This Adorable Seal’s Favorite Toy Is a Stuffed Animal of Himself

By Brian Delpozo 1 min read

An adorable seal who resides at Japan’s Okhotsk Tokkari Center is taking the internet by storm thanks to his adorable habit of playing with a stuffed animal version of himself.

アザラシがアザラシを抱っこ&おんぶしてみました☺️

あぐVer. pic.twitter.com/LEqMBmKRlD

— 紋別オホーツクランド (@mombetsu_land) February 23, 2017

Images and video of the seal, each seemingly more adorable than the last, have been plastered all over social media, with an initial tweet from Mombetsu Land — where the center is located — garnering over 20,000 retweets.

The attention has shined a light on the important work the Okhotsk Tokkari Center does, which Laughing Squid describes as:

“Tokkari” is the Ainu word for “azarashi” (earless seal), and as the center’s name would imply, this facility specializes in sheltering and conservation of earless seals. Visitors can observe the natural ecology of these graceful seals, and even take part in close-up interactive activities. All the while, the center serves as a conservation facility, treating earless seals that have been injured or caught in fishing nets, and returning them home to the ocean. The Okhotsk Tokkari Center holds and extremely important role as Japan’s one and only marine animal conservation facility.”