Countless people around the world have watched classic films like The Little Mermaid and dreamed of meeting friendly critters deep below the ocean depths.

In reality, of course, most marine animals will simply swim away in fear if you try to get too close, following their natural instincts of self-preservation, but every now and then, something a little different happens.

This touching story of a diver and a seal proves that underwater animal encounters can be truly magical, after all.

The story begins with a scuba diver named Gary Grayson. Gary, aged 55 at the time of recording, lives in a suburb of Manchester, England, but often leaves his urban home behind in order to pursue his passion for diving.

One day, he was exploring the waters around the Isles of Scilly, just off the southwest coast of the United Kingdom, looking out for any marine life in the area.

He could never have predicted what happened next!

The dad of one suddenly spotted a blubbery seal swimming towards him. Gary kept still, watching as the curious creature approached.

It swam right up to Gary, peeking in at him through his visor and even placing a flipper on his forearm in order to get a better look.

Gary gently took hold of the seal’s flipper and shook it to say hello, and then it did something even stranger!

The seal then rolled over onto its back, just like a puppy, and stayed like that as Gary tickled its tummy and gave it a few satisfying scratches.

Another seal can be spotted swimming around the scene, seemingly much more cautious, but the first seal seems to understand that Gary means it no harm.

Again, just like a dog or cat, it reaches out its head and lets Gary scratch under its chin for a little while, looking pretty pleased with itself in the process.

After that, it gives Gary’s hand a playful bite, wanting to test out the taste of the diver’s glove.

Fortunately, the material on Gary’s arm was thick enough to keep him safe from the seal’s teeth, and he watches on with amusement to see what his new pal will do next.

The seal carries on nibbling on Gary’s arm for a while as he strokes its side and tickles its chin, and eventually the second seal also starts to take an interest, sniffing around Gary’s leg before he smiles at the camera and watches the seals swim away.

In an interview with the Manchester Evening News, Gary revealed that he’d never seen anything quite like that before, despite being a very experienced diver and traveler.

He explained that he’d been to places like Mexico and Cuba, diving alongside rays and sharks, but had never had such a close and friendly encounter with a marine animal before.

I was absolutely loving it… I had seen other seals in the water but they just buzzed past us. None was as inquisitive as he was, and none as friendly. We were told just to sit on the bottom of the kelp but the more still we were the more inquisitive this seal was because we were in their world. This grey seal came across and had five minutes with me, kind of thing. Then another was climbing up my leg. I’m an experienced diver but I have never known anything like that.

Watch the amazing video down below!

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Source: Gary Grayson, Manchester Evening News