> "The whale never actually closed its jaws around the sea lion, so it shouldn't have been harmed. Very scared, I'm sure, but not harmed."
According to the photographer the sea lion most likely just swam away as the whale didn't even close its mouth, which makes this an annoyingly click-baity title ("swallows").
so, I've been near sea lions on the Oregon coast - the males can be large and many 100s of pounds (bigger than actual Lions!) and rather intimidating.
This picture of the whale's mouth with a sea lion in it really puts into perspective how big the whale is.
According to the photographer the sea lion most likely just swam away as the whale didn't even close its mouth, which makes this an annoyingly click-baity title ("swallows").