Orphaned seal pup swims from board to board to hang with surfers at Tourmaline Surf Park
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ธ.ค. 2024
- When surfers are out in the water surfing it's not unusual for them to see dolphins and seals swimming around them. What is unusual is for a seal to hall out of the water up onto the surfboards and that is what is happening at Tourmaline Surf Park where a seal pup is hanging out with surfers on their surfboards.
Tourmaline Surf Park is a great place for surfing, especially for longboarding.
Shawn spoke with Ed Hartel, a photographer and drone pilot, who was flying at Tourmaline, a noted place for surfing and especially for longboarding, and noticed something very unusual in the water.
"Four days ago, a baby seal pup was spotted, and I came down three days ago to see if he was still around," said Hartel.
That doesn't sound too unusual, but the next part is.
"Basically, he swims from board to board jumping on different surfers' boards. He'll sit there for five to 10 minutes and then paddle to another surfer's board and he does it all morning long," Hartel continued.
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I hope the baby finds another family to live with. That is so very cute but sad.
why? WHATS WRONG WITH A FAMILY OF SURFERS? they have the best grub AND the best indica....
@@tommurphy4307 They're just not around at night.
Likely a juvenile great white is going to get that very young seal one of these days. Maybe the seal knows this and somehow knows it's safer around all those surfers. Poor guy or girl. Wonder what the pup does at night all on his or her own?
They should bring it to a rescue
there is a reason they are called pups. it needs rescued out of that water. and babied like a pup.
Poor lil pup, he was lonely and needed some company. But you can tell he's enjoying his new surfer friends, he did the banana pose a few times.
I agree i think its lonesome poor baby hopefully he makes it !
Does a banana pose means, the seal pup is happy ?
@@SpringNotes Yup, at least REALLY comfortable (showing its belly (weakest part)) is a sign of "im not scared or bothered, im having fun" also it tried to bounce on the wave while banana posing, nah its enjoying its new friends ^^
The Seal knows if your homeless & looking for a free ride,, California!
@@chadsimmons6347 You're a deeply troubled person, Chad.
He or she feels safe being with them. It’s protection !!!!
and hangin' with the bros is, well, its PRICELESS
Protection for the seal, potential death for the surfer. It’s not wise to encourage this behavior. They absolutely should have taken this seal to a rescue.
Yes
@@shacktime Potential death for the surfers? How?
Yes the baby seal knows exactly what he’s doing !
One surfer was literally hugging themselves over the cuteness on their board and doing their best to not touch the adorable baby! 😊❤
I would touch it. What a stupid rule. All animals need to be touch!
@@chrisx5127 Go and read why you shouldn't touch it.
@@chrisx5127in the natural env baby would get some kisses and hugs from mama, love is love and baby seems lonely 😔 if it was my private beach for sure I’d become his best friend and hug a lot ❤
@chrisx5127 except they shouldn't. You can have ickiness on your hand that can hurt some animals. Also, many aquatic animals have protective like coatings over their skin you can damage by smooshing the cutie. Edit: Human smells could also scare off other potential adoptive families for this little one.
@@heatherkaye8653 But you eat meat right?
He said it’s not in distress, but just wants to be around people. I’d say that it’s grieving for its mother, and is looking for comfort and safety anywhere it can get it. The trauma of seeing your mother eaten by a shark must be horrific for even a baby seal.
I agree. He might be looking fine physically but he's obviously traumatized to have seen his mama eaten by a shark. These surfers don't seem to care that a great white was in the area just a few days ago. That shark will be back for more as soon as he's done digesting the mama seal. 😬
Yeah, the fact that it’s hanging around people tells me it’s distressed. That’s not normal seal behavior so I imagine it’s the little guy’s way of coping with its mother getting killed.
Baby is SAFE up on the boards from the sharks. It's trying to save it's own life until it's big enough to get away.
LMFAO
@@le_th_ exactly, it's smart enough to realise the more time it can spend out of the water the better & boards give it a great place out of the water to hunt from
The pup feels protected like the other commenter stated, there's safety in numbers. The surfers don't mind, it's the seal's home, hope the pup finds a family.
What a blessed event!
