The Acrobat

A young California sea lion banking toward the camera off the Coronado Islands. Juveniles spend hours playing in the shallows, chasing each other, blowing bubbles and showing off for anything that watches.

The banking turn is a classic sea lion move, and it shows the whole animal at once: the flippers, the long body, the eyes locked on the lens.

A playful print for a family space, a kid's room or an office that could use some joy.

Young sea lions like this one are the first to suffer in a bad year. When warm water pushes sardines and anchovies away from the coast, mothers travel farther to feed and pups are left behind. Between 2013 and 2016 thousands of starving pups washed up on California beaches.

The colony this animal came from, on the Coronado Islands, sits in Mexican waters a short run from San Diego. Protection of the rookeries, limits on gillnets and clean beaches are what keep a colony like it producing playful juveniles.

This is the animal our youth crews meet most often, and the one that teaches them that conservation is about food, water temperature and fishing gear, not just the charismatic predator.

Read about Youth Ocean Experience and our guide to ocean conservation in Southern California.

• HD Metal · Printed onto white gloss aluminum, luminous and sharp; ships boxed, ready to hang. From $245.
• HD Acrylic · Printed behind crystal-clear acrylic for depth and color that glows; ships boxed, ready to hang. From $295.
• Fine Art Paper · Archival fine art paper, ships rolled in a tube for your own frame. From $145.
• Sizes · 12 × 18, 16 × 24, 20 × 30, 24 × 36 inches. Printed to order in the USA and shipped insured within the US.
• Where the money goes · a print is a purchase, not a donation, so there is no tax receipt. My Clean Ocean keeps the profit for its youth programs.