A young girl who was dragged into the water by a seal in West Vancouver, B.C., told her dad it was very rude of the animal not to ask if she wanted a swim before pulling her in.

Mike Cunning says he was cleaning salmon with a neighbour on the dock at at the Thunderbird marina last night when he heard a splash behind him and thought that his five-year-old daughter, Caleigh, had fallen into the water.

Cunning says he wasn't worried because she was wearing a life jacket, but that changed when she didn't come up right away.

When Caleigh surfaced she was grabbed by a seal.

The neighbour said he watched the animal leap from the water and grab the youngster by the wrist from the dock's edge.

Caleigh was treated in hospital for puncture wounds to her hand, but is expected to be okay.

Her story is exactly why the marine mammal regulations under the Fisheries Act are being amended, putting laws in place next year that would make feeding seals illegal, said Paul Cottrell, the marine mammal co-ordinator with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

"Feeding marine mammals is not something that we want to happen," Cottrell said. "Feeding them directly from your hand is definitely a no, no."

Cottrell spent many years researching seals and other marine mammals and said he's heard of brazen seals doing similar things.

He said in one instance a fisherman was releasing a fish and the seal not only grabbed the fish, but bit the man's hand.

He said curious seals are also common with scuba divers where the animals nip at the divers.

"It's fairly rare, but it does happen."

Cottrell said it is very likely when the seal grabbed the girl, it thought it was getting a meal from her.

He believes the mammal was likely a harbour seal, which can weigh up to 120 kilograms when fully grown, and is a common sight along the British Columbia coastline.

The seal population was almost wiped out by hunting in the second half of the 20th century, but its numbers rebounded to record high levels thanks to protection measures implemented by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The animals primarily subsist on hake, a deep-water fish, and salmon.

With files from The Canadian Press