I went surfing at Tourmaline Beach this morning. Tourmaline is one of the most famous longboarding spots in California, and luckily for me it’s only a mile or two from our house. I caught my first wave and paddled back out beyond the break to wait for the next set. While sitting there on my board looking out to see, all of the sudden a full-sized adult seal popped up from under water, literally less than six feet from me! It startled me, and for a second I was worried that it might be aggressive, but there was nothing to worry about. It just layed there on it’s back and looked at me. Several other people noticed the seal and started commenting on it, but no one was nearly as close to it as I was. I playfully splashed it with water a couple times and it didn’t seem to care one way or another. I then tried to paddle over to get a little closer and it swam away. A few minutes later a big set came through and I caught the biggest wave I’ve had in a while. Nice way to start my day.