A baby sea lion – looking for some puppy love – jumped aboard a boat off the Southern California coast.
The remarkably affectionate creature snuggled up to the leg of recreational sailor J.R. Gilkinson, who captured the incredible moments on video last month and posted the footage on YouTube.
“It was like a taste of paradise and I like the way it tasted,” Gilkinson told The Post today. “That’s the way it was supposed to be, humans and animals. Each minute, I was just absorbing it and soaking it all in.”
The adorable sea lion rubbed its head on Gilkinson’s leg, like a purring kitten, and napped for an hour during the too-cute-for-words, chance meeting on May 18, two miles off Newport Beach.
The one-in-a-million encounter seemed perfectly suited for the self-professed animal lover Gilkinson, a 48-year-old project manager at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
The man and his family were out on the water that day to see dolphins. That’s when the sea lion swam up to them, circled several times and jumped on board.
It had no fear of the humans and went straight to Gilkinson’s side.
He said the animal looked to be in perfect health, with no cuts or abrasions on its coat. If anything, the sea lion had a full belly and appeared to be tired from a full lunch.
“We didn’t beckon him on board, we just let him do whatever he wanted on his terms,” Gilkinson said.
The only problem was time, because the family needed to return the rented boat. When they fired up the engine, their guests didn’t budget.
It wasn’t until they came close to shore, about an eighth of a mile out, when they came to a large buoy where local sea lions enjoy sunbathing.
“I just stood up and said `You gotta go now,’” Gilkinson said. “He went to the back (of the boat) looked back at me and jumped on his own. It wasn’t a Sea World fantastic (of a jump) it was more of a belly flop.”
The YouTube footage had fished more than 325,000 views by this afternoon.
Gilkinson called the adorable sea lion meet-and-greet, “One of the best days of my life.”