A baby seal climbed onto the surfboard of British waverider Matt Stanley during his Sunday outing off the coast of Northumberland, and was captured by a sports camera.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," the 23-year-old Stanley
told the BBC. The seal pup stuck around for nearly an hour, continually climbing onto the boards of Stanley and his surf partner, Andrew Flounders, and chasing them around the waves.
"We had been in for about 45 minutes when the seal came along. I've seen them there before but they are usually far away. This one nudged Andrew's foot in the water and started getting curious," he explained.
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"We had just been joking about the lack of seals in the sea and perhaps there might be a shark around as the water was very warm," Flounders
told the Northumberland Gazette.
"Then I felt a thud against my leg. I jumped onto the board and Matty said the color drained from my face. But the seal just leapt on board and was really, really friendly and kept following us, even out of the sea when we left."
"It kept sliding off, but every time you caught a wave it would surf in on the white water," added Stanley. "I've never seen a seal that close up, never mind one sitting on-board."
After consulting a spokesman at the Cornish Seal Sanctuary at Gweek about the chance encounter, he told the BBC that seals love to lie on flat surfaces, including surfboards, but advised people not to seek them out for both their own safety and the safety of the seals.
The hosts of "Good Morning America,"
who showed the clip on Tuesday, advised Stanley to put the feel-good footage on his online dating profile.
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