Photobombing Seals

By Rebecca Drew

ADORABLE underwater images have captured the moment one super cute grey seal invaded a diver’s selfie off the UK coast.

The heart-melting pictures show the inquisitive seal playing with the diver’s fins and other shots show the friendly mammals performing a series of twists and turns through the water when they realise the spotlight is on them.

In one picture a cute seal swims directly towards the camera playfully baring its teeth whilst in another shot the excitement got too much as one seal catches a snooze on the ocean floor.

The playful shots were taken on the Farne Islands, Northumberland, UK by Nicolas and Léna Remy from Antibes, France. To take the photographs, they used a Nikon D500 DSLR in Nauticam housing.

“We love diving with sea lions and seals, they are like playful underwater puppies and after two dive trips with sea lions in Australia and South Africa we’ve researched what would be the closest spot to home to dive with them,” said Nicolas.

“The underwater photos show basically how the seals chose to interact with our group during two one hour dives.

“Some just passed by or avoided us, whereas others were curious, inquisitive and very playful.

“One of the photos is a selfie showing me struggling with a seal who just loved my blue fins too much.

“Underwater seals can be so agile and graceful.”

The UK is home to 40-percent of the world’s grey seal population. The most notable breeding colonies in the UK are off the coast of Northumberland, Lincolnshire and the Orkney Islands.

“Scuba diving can be very fun, in how many hobbies do you get to play with friendly mammals and it is very accessible,” added Nicolas.

“I hope my photos motivate some people to take on diving, as it leads to seeing the marine life not as a food stock, but as a beautiful environment to preserve, and to advocate.”