Featured Image Credit: Jennifer Leigh Warner
By Sarah Sharkey
Wildlife photographer Jennifer Leigh Warner has quite the knack for taking adorable photos of baby sea lions. It took her some time to capture these cuties though. Warner says, “The biggest challenge to photographing sea lions is gaining the sea lions’ trust enough to have them relax enough to engage in their natural behavior.”
After spending a couple of hours with the group, the sea lions had relaxed enough to go about their business while Warner photographed them.
The photo session took place in La Jolla Cove, San Diego. This is a popular cove in California to view sea lions and watch their social order unfold. Sea lions are found in large colonies. They gather in such large numbers for protection. Within the colonies, there are smaller sub groups of the population; as the sea lions progress through different stages of their lives they may migrate to a different sub group.
Warner has been lucky enough to photograph these sea lions many times and is familiar with the social order within this large group. She has studied the behavior of these sea lions over the years and knows how to keep a respectful distance. It is important for any wildlife photographer to keep a safe distance from wildlife, for the safety of both the animal and the photographer.