When you see a seal, the seal is also looking at you. 2025.08 Hokkaido

Quoted from @nas_oak's post

This photo is incredibly impactful, with a seal resting on a reef and gazing intently at the viewer from the sidelines! X's post has been viewed over 7.5 million times and has garnered over 110,000 likes. Users have commented with comments such as "Too cute lol," "It's staring intently lol," and "It's kind of poetic, I love it...it really conveys the feeling of a quiet summer in Hokkaido."

Wild seals encountered during a summer trip to northern Hokkaido

Wild seals relaxing on the reef

The poster, Kao🦭, lives in northern Kanto. He loves seals and is a seal fan (sealer) who has visited Hokkaido many times. In addition to taking photos of seals in aquariums around the country, he also uses telephoto lenses to photograph seals in the wild.

It's cute even when it's bent over!

The seal in the photo was one that was encountered along the coast on the way from Monbetsu to Wakkanai in the summer of 2025. It was a wild seal resting in a back-arching position on a reef.

Kao🦭 recalls the time of taking the photo, saying, "I've encountered wild seals several times in northern Hokkaido from autumn to spring, but I was surprised to see them in summer as well. While I was taking photos, the seal noticed me and kept glancing my way, which is what I captured in this photo."

"Sealer" watches over the seals living in Hokkaido

Noshappu Cold Current Aquarium "Sui"

Kao🦭's love for seals began when she first encountered a baby white-coated seal named "Sora-chan" at the Noshappu Cold Current Aquarium in Wakkanai. Since then, for about two and a half years, she has traveled to aquariums and seal habitats around the country to photograph these adorable seals.

We spoke to Kao🦭, a seal lover, about his love for seals and his thoughts on Hokkaido, which he has visited many times.

Sol from the Okhotsk Tokkari Center

A wild seal photographed in the northern Hokkaido area

Kao🦭's passionate and deep love for seals, as well as her straightforward perspective on the environment and various issues surrounding seals, were very impressive. It made me think a little about the future of Hokkaido, where we can coexist with wild animals like seals. Perhaps photos of cute seals posted on social media like this will inspire even more seal fans.

If you're interested, be sure to visit aquariums and zoos across Hokkaido, or go see the wild seals that live along the coast.