About

Nico the Seal is a Baikal seal residing at the Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Born in February 2020, Niko went viral later that year for his expressive face, which many internet users described as human-like. In August 2020, Niko became the face of the Crying Seal meme due to his watery, squinting eyes. As Niko has grown into an adult seal, he has continued to accrue a fan following from people able to recognize him due to his distinctive features and playful body language.

Origin

Nico was born on February 22nd, 2020, at the Toba Aquarium in Mie Prefecture, Japan. He is the first Baikal seal to be born at the aquarium. The name "Niko" (ニコ), translates to "smile" in Japanese, reflecting both his birth date (with multiple twos, pronounced "ni") and a desire to bring joy during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1]​

Toba Aquarium's official YouTube^[2] channel posted a video of Niko on February 25th, which gathered over 97,000 views in five years.

On April 29th, 2020, the official Twitter^[3] account of Toba Aquarium in Japan (@TOBA_AQUARIUM) uploaded a video of its Baikal seal, Nico, lying on the floor. The video gathered over 9,400 likes in four years.

ニコ君で皆さんが笑顔になりますように💗 #鳥羽水族館 #バイカルアザラシ #ニコ君 pic.twitter.com/WlrrRKjuEv

— 鳥羽水族館（TOBA　AQUARIUM） (@TOBA_AQUARIUM) April 29, 2020

The video prompted the earliest memes featuring Niko, with many Japanese-speaking internet users describing his face as "grandfatherly." On February 21st, 2021, Toba Aquarium posted a YouTube^[5] video recapping the seal's first year on Earth, gathering over 6 million views in four years.

Spread

Several internet users have posted memes and jokes featuring Niko since 2020, including YouTuber^[3] @flamingolegs, who posted an edit of various Niko clips set to the song Baby Seal by Kid Whatever. The video gathered over 28,000 likes in five years.

On January 22nd, 2021, YouTuber^[4] @chubs posted a video titled, "Ballad of Niko," sharing more videos and photos of the seal. The video gathered over 85,000 views in four years.

On December 22nd, 2023, X^[6] user @derpatron6000 posted a reverse FNAF jumpscare GIF featuring baby Nico, gathering over 4,000 likes in two years.

On April 3rd, 2024, X^[7] user @robot_pup posted fanart featuring different stages in Niko's life, gathering over 2,000 likes in a year.

On March 21st, 2025, X^[8] user @fat_nerpa posted fan art depicting Niko as an Elden Ring boss, writing, "I am Niko, blade of Toba. And I have known defeat. Many times." The post gathered over 6,000 likes in four days.

On February 5th, X^[9] user @mene_seal posted a screenshot of Niko's page from the Toba Aquarium's catalogue, writing, "I just wanted to remind everyone that Nico is a 'Naughty and spoiled child' according to toba Aquarium lol," and gathering over 11,000 likes in a month.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References