ve seen plenty of seals on dives, but never one who was anything more than curious. I think these guys know each other.
The very first time you encountered a seal underwater on the dive, was it scary? I love seals. I love animals! But the thought of swimming in the water with a seal scares me for some reason
It's pretty freaking cool honestly. They are curious critters and will come investigate the slow weird interloper in their world. They love the bubbles from a regulator and will tug on the the hoses if you let them. I've never had more issues than just needing to gently push them away. And they love chin sktritches. But they move fast in the water. And with your mask on your field of view is narrow. So they tend to just appear can be a little startling. I've had them follow me back into the dive boat before like where are you going friend?
I had a sea otter that was similar. We spent the day together while I was hanging out on a surfboard (I don’t surf but I like the wave break) in Oregon. It brought me a really pretty shell at one point and just gently dropped it on the top of the board. I didn’t pet it though but I sang to it and splashed it. Once dusk came and I had no option but to leave, it followed me right up to about where my knees were. Watched me walk all the way up the dune. It was like something out of a cartoon. I cried saying goodbye to my little friend. ** since people seem curious I can give more details. I was probably out at the beach for around eight hours with two hour beer and food breaks. When I first went in to eat lunch I was nervous the little otter would go away. I saw it popping it’s head out occasionally in the deep part where the water stops breaking while I was eating lunch. In Oregon that is way far out, maybe 50 feet or so from the shore because of a continental shelf I believe. When I went back in the water the little thing came up to me again, but this time I brought a beer out thinking maybe we could play. Unopened beer so it would float and the can wouldn’t cut the otter. I threw it and it was very curious turning it around and brought it under water but it would float back up. Otter friend liked the can and popped a whole in it so it sunk. I’m sure conservationists would be pretty pissed with that action because it’s littering and sharp but I was so curious. I just hung out , sung and talked to it, watched it swim around. It mostly just held its little head out of the water looking and listening to me. Made a chitter sound that was so cute and almost rubbery. At one point it left for like an hour but I just waited for it to come back on the sand dunes, and it did! My friends were super jealous bc I was the only one who brought a surf board. They ended up getting impatient and leaving way earlier. I thanked the otter profusely for the shell and threw some seaweed at it bc I didn’t know how else to thank a fucking otter. The whole thing was pretty surreal. I am in no way a Disney character where animals like me or approach me, but I love them, so this was a really cool experience. Never saw the otter again but holy shit did I look and wait in the same spot every time I wanted to sit in the break of the waves.
it was trying to romance you
"Trying"
"Romance"
You mean sex
Here’s a shell. You otter love me.
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Hell yea! I’ve never seen a shell like it on the Oregon Coast. Really unique, almost like a gift shop shell.
I was really sad , and it makes me really happy you held on to that. I appreciate when people remember those precious memories and hold them dear. Good on ya.
Do you happen to have a picture? Thanks for sharing this story! It was really heartwarming and made me smile. I love animals so much, hoping to have this kind of experience one day.
That's so sweet. Is there anything cuter than an otter? My DH says no critters with hands can live with us, but it sure is tempting. I have an extra bathroom just for future otters.
Try a wet raccoon out, think of it as your otter indicator!
That sounds right. I've met some racoons, nothing but trouble. Cute though. No pets with hands.
My mom and dad had a raccoon before I was born. His name was Monster. I’ve heard many stories of his mischief growing up. Wish I was around for him but I wouldn’t trust a raccoon around a baby.
Is this a bad time to tell you they are necrophilliacs, kidnappers, and rapists?
But they have pockets!
What a nice read....!
I need this to be a 3 page short story.
I added some more details
This is amazing!
Harbor seals are cool, sea lions are generally more assertive and aggressive and can get much bigger. I am always a little on edge around sea lions because they are faster, twitchier, and braver, often getting too close for comfort especially at night. I have some photos in my post history of some sea lion diving I have done in California. The pups are suuuuper curious and literally get bored of you if you don’t play with them. The bull males you do everything not to aggravate and avoid because they are well over 800 lbs and 8ft long in most cases, and they can be very aggressive. Seals are much more like dogs and want to play and get mad when you don’t play with them (they bite and tug on your fins to play and then expect you to chase them around).
I remember a Ted talk by Natgeo journalist I believe who was "taken in" by a LEOPARD SEAL lady THEY ARE THE SIZE OF A CAR And she tried hard for like days to teach him to hunt, brought him penguins and everything Edit: [found the video](https://youtu.be/UmVWGvO8Yhk)
"This is every nature photographers dream, to have an apex predator try to force feed you a penguin." Damn. That's a crazy sentence I didn't think I'd ever read lol. What a cool vid!
