We have pretty much hit peak awww. A seal pup joined a couple of surfers, not just riding the waves beside them, but repeatedly climbing on their surfboards.

The footage was shot off the northeast coast of England. One of the surfers said, “Me and my friend Andrew were out enjoying some summer waves when this little guy came along and scared the hell out of Andy because we didn’t know what it was! It nudged his foot from underneath.”

The pup stayed with them for an hour and when they decided to head home it tried to follow them up the beach. “He didn’t seem unwell when he was surfing in like a pro!” Matt said. The pair alerted the local marine wildlife authority in case such behavior was a sign of something wrong, but it seems more likely the seal was just enjoying being young and free.

LiveScience identified the pup as probably a gray seal, and spoke to Tamara Cooper from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary who told them.  "We've not heard of [wild] seals jumping on surfboards before." She added touching seals is a bad idea as they  have "a very nasty bite" that can carry bacteria. Killjoy!