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South American Sealion - for Annick


South American Sealion - for Annick
Photo Information
Copyright: James Parker (Jamesp) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1369 W: 9 N: 6334] (18906)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-01-09
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Canon 1D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm f2.8 USM IS
Exposure: f/4, 1/250 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): CeltickRanger's favorite wild animal photos, The Wildlife, Plants and Scenery of Chile [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-01-16 7:56
Viewed: 7230
Points: 32
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
I am dedicating this posting to Annick who has recently posted several excellent shots of South African Fur Seals - sealions and fur seals are closely related.

I took this shot of a female South American Sealion whist photographing penguins at Reserve Nacional Penguino de Humboldt, north of la Serena. I was, naturally, in a boat! I used my 300mm 2.8 + 1.4x converter.

The South American Sea Lion (Otaria flavescens, formerly Otaria byronia), also called the Southern Sea Lion and the Patagonian Sea Lion, is a sea lion found on the Chilean, Peruvian, Uruguayan and Argentine coasts. Its scientific name was subject to controversy, with some taxonomists referring to it as Otaria flavescens and other referring to it as Otaria byronia. The former eventually won out. Locally, it is known by several names though the most common ones are "lobo marino" (sea wolf) and "león marino" (sea lion).

The South American sea lion is perhaps the archetypal sea lion in appearance. Males have a very large head with a well developed mane making them the most lionesque of the eared seals. They are twice the weight of females. Both males and females are orange-coloured with upturned snouts. The manes on males are lighter than females, and female fur on the head and neck is lighter than that of males. Pups are born black or dark brown and molt into a more chocolate colour. The South American Sea Lion's size and weight can vary quite a lot. Adult males can grow over 2.73 m (9 ft) and weigh up to 350 kg (770 lb)[2]. Adult females grow up to 1.8–2 m (6–7 ft) and weigh about half the weight of the males, around 150 kg (330 lb). These sea lions are the most sexually dimorphic of the five sea lion species.

As its name suggets, the South American sea lion is found along the coast and offshore islands of South America. The endpoints of its range are Zorritos in northern Peru and Ilha dos Lobos in southern Brazil. Notable breeding colonies include Lobos Island, Uruguay; Peninsula Valdes, Argentina; Beagle Channel and the Falkland Islands.

South American sea lions prefer to breed on beaches made of sand, but will breed on gravel, rocky or pebble beaches as well. They can also be seen on flat rocky cliffs with tidepools. Sea lion colonies are more scattered on rocky beaches than sand, gravel or pebble beaches. The colonies make spaces between each individual when it is warm and sunny. They can also be found in marinas and wharves but don't breed there.
Dis. Ac., Arjun, eng55, jaycee, siggi, nglen, Adanac, CeltickRanger, ferranjlloret, boreocypriensis, albert has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello James,
Great you were able to post this fellow, James. Steve already posted a New Zealand relative. Great portrait of this Sealion (with sea in the background). It's actually bigger than the Brown Fur Seal. The color is different...more yellowish. Ears are definitely smaller. These are the fellows they use in a circus and not the Brown Fur Seals. No problem to imagine some kind of balloon on top of its snout:-). Better leave it in its natural habitat though. They are closely related to the Brown Fur Seals indeed
and you see this very well, for instance through the ears which distinguishes them from the True Seals.
Wonderful portrait!
TFS and dedication...
Annick

Hi James,

Good dedication to Annick.
Suburp portrait picture with blurred sea as bg.
Exellent dof and beautiful colours.
Great picture.


Gert

  • Great 
  • Arjun Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 358 W: 7 N: 1237] (7593)
  • [2009-01-16 9:19]

hello sir,
Beautiful portrait of this sea lion, and a lovely dedication too
TFS

  • Great 
  • eng55 Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1256 W: 42 N: 1976] (5892)
  • [2009-01-16 10:25]

Hi James,
Excellent capture.Details,sharpness,POV and pose of seallion is wonderful.
Thanks for posting.

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2009-01-16 10:40]

Hello James,
Great portrait of this South American Sea Lion. You can clearly see the differences with the Brown Fur Seal of Annick.
Fantastic pose and sharpness in beautiful contrasting colours against the BG. Excellent DOF and composition.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2009-01-16 10:46]

Hello James,
This is lovely shot. Capture, colours, are perfect. Nice image.
Best regards Siggi

  • Great 
  • jaycee Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2454 W: 10 N: 8044] (25460)
  • [2009-01-16 10:47]

Hi James,

A wonderful dedication to Annick. Thanks to you both I am learning about the different Sea Lions. A beautiful portrait - he seems to be posing for the camera. The face, eye and whiskers are magnificent. He does seem to have an attitude :-)

Jane

  • Great 
  • nglen Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2883 W: 30 N: 9683] (36145)
  • [2009-01-16 11:03]

Hi James. I have been without internet for 36 hrs it seem a long time. This is a animal which always has such a sad look on its face. You have taken a fine shot from the boat. good detail and natural loking colours. A nice dedication for Annick.. well done TFS.
Nick..

Hi James, fantastic portrait with fine details and superb sharpness, perfect focus and wonderful blurry BG, very well done, have a good week end, ciao Silvio

  • Great 
  • Adanac Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1273 W: 1 N: 6188] (21378)
  • [2009-01-16 14:37]

Hello James,
Wonderful image with outstanding quality a fine dedication to a quality member. Thank you James.
Rick

hello James

WOW ! what a superb portrait photography
of the South American Sealion, i think i have already
written you one time, at this moment that i am viewing
your photo it is the best photography of TN and James
(i started here in TN loving portrait photos of wild animals)
i am not a big fan and lover of portrait photos of wild animals

again James, WOW ! what a beautiful portrait photo
shot with a very fine POV and framing, superb focus
on the Sealion, superb wonderful luminosity, what a
lovely pose of the Sealion with his beautiful colours tones,
great sharpness and details, TFS alot of this Beauty image

Asbed

Hi James,
Excellent picture of this South American sea lion, good composed and sharpness with a fine details. Good job.
Best regards. Ferran

Hi My Brother James,
An impressive capture of this pretty sealion with wonderful pose and splendid details from a nice POV.
TFS this beauty. Have a great weekend!
Take care!

Bayram

Hello James

An appropriate dedication to Annick,this is a lovely capture of a South American sea lion.
The focus is sharp with very good detail.
The POV is terrific.
Excellent DOF,the OOF BG makes a wonderful back drop.
TFS

Wolf

Hello James
Great portrait of this Sealion, seeing its head I guess that its body was massively impressive !
TFS
Albert

Majestic animal. Beautiful pose. Crisp clear details.

Above all the counterlight associated with the dark background makes the shot magnificent.

I thought more space on the left and less on the right would be nicer (because she's looking bckward and because the back is on the pic). I started a workshop but found out that your original post is beter.

TFS
JM

  •      
  • joey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1739 W: 224 N: 6872] (24909)
  • [2009-01-22 3:47]

Perfect shot of this Seal, James!
The composition is superb.
Very sharp.
Superb DOF.

Well done,

Joe

p.s this is a perfect dedication to Annick!

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