This great seal-pup video has been making the rounds. In case you haven’t seen it yet …

Ethan Janson, a local windsurfer from Three Tree Point (south of Seattle) noticed that harbor seals were hauling out on a surfboard he’d tied to a buoy out in Puget Sound. He hooked up a GoPro camera, remotely, and captured this footage of a seal pup trying desperately to haul out on the slippery board.

Before posting this, I checked the Seal Sitters page to make sure they were supportive of the video and content. They were. In fact, in their commentary on Janson’s film they mention that floating platforms can provide valuable and safe haul out areas for seals and seal pups.

From their post Surfin’ seals are YouTube sensation:

Seeing a number of seal pups struggle to share the small board, Ethan and his neighbor Ron decided to build a platform for seals and contacted Seal Sitters for advice. We put him in touch with wildlife raft guru Guy Smith (who built the first platform south of Alki Beach), who generously offered sage help and detailed instructions. In the spring of 2012, they established an offshore platform at Three Tree Point which is used regularly by seals of all ages.

Here’s the video. Prepare for cuteness (sorry, it’s unavoidable):

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