They're also wearing grey suits so maybe it thinks they're a distant relative of seals lol
I agree that seal is belong to ocean, that seal’s home! I respect seals and otters as seals and otters respect us it’s my home land..
It looks so damned cute. It must be very difficult to keep yourself from petting it, especially when it's so close, and would likely be a once in a lifetime experience.
I’d pet it. I can’t control myself 😅
i surf here in L.A. EVERY experienced surfer knows they cannot touch nor pet the seals and baby lions. It's the ones on boats who cannot control themselves and pet/take selfies..
@@luigivincenz3843 Can you explain why you shouldn't touch them? Since you said the "Experience Surfers" know the reason, that implies the "boat people" aka "Tourists/Everyone-Else" are the ones who are ignorant, and rightfully so..... I would want to pet it and make sure it's okay, but I'm ignorant to why we cannot touch them.
EDIT: From what i see the 2 reasons i see are.
1. They could transmit diseases to you.
2. They are pretended under some Marine Protection Act that forbids touching or disturbing marine wildlife.
I assume mostly it's the second one? Kind of a stupid law when the seal is playing with them, and might be looking for help.
@@AlvinKazu It's the same idea as any other wildlife. You don't want wild animals to think it's okay to be near humans, especially when they can be aggressive and harm us. For example, if people at the beach hadn't fed seagulls a long time ago, seagulls wouldn't approach us to steal our food. Same with pigeons and squirrels. They quickly become conditioned to relying on us, which is not a good thing, since animals become very aggressive when in search for food. This is also why zoo animals can't be released out into the wild; they rely on humans for food.
Disease is also another obvious reason. But it's mainly that a lot of animals are aggressive and territorial and will start threatening humans, like bears or coyotes do. People forget that adult seals can be very aggressive just because they look like cute water dogs. And in the case of baby animals, a human scent on them can lead to rejection from the mother. It's best to leave wild animals alone. In a lot of cases, WE are invading their territory, so we should try our best to preserve what we can for them.
@@AlvinKazu Why can't you just have enough self-restraint to not be self-serving for once? If the experts know it's better for the seal for you to not touch it, then stop being selfish and leave it alone.
I hope he remains safe and healthy. What's makes my heart smile about this story is all of the surfers forgot all about their surfing and are like a bunch of kids falling in love with playing with the seal pup.
no worry--a shark will eat it,end of story
This pup is so cute but must be missing his mother. I hope its old enough to hunt for itself now.
I looked it up and harbor seals are weaned in 4-6 weeks.
(It's crazy how quickly seals are weaned, in general).
He must be if he’s still healthy
@@TragoudistrosMPHThey may be weaned, but mom is still hunting for pup. He's not old enough to hunt for himself.
I'm so happy to see the surfers did the right thing and did not touch him. It would be so tempting though - so cute! Big kudos to all of them for behaving in a very caring and responsible way.
I would have touch it.
We kill livestock and you are afraid to touch a seal? Really?!?
we don't want to kill and eat the seal pup so we don't want to touch it...
@@heatherkaye8653 We only touch animals that we want to kill and eat?
@@chrisx5127two different things. This isn't the "Gotcha" moment you were hoping for.
He just founds new friends and feels safe 😊 they should take him to La Jolla with all the seals over there he will be happy
That's what I am thinking too. He needs other seals to grow up with & teach him the way.
That's a great suggestion.
someone needs to end it's misery
If you saw your mom eaten by a shark you wouldn't want to be in the water either... getting on each board is probably a nice place to feel safe without going to the rocks or the beach. I hope it finds a new family to adopt it.
Exactly
Get him his own board! He's on to something, he knows he's safer from the shark up there.
not a bad idea- let's see what hansen's has.
it is not safe--a shark will eat it
So happy for dronedude, ed, for being the guy to get the shots!
Well as long as seaworld CONTINUES to monitor it, that’s great. Don’t just say he’s fine and go on with your day, please continue to check in on this sweet soul. Lost his mama so young, he deserves to thrive from here on out
Seaworld and all water parks are Animal abusers....
