Man Befriends Sea Lion He Found 'All Alone' While Diving in Viral Clip

A video of a diver's encounter with a "sad" sea lion found "all alone" in Mexico's Sea of Cortez has gone viral on TikTok.

The moment was captured by TikTok user @scubadan_, a scuba diving instructor who films sharks, according to his TikTok profile. The clip so far has 1.6 million views.

A voice in the video says: "I was diving and found a female sea lion all alone." The footage showed the sea lion hovering at the bottom of the ocean.

In a caption shared with the video, the poster said: "I have been #diving with the largest colony of californian #sealions These sea lions are in mexico, on an island in the #seaofcortez This female #sealion seemed a little lost or sad, i started to play with her."

Sea lions are marine mammals that rest and mate on sandy beaches or rocky shores and head into the water to hunt or cool off in warm weather, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare, a global nonprofit.

Contrary to the seemingly lonely scene captured in the TikTok clip, sea lions are social creatures, congregating in groups of up to 1,500 individuals, says the Ocean Portal, a website of the Smithsonian Institution. California sea lions form groups of hundreds to thousands on shores for breeding.

Sea lions in the U.S. are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. It was enacted in 1972 to prevent marine mammals from "declining beyond the point where they ceased to be significant function elements of the ecosystems of which they are a part," says the National Marine Fisheries Service, a U.S. federal agency.

The act advises that people should keep a distance of 150 feet (about four bus lengths) from all marine mammals.

A voice in the TikTok video says: "She [the sea lion] seems lost or she's been secluded by her colony." As the camera draws closer to the marine mammal, the voice says: "Larger sea lions often bully their smaller relatives."

The sea lion is seen swimming toward the camera before it pans upward, as a note across the clip reads, "Hello Mrs. Come and see Scuba Dan."

As the sea lion appears to briefly swim away from the camera, a subsequent note says: "Aw don't go, I'm not here to hurt you."

The sea lion returns later and is seen floating around near the camera. In another message across the clip, the poster writes that sea lions are "perfectly built to survive inside the water." The poster added that the sea lion "can hold her breath for 20 minutes, nearly as long as me!"

The camera continues to follow the sea lion as she twists and turns through the water. Another message across the clip says: "Ok, she wants me to play. She will start performing and expect me to copy."

As the sea lion appears to flip herself around, another note reads, "Ok, I'll do some flips (Scuba Dan is upside down)...haha, she's loving it!"

A subsequent message says, "Once you have their trust, sea lions are extremely playful."

As the sea lion later swims away from the camera and vanishes into another part of the sea, a message across the screen reads, "Are you really gonna leave me alone here girl?"

The clip has delighted users on TikTok. User Spicyginger said: "She was definitely happy the moment she saw you."

User hunterjardine420 wrote: "She was stoked to finally play with someone. I wonder how long she had been there."

Joy Loos said: "When she started swimming over to you when you called her, it was so beautiful I nearly cried! Reminds me of [The Little Mermaid film]."

User @charly_andtigkitty said: "You perked her up she found her smile."

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via email and TikTok. This video has not been independently verified.

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