California Sea Lion in Marsh

I was at one of my favorite estuaries looking for ducks and grebes to photograph one morning. I had heard some pretty big splashes and a sound similar to a dolphin clearing its blowhole coming from deeper in the reeds. Turns out it was a sea lion who crossed the beach and got into the marsh. He was a little too far away to get a good shot that morning. So I came back a couple days later with my waders so I could get down in the water with him. I really didn't even know if he'd be there again. I was in the water at dawn and waited about an hour and a half after sunrise, and sure enough, he showed up again. He didn't get his head up above the water very often. This was the best shot I got that day. He swam in pretty close to me, probably to check me out a bit. I think he discovered the river has crayfish, but so far he seems to be the only one in the area who takes advantage of the opportunity. Pretty cool encounter.

Nikon D7000
Nikon 80-400 f/4.5-5.6

ISO-500 1/800 @ f/11

Image for discussion purpose only.