Big ocean, no crew to send to babysit it so they say they will monitor the situation which sounds promising but meaningless. They will keep an eye on any reports that comes in .....that's what monitoring means. Not actually being on the beach because honestly, that's pretty useless. This was a simple way to clear themselves and hope that people forget about it soon when it either swims away or gets eaten.
It's funny though when other animal babies lose their mother, you see tons of videos of animal groups taking care of it while here it's "can't help, it's the law".
Seaworld cannot save the seal pup now, they cannot take it and raise it at their facility, they have to leave it alone and it will be killed by a shark, there is no question about that. So because everyone was having a grand old time hating on Seaworld over the whale shows, they cannot save this seal pup, it will die, it has no family, no mother to show it how to hunt, it is doomed, they would literally have to watch it being eaten by a shark if they saw it happening.
@@vlada go watch some seal rescue videos. They take in underweight babies, raise them up until they look like this seal in this video & then take them to a beach near a seal colony & release them for the seal to make it's own way to the colony to find new companions to replace it's mother. So what do you think a rescue group is going to do in this situation huh? It's already at release point! I do land rescues in Australia, we often get this after release & frequently intentionally engage in "soft release", where we supplement food & provide a safe space to the wild animal for a few weeks after release, while it gets it's bearings & builds the courage to go further & further afield. It's really quite normal for babies to take a little time to figure things out & tbh, this one's figured things out pretty dam well! It's realised the boards are nice safe, out of the water spaces to hunt from. It will eventually move on, if not before, when it is ready to find a mate
I agree .. he likes people and want Asylum!
Contacting SeaWorld is like trying to give the baby seal a prison sentence.
Awww poor little orphan is looking for comfort hopefully it survives
I grew up on the coast and adult seals hang out on docks all the time. So this seal just sees the surf boards as portable docks with land friends that he feels comfortable with. Turtles do the same thing with geese. They collect around them for some reason.
goose eggs are TASTY
I just searched “turtles and geese” and one of the first vids is a short of a snapping turtle eating a duckling 😢
I think the seal honestly thinks the surfers in black wet suits are other grown seals .. they look very similar when laying on the board .. little seal thinks he's a surfer 🥲
Which is the same reason a lot of surfers get attacked by sharks. From below a surfer on a board looks a lot like lunch.
@@gregsteele806 There are very few shark attacks in California. Around 5 per year on average and only two are with injuries.
Aww so adorable. I hope it makes it to an adult.
Props to the surfers. It seemed from the videos shown, that they respected the pup seal. They interacted with, but kept a safe distance. It is a cute pup, but it is a wild animal. Humans should show respect when interacting with wild animals. Keep a distance, enjoy the moment and be glad for the good memories.
Safe distance? Does that mean anything? Theyre sharing the same board. Any closer and they'd be touching.
You're confusing that sentence with when you encounter a lion or gorilla.... THAT is when safe distance matters .
Surfers in body gloves look like adult seals to that little pup, he is immulating and imprinting a surfer behavior. Cool little surfer pup pod. (:
He's hanging out where he lost his momma... the seal is in distress...
agreed
he is trying to get away from sharks, and these idiots just keep him there
So awesome he is making new friends ❤
The pup understands that surfers are some of the most respectful to the oceans.
lol sure ok
It's so cool how all the surfers are just letting the pup do it's thing. 🤙
I would take it home and try to get it some help.
Poor pup. We must protect that pup.
That seal is accidental bait for sharks. Bring it to rescue center before surfer gets killed
The city of Sd and most surfers are lying to themselves everyday about how bad the shark population and situation has gotten. They are pure idiots they will get a wake up call soon unfortunately
there's no 'rescue center' here. and sea world is NOT an option. go rescue something on YOUR beach.
@@tommurphy4307 go away kook
"Aww...how cute." -humans
"Do you know WTF is down there?" -seal
Smart seal, blending in with the surfers and learning how to ride a board.
Me am human not taste seal baby
He's afraid of sharks and the open ocean after seeing his mom eaten. 😢
that's exactly what it is
@@InquisitionSurvivor How come you two have word-for-word the same comment? And, Anita was first.
@@markh2200 what are you? the thought police?
