A man named Manuelo went into the water in Puerto Madryn, Argentina, when it was barely dawn.
He didn’t go swimming alone. A pod of sea lions approached, surrounded him, and began resting their snouts against his face and head, as if they were greeting him one by one. He filmed it all with a snorkel on and uploaded the video with a simple caption: “Dawn surrounded by sea lions, this is winter”.
The scene went viral on TikTok and Instagram, and it is no coincidence that it happened right there: scientific studies indicate that the South American sea lion tends to approach divers curiously in this area of Patagonia, as long as the contact takes place under controlled conditions and with respect for wildlife.