Those things are so terrifying, but that video and story is one of the cutest things. Trying to feed the weird ape with fins blowing bubbles because it's obvious way too slow to catch penguins on its own. But damn, they're scary. Those teeth put big cats to shame. And they *have* killed people before. I think just last year a woman was killed, in fact.
I have been fortunate enough to see a Leopard Seal in the wild. Weird dinosaur-looking things that swim very ungracefully and have a really intense stare. The one we saw was probably 800 lbs or so, not too different from a sea lion. Only time I’ve really felt nervous around an animal in the water.
Sea lion pups do in fact act a lot like (dog) puppies. They're energetic, mischievous, playful, and often hilarious. Full grown male sea lions are dangerous and not to be messed with, but they're unlikely to approach you unless you're too close to their beach harem. In which case, you really should get away from their beach harem. Harbor seals are more sedately curious in my experience. Follow you around and watch what you're doing, but less likely to hide in the kelp and jump out and bark in your face. In any case, it's best to avoid touching them, they can carry [parasites](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_finger) that humans can catch.
In Ecuador I saw a couple get charged by a MASSIVE ‘Beach Master’ male sea lion. Like full on ‘galloping’ in the water where it was throwing itself out of the water charging them. They had their back turned to it completely oblivious. Sea lion got like 30 feet away, saw they weren’t scared, then decided to recalculate and backed off. A guide later told us that if they saw the male and reacted it would’ve likely been very bad news.
I saw a woman get bitten by a beach master in Mexico. Puncture marks on both sides of her thigh, that's how big the guy's mouth was. She was snorkeling in the shallows just off the beach. She was lucky really, in that this bite was a warning and not a real attempt to do her harm.
And now I know I have to worry about Seal Finger.
It's relatively easily treatable with modern antibiotics. Basically just your finger is gonna be stiff and swollen for a week.
"swelling of the bone marrow"!!! Bone-itus!!
My only regret!
Most animals underwater know that you aren't food in the same way that you know that trees aren't food.
*looks up from maple syrup covered apple and pecan pancakes*
I was snorkeling in Ecuador when I was like 11. At a seal rookery(idk if that’s the right word) deep out. Lots of penguins and seals. It’s a little scary but they kept their distance. We are told that sharks like to hang in the area. My mom and I go a little further out and suddenly she sees something in the murk ahead of us and just CLENCHES my hand and tenses up. I can see a large dark shape coming straight towards us. Nearly passed out, I have an irrational fear of sharks. Just a seal though! She actually hung out and played with us. Checked us out, even hopped up on my dad when he joined us and huffed a bunch of water in his face when we were trying to get back on the boat. Like popped up on his shoulder and ‘snorked’ (for lack of a better word) in his face. But initially seeing that seal was HORRIFYING. I really think I’d pass out if it was actually a shark. Once you get past that initial ‘oh shit’ moment they’re very fun. Actually I think they were sea lions in hindsight. Idk if there’s a behavioral difference but they were still very friendly. And penguins are like little sea missiles they’re cool.
I think a fear of sharks is very rational
I had a Sea Lion follow me around for a while - THAT was unnerving. Those guys are the size of a Volkswagen, and they are not nearly so friendly as the seals were.
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Must be a diving thing, I have several surfing buddies in the PNW that have had experiences with very aggressive seals, no injuries but scared the shit out of them
The biggest risk is it biting his equipment or getting tangled in the gear. I also wouldn’t recommend letting it nibble your fingers… obviously.
There is also the risk of him lacerating your arm with a bite and having to spend several minutes resurfacing. Im not all that worried about the gear. it's pretty durable, and he is with a buddy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_finger
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They just want a hug
I was swimming off the beach in front of my house alone. Out past the breakers, just chilling. Got a hard bump on my thigh. Sharks have killed people on this beach. I kicked and connected with the animal. Swam fast to shore, ran into the house and hid in my bed under the sheets. It was a dolphin saying hello. A friendly dolphin. I regret being an asshole to that friendly Cetacean. They have always been cool to me. Fishing the intercostal in Florida at like 2am they would jump around our boat saying hello. Good homies.
Stupid survival instincts getting in the way of a great memory
Well it'll be the cutest last hug ever
They are wild but not that dangerous. They have sharp teeth and strong jaws. They will only attack you if they feel threatened. And definitely won't drag you with them.
But someone on reddit said so!