@@InquisitionSurvivor bot police, not thought police
@@markh2200 you're a self professed bot? figures
I hope the baby seal stays safe🦦
That plump little Harbor pup is hiding from "Whitey" using those surfers as a human shield. The same story always precedes a GW encounter, "a White Shark was spotted in the area in days prior to the attack". I would surf another spot!
I was surfing in San Diego while in college and felt a tug on my leash. Figuring it was just the reef, I ignored it until it happened again. Then I started worrying as just a few months prior someone was attacked by a white shark just a few miles up the shoreline. Then I see this baby seal (or seal lion) pop its head out of the water a few feet from me... Just sharing a good memory.
These surfers know to give a sea animal its space. I remember a few years ago a beach full of people killed a baby dolphin because they took it out of the water and were petting it and taking pictures of it.
Yeah, that was sad and disgusting.
very cute, all the surfers look like seals with their wet suits i think the baby sees them sitting on the boards and is imitating, did any of them push it on a little wave that would be something... that is their seal now, and that is that seals beach, and that seal is now a surfer.
animals aren't that stupid. if what you say is true, the surfers would be attacked by sharks because seals are one of their favorite foods. try again.
@@tommurphy4307 Hate to break it to you, but surfers have been attacked by sharks many times.
@@tommurphy4307though I do agree that it sounds stupid to say that sharks with their "Apex Predator level" of senses and evolution would mistake a surfer as a seal, you can't rule out the fact that it may or has happened.
The poor thing is traumatized... if I saw a great white jump out of the water and chew up my mom, I would not be too thrilled to be in the water either.
What I understood is that there are great whites in close proximity visible to surfers feeding on seals. Hope that tourmalines' busy shores discourage sharks from getting any closer. However it is an unsettling reminder that we are in their habitat.
a lot of trafficking on that beach....
@@tommurphy4307 Yeah we spotted you.
Thanks for posting sometimes TH-cam is great
A seal pulling itself out of the water onto my board while I'm surfing. My first thought would be there is a great white in the water and the seal is looking to get away from it.
See. It's not just the great white sharks that mistake surfers in wetsuits as seals.
actually theyre more likely to attack skin and scuba divers wearing wetsuits
Smart pup... Knows where it's safe.
it gave its seal of approval to the boardsafety!
The seal knows it's safe with the surfers. But the surfers are not going to be able to protect the little guy 24 hours a day.
Good luck to the seal.
He's just trying to escape the Great White that you haven't seen yet
He probably saw his mother die and is reaching out for protection. Poor little thing.
He or she said my mom is gone 😢
When I was surfing one time, a sea otter came by to offer me a clam. I politely turned down the offer.
So they know there's a white shark around...
During my years as a newspaper reporter, I had the privilege of interviewing dozens of veterinarians and zoologists. As far as I know, in marine wildlife rehab centers, divers' wetsuits are often filled with padding to resemble adult seals. Oftentimes, they have fake teats attached to them, so rescued seal pups can nurse thinking the wetsuit is their mother (The Dodo has a great story on that). Now, as we saw in this video, all of the surfers on this San Diego beach are wearing BLACK WETSUITS. It amazes me that no wildlife experts consulted regarding this baby seal have made the connection that the seal pup probably thinks THEY ARE SEALS TOO! That's why she approaches them without fear or hesitation. That's why the pup continues to seek them out! By the way, kudos to anyone and everyone who has the presence of mind and emotional restraint to respect the seal and NOT touch it. Thank you for this great video. We really enjoyed it.
Why cant you pet the seal?
He is trying to get fed, guys.... it's not weird behavior.... he is an orphaned baby..... FEED him.
don't you think thats already happening?? jeez....
that is the worst thing you can do to a wild animal. you'll make it very reliant on humans and comfortable approaching other humans then it can become a very dangerous situation to the animal and to the humans.
Everyone looks like seals with their wetsuits on.
He just wants to learn to surf! 🤙
For anything wondering, the reason you're not supposed to touch them is because many wild animals have coatings on their fur or structures to their feathers. E.g otters have a film of oil on their fur that makes them waterproof. Touching them messes this up. As much as humans have an insatiable need to pet every thing in site, please don't pet wild animals.
Seems like this pup needs adoption or to be integrated with a group of his fellow seals?
