Seal forms bond with diver along the Laguna Beach coast

Rusty Hunter has been documenting his dives for years, but it wasn't until recently that he started seeing the same little white seal swimming around him.  

"I felt one of her hands just kind of touching me and grabbing my head," Hunter said. "She really started to kind of latch onto me."  

At first, he said the seal's approach was timid. But over time, after testing the waters with him enough, she became rather comfortable coming right up to him.

"You would think that a seal would have more important things to do, hunting or resting," Hunter said. "I can't help but think it was some level of curiosity and maybe craving a little attention."

On nearly a dozen different dives, the seal swam up to Hunter, greeting him like a dog and sometimes playing with his flippers. 

"A lot of people do call them water pups or the dogs of the ocean," Hunter said. 

Hunter said he doesn't take the ethereal encounters lightly because of his deep respect for the ocean.

"I think the relationship is really built off that surrendering, of letting her be the one who instigates the interactions, Hunter said. "It's on her terms."

Hunter has shared videos of the seal on his Instagram account, hoping to let people around the world feel the same special connection to the sea and its lovely creatures.

"At the end of the day, these are wild animals and we need to treat it as a high privilege that we're even getting these experiences to begin with, given some of the stuff that humans have done to the ocean," Hunter said. 

He's also hoping it will remind people to take care of the beaches by cleaning up after themselves, ensuring that the trash left behind doesn't end up in the ocean. 

"It is a beautiful, awesome experience," Hunter said. "I appreciate it and treasure it so much."