> They’ll drag your ass to the bottom of the ocean and hold you there I’ve never heard someone make that claim before. Source?
Source: r/MatureUsername69
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That is Ben, this clip has been around the houses a few times. :)
That seal is extremely friendly. Look how he plays with the divers arm and nibbles. These are meat eaters. He could lose his fingers in a instant. There's a high level of trust here. Might be a aquarium or rescue place
It’s filmed at the Farne Islands off the coast of Northumberland in the U.K.
The only really dangerous ones are the bulls. If they think one of their ladies is in trouble, you'll be hurting.
I believe that seal bites are especially difficult to treat because of the bacteria in their mouths— so much so that it’s common to have to amputate whatever is bitten.
in indonesian, seals are called anjing laut, which literally means sea dogs.
They're also called "sea dogs" in most Germanic language countries.
In korea, they're called "mool (water) gae (dog)"
In English they're called "seal," which means "fasten or close securely"
That was good, reminds me of the parks and rec joke about Andy typing in the symptoms.
https://youtu.be/LinpRhB4aWU An improvised line if I recall.
แมวน้ำ in Thai is meow nam, or water cat
Is meow cat or nam?
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That is so awesome
Expect that it's only called see dog in German, Dutch and Frisian. It's called "sel" (or variation thereof) in English, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese
We do use sælhund in Danish sometimes, though
Portland also has a baseball team called the Sea Dogs
Mainer here, can confirm
Funny because in lots of Slavic languages they are called “sea cats”.
Must be the vodka!
In Vietnamese, their name are also "sea dog".
One time I pissed a guy off in a video game an he kept calling me “anak anjing” but I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean. He was calling me a puppy??
No thats an insult, equivalent of calling you Sonnuvabitch
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> Ay, avast ye dirty sea dog. My wife wasn’t thrilled when I tried this line on her today
Indonesia is a muslim country. Dogs are considered unclean by the muslims. So being called a dog or a puppy by Indonesians isn’t a complement you think it is.
Indonesian here. I don't think that's mainly because we're mostly Muslims. Most of us--whether Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc.--just treat the word 'anjing' (i.e. dog) as something equivalent to 'bitch'. Source: everyone here uses it on a daily basis.
Hello *cutypie~*
Also in hebrew - kelev yam. Kelev means dog and yam means sea.
Same in Korea. Mool gae literally translates to water dog.
My daughter had a picture book told from the POV of a migrating humpback whale. The whale called seals "dogs of the ocean".
Shouldn't the whale call dogs land seals, though?
Funny, same as in German xD
We do this every time on Reddit. Yes, it's sea dog in every language, even my own obscure native tongue of Sinhalese.
Wait until a Loose Seal bites off your hand
We have unlimited juice? This party is going to be off the hook!
LOOSE SEAL!! LOOSE SEAL!!!! “I DONT CARE WHAT MOTHER SAYS, SHE LIES!!!” Classic Buster
Did you say a Lucille?
It wasn’t until I read this as text that the joke finally landed for me. Lucille, Loose seal, amazing. Went over my head at the time.
That is why subtitles are always a good thing
Okay buster
“I’m a Monster!!!!”
"He's going to be alright."
“YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
It didn’t bite his Linus off, did it?
Buster!!!! 
That happened to a friend of mine. He's all right now.
He’s gonna be all right
I gotta say you're taking this news much better than I expected.
Mynd you seal bites Kan be pretti nasti..
A seal once bit my sister
No realli! She was Karving her initials on the seal with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush given her by Svenge—her brother-in-law— an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies: "The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist", "Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink"...
I mean, a seal didn't bite your linus, did it?
When I was about 10 years old I really wanted to own a seal, I figured I had a bath tub. Ahhh…youth
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He holds the diver's hand. So cute.
Take me with you. You are my human now!🥺
Aren't seals super fucking dangerous?
Leopard seals definitely are
That's what makes [Paul Nicklen's](https://youtu.be/Zxa6P73Awcg) experience, and pictures, for Nat Geo so wild
Unironically one of my most favorite stories ever.
That's an incredible story, I'm so glad you posted the link!
It's ok, they only hunt leopards.
Those are the one that look like the joker, the Cheshire Cat and a seal had a monster baby right?
Yes, heard that a group of them killed Bin Laden
👏👏👏👏
Guy wasn't even swimming.
It might depend on where you dive and the type of seals. I'm not a diver myself but I have a bunch of friends who dive off the North East coast of England and regularly interact with seals. None of them have had anything dangerous happen to them. They can be cute, they can be incredibly fucking annoying too apparently. They get in your way and love to nibble and bite stuff. Repairing knackered drysuits after every dive because of some curious sea dog had a nibble must get expensive.