The pup was a human in its last life and one day it remembered. It's trying to tell people "Hey I'm a human. Please help me get back to my human body." but no one could understand him.
So cute!
Yea the seal is avoiding predators by jumping onto the board
Heart warming❤
That`s so amazing, so lovely that people have contact to this animals
You guys are going to raise a wonderful seal!
Best YT comment ever.
nope,a shark will eat it within a week
The more I watch many nature videos, I'm constantly amazed at how animals can and do behave around humans. I just don't want them harmed in anyway as long as they don't harm [innocent] humans.
I would say he is trying to protect himself . May not be a great idea for surfers and a great white in the area .
nonsense- i spearfish black's all the time and i'm more concerned about the leopards getting my fish or spear than i am about great whites- which aren't that common along our beaches.
@@tommurphy4307 if there are seals they will come .
@@tommurphy4307don't Great Whites prefer deeper waters?
The baby seal is soooo cute OMG. It was like a little sea banana resting on the board
Poor Baby needed some help and protection. The same sharks that hunted its Mother is hunting the Pup. I hope the Baby can remain safe long enough. I understand Sea World not wanting to take the Pup into captivity if it doesn't have to, but the sea is a scary place ...especially for a Baby with its Mama. That Pup has chosen to adopt the surfers, they probably should adopted the Baby back 💗😊
As a surfer, a black wetsuit makes us humans look like seals. Thats why the seal thinks we are kin.
good probability there's a shark around.
When that unfortunate swimmer was killed in Encinitas, before the swimming group entered the water, they saw a baby seal cowering against the sea wall. Mama was lunch. If I ever saw a baby seal without it's mom, I'd be leaving the water. Ran into a similar situation in the high Andes in S. America. Saw a baby guanaco by itself. That night we were visited by a puma. Puma didn't want to eat us, but it did want our food.
I was thinking the same. If I knew there was a shark in the water that ate the mama seal, I would not be out there swimming or surfing.
@@iolanisjourney4828 I think that most people don't think about the cause and effect of an orphan prey animal because they don't see those events in their everyday life. It just doesn't register.
The problem with that seal on your board is: 1) why would the seal be so eager to get out of the water 2) if mom was lunch, what if the shark is one of the large ones and is still hungry? It's gonna want that seal. #1 is the one which would give me pause. There are videos elsewhere on youtube of seals and otters jumping into boats because they're being pursued by orcas. The baby seal on the surfboard seems like the same behavior.
when was that? in 2018, a dude named keane was bitten (and he has recovered and and is even diving again), but i've been here since 1980 and i haven't heard about anyone getting killed. are you making that one up? weve had 25 attacks in san diego county since 1950- that was 73 years ago.
@@iolanisjourney4828 hello maybe the mother attacked the shark.
@tommurphy4307 surfers in the area reported seeing a Great White Shark that ate the seal's mom. So there is evidence that there was a shark in the water, so yes as I said I would not be in the water knowing that. It makes sense that the seal pup is most likely scared after seeing the mom get attacked and jumping on the boards.
Aw ❤ he's lonely and feels safe around the 🏄♂️ 🌊 surfer's
awww.. so cute but so sad..
Why would people do something as idi@tic as contacting seaworld instead of contacting conservationists?! We don’t need more “business” for seaworld / commercial aquariums . We need more conservation for these poor beings IF they’re in need.
Those surfers do look like black seals.. to a baby seal..
...and to a shark, from what we are often told during shark week
seals and sharks aren't that stupid. you want proof? they NEVER make idiotic comments on social media....
I am pretty sure the seal knows that the longer it’s in the water the more likely it’s going to end up like it’s mother sadly. Animals learn very quickly what it takes to survive. I’ve even seen a video of a little penguin leaping into a small boat to get away from an orca, that’s been chasing it.
It makes me wonder if it could be confusing the surfers suits for other seals, maybe? Either way its a sad scenario for the seal pup.
Thank you Surfers 👍😇
Poor baby. Is it still nursing? Meanwhile I’d be looking around for the *shark* it’s trying to stay away from, instead of just floating out there as bait.
What if it’s still nursing age? Other varieties of seals like cape fur seals will nurse one another’s pups, maybe it needs to be in a pack.
