A sea lion was caught admiring his own reflection – unaware that he was in fact staring into the lens of an underwater camera

The vain animal was captured off the coast of Hornby Island, Canada when its herd surrounded a visiting photographer.

The Steller sea lion is the largest eared seal and although this one was a happy playpal, the carnivorous breed is not one to mess with as it can grow as long as 11 feet.

Hello there: This vain sea lion adorably admires his own reflection – unaware that the photographer is secretly snapping away

Photographer Jon Cornforth said the pack of sea lions surrounded him and began playing with his scuba-suit whilst he was taking the pictures.

Jon, from Seattle, said: ‘While scuba diving off Hornby Island, I was mobbed by a pack of 20 to 30 sea lions nipping and tugging at my drysuit.

‘The chaos made it almost impossible to take pictures, but my favourite is this striking image of a sea lion admiring its reflection in the dome of my underwater housing.

‘I love photographing landscapes, but I am equally excited by underwater and wildlife photography.’

Friends not food: Although it found its own reflection intriguing, the sea lion could not resist the urge to see if the lens was worth eating

Playtime: The sea lion and its herd were more than happy to come and play with the Mr Cornforth –  to the point where it became hard for him to take photographs

My turf: The photographer got in the water with the herd in the north Pacific off the coast of Hornby Island, Canada, the home of the Steller sea lion

This breed of sea lion is the largest eared seal, and is the fourth largest of the ‘fin-footed’, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals, including elephant seals and the walrus.

Sea lions have longer flippers than earless seals and are capable of rotating their hind flippers forward, allowing them to use all four limbs on land.

An average-sized adult male Stellar sea lion weighs about 2,000 pounds and live in the north Pacific Ocean.

It is an endangered species and is estimated to have fallen in numbers by 70-80 per cent since the 1970s.

Little friend: Although this particular Steller sea lion doesn’t look very big, the adult male can weigh 2,000lbs and grow to be 11ft long

Up close: The sea lion gave the camera a thorough inspection and took the opportunity to make sure his whiskers were perfect