We can probably all agree that sea otters are adorable.

But it’s very rare for one to get up close and personal with a human – and people are discouraged from playing with them since they can bite and become a nuisance if they get too familiar with humans.

But one man standing in Cadboro Bay – on the southern tip of Vancouver, Canada – in 2014 didn’t have much of a choice. The creature wanted to play!

When sunbathers first spotted the otter, he was swimming towards the shore, making his way around the sailboats in the bay.

In the video, you can hear people on the beach identifying it as a sea otter. River otters are more common, but this is a truly strange scene.

A woman walks up to the shore to snap some photos and then is joined by more onlookers.

As a man in cargo shorts walks up, he decides to walk a few steps into the water (which can, for the record, be a dangerous thing to do around a sea creature you don’t know much about).

Then, in what can only be described as a very 21st-century sight, the group of people admires the creature through their phones.

Eventually, whoever is shooting the video gets up close to see what’s going on.

It turns out the sea otter is winding around the man’s legs.

He even reaches down to pet it (and granted, we’d be tempted to, but that’s never a good idea).

But he’s so cute!

The man seems unconcerned when the otter grabs onto his leg (note: this would be the time to become concerned).

It’s just curious behavior and the best thing to do at this point would be to call a local marine wildlife organization to get advice or have them come out and be sure the animal is not a danger.

After playtime, the otter begins to swim away with a look back as if to say “hey, aren’t you coming?”

No one is, so he swims back to his new friend for some more leg nuzzling.

The man is startlingly chill when the otter begins to nibble or nuzzle (it’s unclear from the footage) his toes.

“I’m getting a pedicure,” he says, not moving.

Then, finally, as if to indicate that these are the worst big, bald otters he’s ever tried to hang with, he appears to swim away, rolling around for good measure as if to say “this is how you swim.”

Sea otters were once hunted to the brink of extinction for their thick furs in the 1800s, but now that they’re a protected species (and there are strict laws about interacting with them) their numbers are climbing. But that doesn’t make them a common sight. In fact, they’re very shy creatures most of the time.

Allan Crow knows Cadboro Bay well and couldn’t believe the video of the creature the couple caught as it swam right up to the shore.

“I’ve been a fisherman and a diver on southern Vancouver Island for 35 years, and I’ve never seen one here,” he told the Times Colonist.

He guessed it got separated from its pack, but there’s still no telling why it was so friendly.

“I had a hard time accepting what I was seeing, but that’s a sea otter. The currents are quick there, so it must have been separated from others.”

Commenters guessed it had been fed by humans before and that’s why it was so friendly (and why it’s such a bad idea to feed wild creatures).

Regardless of the cuteness quotient, wildlife experts have warned people to steer clear of the vulnerable species.

“It is very important that people maintain a distance from marine mammals and back away if they approach you. This will encourage the sea otter to continue its natural activities,” said Tessa Danelesko of Vancouver Aquarium.

But Danelsko wasn’t worried about this guy. She merely said that he’s more likely to find his way back to the pack without human intervention.

And since the couple presumably left him alone after that, we’d like to think he lived happily ever after.

Be sure to scroll down to watch the video of the encounter.

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Source: Times Colonist, allisonmoo via YouTube