Why don't the Conservationists catch and put it with another pack of seals?
Leave him alone , he's fine! He'll let you know if he needs help. There's been a seal around Carlsbad and O'side for years just hanging out. As long as he can eat and not be harmed He'll hang out and be a buddy to the surfers. They'll give him a name (Surfer Seally) and he'll be one of the boys. End of story....
As a wildlife bioligist, I believe he is asking for food.
Iunno kinda is letting us know that he needs help his not just chilling with us for no reason, his family now an must be looked after at all cost.
@@ViragoRiver your probably right. I just hope he survives without the human touch.
They've named them Sammy the Seal, and probably not the end of the story.
@@thaynetuason thanks for letting me know, I like the name! 😊
He just wants to make friends so why not just make friends and everybody can keep an eye out for him and he will be happy I think it’s wonderful he can live in nature and be a pet😘💕💕💕
Because he thinks the surfers are his fam. But they need to leave him alone.
They do. They don't touch him. They were there when his mom died from the shark.
you should go down to tourmaline and tell them that
I already did. Why do you think it's in the news. I don't hide behind a computer. Is there a problem here?
They called Seaworld? ...that's like calling a Thai Restaurant if you found an orphaned Chicken.
Don't call seaWorld they're not a rescue place they are the last people you should call.
He's waiting for his mom, who's gone forever, and doesn't know where to go by itself!!!! Poor baby, can't they just at least relocate it so that it can be with other seals????? Please it's going to get eaten too, please God don't let that happen!!!!! 😥🙏✝️
NO- WE DON'T NEED SEA WORLD RESCUE- I'M BETTING THEY WOULD MEET SERIOUS OPPOSITION IF THEY TRIED TO NET HIM. people are watching 'round the clock to make sure that doesn't happen.
Baby shark need to live too though
Those dive suits remind him of his mother❤
It's not really that odd to me. Pup wants a mum ❤
An important detail is that seals naturally spend very very little time with their mothers, for mammals.
Some species are weaned after a week or two, so the seal pup might be perfectly fine.
(I will look up which species)
It must be a harbor seal, so 4-6 weeks is when they are weaned from their mothers.
The seal pup should hopefully be fine :)
The seal just wants to learn how to surf ....🤙🏄♂️
Skip and his minions are loving this!!!!!
Uh, he saw what happened to his mom when she was in the water.
This would actually scare me. Is he climbing on your surfboard because he is curious? Or is he getting out of the water because he seen a shark?
I pray people realize that this seal needs protection, it's traumatized and scared that's why it's going on the boards, seeing a shark take the life of its Mommy
It’s also quite likely that the pup is using the boards as protection as the white shark is still in the area. I’ve always been told that if a seal attempts to climb onto my board to get out the water. If you are in between a shark and it’s food that a very bad situation in the making
The poor little guy banana'd.
Look at the banana plank the seal is doing that's the sign of a seal being happy and comfortable, I say leave it alone and let it do whatever it want don't need to put it in a sea world pool or death
Oh gosh, not Sea World.
A “pod” of surfers collectively adopting an orphaned/stranded baby seal sounds like a great premise for a movie.
That being said, I hope they get him with his own kind soon. Or at least to somewhere where he can thrive
First thing i'm doing is petting it
Oh no! It might melt.
Yep. It wants to stay above the water until it can get the Jaws theme song out of its head. And it’s more comfortable doing that on a surfboard than on jagged rocks. Makes sense to me.
Will it starve w/o it’s momma? I feel like it’s too young too hunt on it’s own. Anyone know what age seal pups start finding food without momma’s help??? 😟
have you ever seen a surfer let a chick ride their board and then NOT feed them afterwards?
It could just be inspecting and giving those surf boards the seal of approval.
😂
Dude, like, where s the waves? Just saying....
you have to time the sets- didn't see all the rolexes they were wearing?
Props to the surfers for not touching it. Hopefully he's old enough to hunt on his own and is going to be alright.
nope,a shark will eat it
It's no big deal I see stuff like this all the time. Animals are evolving way faster than humans.
I'm sure a hot take post on Twitter will rope them into our wars soon tho
stop posturing...