Man befriends sea lion he found ‘all alone’ while diving in viral clip

A video of a diver’s encounter with a “sad” sea lion found “all alone” in Mexico’s Sea of ​​Cortez has gone viral. Tik Tok.

The moment was captured by TikTok user @scubadan_, a scuba diving instructor who films sharks, according to his TikTok profile. The clip so far has done that 1.6 million views.

A voice in the video says, “I was diving and I found a sea lion alone.” The footage showed the sea lion hovering on the ocean floor.

In a caption shared with the video, the poster said: “I’ve been #diving with the largest colony of #seals in California. These sea lions are in Mexico, on an island in the #seaofcortez. This female #marine looked like a a bit lost or sad. , I started playing with her.”

Sea lions are marine mammals that rest and mate on sandy beaches or rocky shores and head into the water to hunt or cool off in warm weather, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, an organization global non-profit.

Contrary to the seemingly solitary scene captured in the TikTok clip, sea lions are social creatures, congregating in groups of up to 1,500 individuals, says Ocean Portal, a Smithsonian Institution website. California sea lions form groups of hundreds to thousands on shores for breeding.

Sea lions in the US are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It was enacted in 1972 to prevent marine mammals from “declining beyond the point where they are no longer significant functional elements of the ecosystems of which they are a part,” says the National Marine Fisheries Service, a US federal agency.

The act advises that people should stay 150 feet (about four bus lengths) away from all marine mammals.

A voice in the TikTok video says, “She [the sea lion] she seems lost or has been isolated by her colony.” As the camera zooms in on the sea mammal, the voiceover says, “Larger sea lions often bully their smaller relatives.”

The sea lion is seen swimming towards the camera before it scrolls up, as a note in the clip reads: “Hey lady, come see Scuba Dan.”

As the sea lion appears to briefly walk away from the camera, a later note reads: “Don’t go, I’m not here to hurt you.”

The sea lion later returns and is seen floating near the camera. In another message in the clip, the poster writes that sea lions are “perfectly built to survive in the water.” The poster adds that the sea lion “can hold its breath for 20 minutes, almost as long as I can!”

The camera continues to follow the sea lion as it twists and turns through the water. Another message in the clip reads: “Ok, she wants me to play. She’s going to start acting and she’s expecting me to copy her.”

As the sea lion appears to turn around, another note says, “Ok, I’ll do some flips (Scuba Dan is upside down)…haha, he loves it!”

A later message reads: “Once you have their trust, sea lions are extremely playful.”

As the sea lion swims away from the camera and disappears into another part of the sea, a message on the screen reads: “Are you really going to leave me here, girl?”

The clip has delighted TikTok users. User Spicyginger said: “She was definitely happy the moment she saw you.”

User hunterjardine420 wrote: “I was excited to finally play with someone. I wonder how long I’ve been there.”

Joy Loos said: “When she started swimming towards you when you called her, it was so cute I almost cried! She reminds me [The Little Mermaid film].”

User @charly_andtigkitty said: “You cheered him up because he found his smile.”

Newsweek The original poster has been contacted for comment via email and TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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