This scuba diver wins the official seal of approval.

Jamie Gallacher, 15, was on his very first dive off the coast of Isle of Man, located between Northern Ireland and England, when a seal got up close and personal, greeting him face to face and wrapping his fins around Jamie's legs.

"He began tugging on my fins and began to climb up me, being very close at the time," Jamie told BBC News. "You don't expect to see a seal like that, but once I got to know him really, he wasn't that scary or intimidating."

The seal seemed to have found a new friend.

Despite Jamie's gently tapping him away, the underwater animal kept coming back for more.

"It stayed with us for about 10 or 15 minutes," the first-time scuba diver said. "[It was] really playful, like a big dog really."

The close encounter was caught on camera by his diving instructor, who says it was quite unusual for a seal to stick around so long, and was certainly an amazing case of beginner's luck.