A seal, lovingly nicknamed Sammy after the popular children’s book “Sammy the Seal,” has been hopping on surfers’ boards and exhibiting unusually friendly behavior, off of Tourmaline Surfing Park beach in North Pacific Beach.

Caught on film by local drone pilot Ed Hartel, Sammy the seal was captured hopping from surfboard to surfboard, playfully interacting with the local surfers.

“He’ll just paddle up, take their board from them and just chill,” said Hartel. “It was almost like he was trying to mimic human behavior as far as surfing. He would go to the nose of the board and then put himself up on his flippers and stick his head up like he wanted to pop up.”

What could have been deemed a once-in-a-lifetime surf experience has become an almost daily occurrence. Sammy has been routinely spotted for over a week by surfers within a recurring time frame. Local surfer Jenny Kim has had two close encounters with the seal.

“The second time I had to climb off my board to give him space,” said Kim. “I was in the water with my arms over my board and he kept climbing toward me trying to reach my face and touched my hands with his flippers. He looked like he was trying to sniff me. I think he eventually felt more and more comfortable with people, so he wasn’t scared to touch us.”

Surfers reached out to SeaWorld out of concern about the seal’s uncommon behavior. SeaWorld sent out their rescue team to check on him, only to find out the seal pup was perfectly healthy.

“My theory is he lost his mom. It’s not officially confirmed, but two seal bodies washed up on that shore,” said Kim. “We are learning more about him – he’s feeding himself early in the mornings and after eating, he goes and rests on the boards.”

Out of respect for the seal’s safety, surfers have been hopping off their boards to give Sammy appropriate space on his new favorite resting spot.

“People have gotten so used to seeing him and having him climb on their boards,” said Kim. “I’m still stoked, I can’t believe it happened.”