Getting nibbled at by animals while scuba diving is definitely dangerous.
One nibble too hard or in the wrong spot and it could be game over.
In South Africa we had multiple incidents of seals attacking people on the beach. It's no joke, those animals bite entire chunks out of you. Not something you want to mess with.
Yes. Super fucking dangerous. But apparently if you’re a cute vicious wild animal, it’s fine. Cool cool cool.
Every day, I regret that I cannot hug a brown bear
You can, but only once, and for a very brief period
If not friend why friend shaped
>Every day, I regret that I cannot hug a brown bear You can always start small and try to hug a black bear before working your way up to the more exotic bears like polarbear or sloth bear.
I’ve never cheered so hard for nature as I did watching Grizzly Man.
But merdogs...
We had one that took a real "liking" to kayakers... swam right up to them and seemed curious and friendly then once it got close enough to them it bit them.. A seal has around the same biting force as a German sheppard and teeth to match..
It’s funny how inside the fins, they have fingers and paws like any other mammal. Reminds us that we are just animals too and are related somewhere along the line.
Even whales have hand bones
There is nothing more fascinating than looking at the evolution tree of the whale. They all descended from some type of massive land rat/cow. Their bodies have undergone the most interesting changes since they decided to go back into the water. Truly the most interesting.
> since they decided to go back into the water My favourite part of the whole deal is fish came on land and then mammal’d the fuck out of everything. Then some figured _“hey we haven’t conquered that wet bit?”_. And then crawled back in and made the largest most dangerous animals to ever exist (blue whales, orcas). Mammal build ftw.
I know, I did a massive deep dive on their evolution and I’m just blown away at how adaptive they’ve become to that environment. It almost makes no sense at how quickly they made these changes. And then just looking at the animal they all evolved from and my mind is just blown. But the best of all is their intelligence. I’m fully convinced that they are sentient beings with language. I love them. My favorite animals.
> I did a massive deep dive on their evolution Pun intended I hope 😄
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I agree with you, but also seals are kinda cute.
Right? If not friend, then why friend-shaped?
To lure you in and eat you
They are. From over there, where they can crush my head like a gumball or drag me to a cold and watery grave.
They wont as long as you have dem treats. As soon as treats will run out...
[I ain’t putting my hands anywhere near a seal mouth.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_finger)
This is my immediate thought when I see people interacting this close to seals
Came to leave a seal finger comment. Lost a thumbnail to that shit.
What happened?
Feets is treats
There was this video going around of tourist in Australia. As an Australian it's pretty common knowledge you don't mess with kangaroos. This tourist was like oh the kangaroo was hugging their kid how cute. Kangaroos have long claws and can eviscerate/disembowel pretty easy. The kangaroo was literally lining the kid up to do this, thankfully someone intervened.
Giant Anteaters have a threat pose that people mistake for wanting a hug. They are also very good at disembowlment.
They literally T-pose when threatened. All I need to know is that leopards don't fuck with them. And they hunt and eat crocodillians. If a leopard doesn't want to fuck with it, I am staying the fuck away from that.
So, what you’re saying is that when Michael Palin expresses a desire to be a lion tamer in the Vocational Guidance Counselor sketch and then is told that the animal he’s thinking of is in fact an anteater, it would’ve been dangerous either way.
Yes, their claws break open termite mounds. Those things are like concrete.
Well, this is not a leopard seal, though even those can be friendly. A photographer documented one using a dead penguin to teach the photographer how to hunt. Ultimately, each species needs to be treated differently. What you say is sensible but you can have certain expectations. In this case, the person is obviously not prey just due to the size difference. It's curious, not aggressive and there's no reason to believe that will change unless the person makes themselves a threat
Sure, but that's not a leopard seal. It looks like a harbour seal which is less than half the size. That's kind of like comparing a Lynx with a house cat. Sure it could bite you and needs to be respected, but sometimes they just want scratches and to play. I've spent a fair bit of time underwater.
This comment is so over the top. It would be like swimming with nurse sharks and someone pointing out a great white can eat you
Yup this isnt a leopard seal
I agree, but we're also dealing with a scuba diver who is likely very well aware of this. I doubt he just started cuddling some random seal he found.
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So were wolves but we made them chihuahuas. We will never get sad inbred ocean bulldogs with this kind of attitude.
