California Sea Lion, Moss Landing, CaliforniaThere are two types of sea lions that we get along the west coast of the United States. The Steller sea lion and the California sea lion. This is the latter. A great place to see them is at Moss Landing, just north of Monterey, where they tend to hang out on empty docks. This guy appeared to be getting a satisfying flipper scratch on the top of the head. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 260mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/160th of a second.