Seal of Approval (Boing Boing Flickr Pool)

Cindy the Australian sea lion, rescued by the Pet Porpoise Pool, NSW, Australia. A photograph contributed to the Boing Boing Flickr pool by Erik Veland (web) of Southport, Australia.

• [Anonymous]

  My what a handsome profile!

  Stay fabulous, seal…er, sea lion, dude.

• [devophill]

  Not Safe Work, Australia!

• [dr.hypercube]

  Magnificent vibrissae!

• [mdh]

  is this a friend of shocked kitty?

• [Clayton]

  There are eared seals and earless seals. Sea Lions, as you might have guessed, fall into the latter group – but rest assured, they are still seals. “True”, in this case, is almost a proper noun, and it certainly isn’t meant to imply that eared seals are not actually seals.

• [Anonymous]

  Arr, it be a salty sea-dog!

• [mkultra]

  Not to be overly pedantic, but as the caption states, this is the sea lion of approval, not the seal. True seals do not have external ears, while–as this photo beautifully shows–sea lions do.

  Of course, popular culture has ignorantly mussed the line for so long that it’s very nearly a lost battle. Unless, of course, one cares about being correct.

  • [Clayton]

    Oops! My last comment was meant to be a reply to yours. Forgot to hit “reply”.

• [chris23]

  That is a fine lookin buddy!

• [In Blue]

  When I look at this picture, I feel that the Seal is looking at me disapprovingly.

  The disapproving seal scoffs at your suggestion that your obscure indie band is any good.

• [Drhaggis]

  It’s some sort of sea dwelling land-lion.

• [hassenpfeffer]

  Xeni, I think you might’ve been pwned by @gavinpurcell, Rpwned by @feliciaday: Baby Dolphin wins the internet. http://i.imgur.com/mgX6O.png