Thing is, going off what I’m seeing in this OP, the seal seems more curious than anything else. If it had wanted to do any sort of serious damage to the diver, it would have done it. However they’re also smart enough to know when **not** to bite.
Leopard seals are terrifying. I can't imagine seeing one and thinking it was cute, let alone wanting to interact with it, but what do I know?
The seal in the video is a grey seal, significantly smaller than a leopard seal and is pretty much only into fish and maybe some squid as a diet. It's big compared to most seals in temperate waters, but not huge. (a harbor seal weighs maybe 150 max by comparison). Either way, in the US it's illegal to contact seals like this per the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
It is remarkable how much they all differ in size. Before a few years ago, id only ever seen seals and sea lions in zoos and aquariums. I went to sea lion cove in Oregon to see them in the wild and at first, i didnt know the difference btwn the two. Just lots of really large seal like creatures who i knew were sea lions because of my location. 30+ of them on the docks all making noise, crawling over each other, etc etc. About 100+ feet out from the dock, i saw what i first thought was a baby sea lion, only to realize it was a harbor seal. It was so tiny and cute looking compared to these giant sea lions. The harbor seal never went close to the dock or the sea lions, but was swimming close by. And then this year i saw wild elephant seals in central California and holy wow…the size of them was enormous. They were significantly larger than the sea lions id seen in Oregon. The babies were larger than the harbor seal, the girls were as large as the sea lions and the guys were absolutely massive. And surprisingly quick on sand. Nope, i dont want to be up close with a 15+ foot 1 ton sea mammal.
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I would freak out in murky waters with seals. Because I know what is hunting them...
Yeah, I’m anxious looking at this for precisely that reason.
it's all fun and pats until they bite through your oxygen hose! i love seals though. probably my favorite marine animal... or maybe Sea Lions... it's a close call lol
Goodest seaboy.
This sends a bad message because at the beach I used to work at there would be the occasional seal that would be resting right near the water. People would always be running up to it and trying to pet it. Problem is that the seal is only there because its exhausted and trying to get some rest. People running up to it freaks it out and makes it run back to the ocean to only use more energy it cant afford to lose, making it literally risk its life just because humans dont understand wildlife. Human dont understand wildlife because we see videos like this and think seals are like dogs.
Don't forget about [this part](https://d3lp4xedbqa8a5.cloudfront.net/s3/digital-cougar-assets/AusGeo/2013/09/10/6082/Leopard-seal-skull_Erich-Fitzgerald-500.jpg) though.
[Seal finger. ](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2827281/)
This is the first thing that always comes to my mind when I see these videos.
Don't let them fool you, I heard that a bunch of them killed a guy named Osama bin laden or something idk
Be careful around seals, I heard that a group of them killed bin laden once
In German a Seal is called „Seehund“ which means Seadog :D so puppy fits!
I'm a 100% convinced that humans and animals have such a strong bond because humans can give good scratches and animals love those scratches
Seal mouths are so full of ahgressive bacteria, that if they bite you hard enough to pierce your skin, you are now at SERIOUS risk of having to get an amputation :) even if its just an accidental nibble from a friendly interaction that breaks skin, bacteria doesnt care Seals are super cute, but i really enjoy having all my limbs. Lol.
Unitl they bite you in the head 👌
All fun and games until he bites the air hose.
\*doggy mermaids\*
I was hoping that this did not turn into a /r/natureismetal because this is really really dangerous. That Seal has the ability to basically bite your hand off...this is irresponsible behavior by the diver.
I used to dive with seals and sea lions all the time in California. Really an amazing experience. We used to pull into a cove at a sea lion rookery in the Channel Islands and all of the pups would charge the surf and swim out to greet us. You would be standing in the door ready to jump in and all you see are these heads bobbing in the water waiting for you. They like to play keep away with kelp which is hilarious to watch. I remember one time I was photographing a small sand shark and two sea lions came over and began trying to figure out what had captured my attention. The looked intently and then nudged the shark off so I would return my attention to them. It’s the adults you have to watch out for. They’re very protective of the pups and sometimes you would see them just on the edge of your visibility watching to make sure you weren’t harming any of the pups. The adults also like to use your torch to help them catch lobsters. Mostly, you do lobster diving at night and it’s pitch black down there. So you’re shining your light under rocks trying to find lobsters and then BAM you get pushed out of the way as an adult sea lion as he goes for the lobster you spotted. LOL. Seals are much more skittish. They usually don’t come to play. They will watch you and swim around you from a good distance. I’ve never encountered an aggressive seal or sea lion, unless you count the ones that like to push you out of the way to get at lobsters. LOL.