Little Darling

March brings the Herring Run to Vancouver Island, B.C.  Therefore the featured image is a portrait of a California sea lion, photographed at the French Creek Marina in Parksville, Vancouver Island, B.C.. She looks like a Little Darling to me!  French Creek is a great spot to view both Stellar and California sea lions which are found in abundance on the east coast of Vancouver Island during the annual Herring Run which typically begins  in mid-March.  California sea lions are smaller and darker in colour than Steller sea lions. Their vocalization resembles a dog barking which awakens me most every morning during the season! I have come to love watching and listening to sea lions, who are naturally inquisitive and seemingly playful. It is not uncommon for a sea lion to swim closer to shore seemingly in a quest to check you out.

For those interested in the technical details, I captured this image with a Nikon D8500 at focal length of 500 mm, aperture of 9, shutter speed of 1/250 second, and an ISO of 800.