Tears at Footage of Mama Seal’s Sweet Gesture to Her Pup: ‘I Could Cry’

Whether it’s about dogs, horses, or tigers, one of the things that most animal species have in common is the motherly love for their little ones.

A viral clip shared on TikTok on Monday under the username @sophiarouches shows a seal mama giving her little pup back scratches as they both enjoy a sunny day by the beach, just like any ordinary mother and son would.

“Everyone loves a good back scratch,” reads a caption, which was shared along with the heartwarming video.

Some types of seals are known to inhabit parts of the U.S. West Coast, although many of them were severely depleted due to hunting and intentional killing in the 1960s, as reported by wildlife charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC).

“Thanks to federal laws like the Marine Mammal Protection Act, many populations of seals and sea lions are recovering all along the West Coast, and returning to areas that they historically occupied,” the website added.

However, the seals’ return to their old habitats also means they are once again being targeted by people who think they eat too much salmon, which is also the main nutritional staple for the local killer whales.

WDC says that killing all the seals would not benefit salmon; in fact, it would have the opposite effect on the ecosystem.

“Killing them will likely create a cascade of unintended ecosystem impacts, and may in fact further impede salmon recovery,” WDC adds. “Because seals and sea lions also consume many fish that are themselves salmon predators, they help keep those predators in check and decrease additional predation on salmon.”

The video quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 1.6 million views and more than 202,000 likes on the platform.

One user, brady, commented: “Fun fact! they do this because they are cutie patooties.”

Odgdigdigdoydxottx shared: “Oh to be a baby seal laying in the sun getting my back scratched by my mom.”

User790537192 wrote: “That is the cutest thing I’ve seen today.”

Connor posted: “I could cry.”

Another user, Perlitta and Bobo, added: “Just moms playing with their babies.”

Newsweek reached out to @sophiarouches for comment via TikTok comments. We could not verify the details of the case.

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