IT’S PLAYTIME FOR CALIFORNIA’S SEALS

Off the coast of Monterey, California, I’m scuba-diving with my cameraman Tom when I feel him pulling hard on my flippers. It’s uncharacteristic of

Tom to muck about, and I turn around, annoyed, to see a doe-eyed harbour seal looking back at me. It wants to play, pulling on my fins as if egging me on.

With its sharp teeth, the seal could easily bite through the rubber but it is being gentle. It lets go and just looks at me, then fins away fast and returns a few seconds later with a friend. I make a few splashes, to show them I can play too. They stare at me as if they’re thinking, ‘This odd creature with a hump on its back really can’t swim at all.’

Seals love playing games. The Pebble Beach coastline of Monterey is more famous for the US Open golf tournament than for its seals (left), and the seabed is littered with stray balls. While we were filming just off the seventh hole, a seal swam right up to our cameras. In its front fins it was cradling a golf ball.