LIAKH’s seal of disapproval

With their dog-like demeanours and big baby eyes, the urge to pet a seal is understandably hard to resist, but the experience of being touched by a human can be disturbing for a seal – almost as disturbing this spot by LIAKH for Seal Rescue Ireland.  

In collaboration with Irish production company Chaser, director LIAKH created the film, titled Leave Seals Alone, for the animal rescue charity, which depicts - in unsettling detail - how humans should not act when they encounter these marine creatures.  

The director and writer Stevie Rowing-Parker set out to make audiences feel just as uneasy as a seal being bothered by humans. To bring the idea to life, they cast Irish comedian Karl Spain as the seal minding his own business on an empty Irish beach – until a well-meaning couple, played by comedians Justine Stafford and Jamie Sykes, decide to “help”.