Can anyone explain why?

[bburville]

Can anyone explain why?

Dear Divers,
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on exactly why seals engage in activity such as this (viz isn't great due to decaying weed at specifc site)

"NOSE RUB!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYvNLGo3Q3g

For info this is a young female about 90kg.

Answers on a postcard please...

Thanks & safe diving,
Ben "Seal diver"
YouTube - bburville's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/bburville)

[northern_diver]

Maybe its simple interaction between two living objects. Seals are friendly and playful, so could it be possible the seal in question was just enjoying the feeling and company? Maybe the nose rubbing is similar to what a mating pair or parental animal does to soothe the female?

Im not a too read up on marine life interaction, but it seems possible.

Where do you dive to get that friendly with the seals too Ben?

John

[ozone1]

Can anyone explain why?

Dear Divers,
I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on exactly why seals engage in activity such as this (viz isn't great due to decaying weed at specifc site)

"NOSE RUB!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYvNLGo3Q3g

For info this is a young female about 90kg.

Answers on a postcard please...

Thanks & safe diving,
Ben "Seal diver"
YouTube - bburville's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/bburville)

Horses do It, dogs do it, even educated fleas do it, lets do it, lets fall in love.

I spose its just a desplay of freindship and curiosity.

ozone.


ozone.

On a serious note if you had a nose that was 2 foot away from your hand would'nt you wipe it on a diver :D

ozone

.


.

[Maria CM]

I would guess due to the amount of sensory receptors in the area and possibly scent glands?

Very nice clip :) :)

best wishes,

Maria

[steven matthews]

Whatever happened to look but don't touch? And look out for her mate coming up behind you! :P

[bburville]

That's what I've been trying to tell the seals .. look but don't touch ... still they seem intent on enjoying themselves!.... great antics trying to remove mask etc....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgfmvXFWsTs

Always interesting when you think that they know the difference between my head and my inanimate mask strap... thankfully!

Safe diving,

Ben "Seal diver" - based at Farne Islands
www.youtube.com/bburville

[ChristianG]

I've been to the Pearson Islands in the Great Australian Bight: Oz is somewhere to the north and Antarctica somewhere to the south. The islands, a mere flyspeck on the ocean, are home to a colony of seals (and probably the odd Great White seeing that's slap bang in their territory) which see the odd professional cray fisherman but pretty well never anything else.

Then we turned up.

The seals turned on a performance and a half. Then I got a series of still shots of a cute but immature seal roughly of the size of the one in the video eyeing off a diver underwater in about five metres. The diver is on hands and knees on the sand, ditto the seal about 5 metres away. Seal gets closer, investigating diver who has a pinhole in the top of his hood to allow air to escape. Cute seal gets up close and personal investigating diver's 2nd stage, then mask, then bares teeth to investigate diver's bubbles coming out of top of hood. Cute seal all-of-a-sudden is not so cute any more, not when you see those teeth which put those of the biggest dog into the also-ran league.

They also tried nibbling our fins and one was looking at my arm very avariciously until I withdrew it - very rapidly. Been there, done that with a rather large moray.

Stragely enough most animals always have "food" at the front of their brains.