taiyomasuda/InstagramEver got the feeling you’ve outstayed your welcome? So much so, in fact, that someone has started throwing things at you until you leave?
Me neither, I never stay anywhere long enough for that feeling to develop. I actually often don’t go to places on purpose just to make sure that doesn’t happen. You can’t outstay your welcome if you were never there.
One kayaker, however, got a pretty obvious hint from a seal that he should get out of the ocean. There’s nothing like a slap in the face to deliver a message.
As this guy found out:
Taiyo Masuda was paddling off the coast of Kaikoura, on New Zealand’s South Island, when he caught the crazy moment on his GoPro HERO7.
Floating along with a group of kayakers, the seal emerges from the ocean and flings an octopus at his mate Kyle Mulinder.
Speaking to Yahoo7, Kyle said:
We were just sitting out in the middle of the ocean and then this huge male seal appeared with an octopus and he was thrashing him about for ages.
According to Kyle, the fight between the seal and octopus disappeared beneath the water again before coming back up, with the seal whipping the octopus right into his face.
He added:
He thrashed it in mid fight and my face happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I was like ‘mate, what just happened?’ It was weird because it happened so fast but I could feel all the hard parts of the octopus on my face like ‘dum dum dum’.
After the slap, however, the fight wasn’t over, as the octopus attached itself to Kyle’s kayak, and he could only get it off with the help of the others around him.
Though this seal is obviously taking his anger out on the octopus and kayaker, one seal in the US has been spotted putting that energy to good use, and training with the Navy.
War Office Productions uploaded an extremely adorable video to their Instagram page, with the caption ‘Show ‘em how it’s done.’
The footage shows a band of tough US Navy officers taking part in a gruelling military exercise, running towards to the cold, grey sea.
However, flipping and flopping alongside them is an excitable little seal, who could not be happier to be joining in with the exercise.
Check it out:
It is perhaps unsurprising this seal wanted to get in on the action. Much like dogs, these creatures are known to be highly intelligent, with an inquisitive nature.
As Countryfile have explained:
Wild seals are very intelligent, curious and have good coordination, learning tricks easily in captivity.
They are highly curious and instinctively protective – there was even a case reported of a seal coming to the rescue of a drowning dog.
There have also been reports of seals getting rather friendly with snorkelers, so don’t let the octopus fight fool you, these creatures have a soft side too.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.