Origami Sea Lion

Sea lions (unlike seals) have external ear flaps, long front flippers (and can walk on all fours), and short thick hair. The performing circus "seal" is usually a sea lion, often a California Sea Lion. These origami sea lion instructions are fairly simple. Grey-colored origami paper works well.

Start with an origami kite base :

Now fold the top point of the kite to the right and onto the line A-B as shown, then unfold:

Repeat on the other side. Now fold the top point down from point C (the intersection of the creases from the two previous folds):

Turn the piece over, then fold the point D up to point C as shown:

Now flip the piece over again, and fold the two (2) sides inwards as shown:

Now fold along the dotted line as shown, then fold corner E back to the left:

Repeat the last two (2) folds on the right side of the model:

Flip the piece over again, then flip the outside flap and squash fold to the right as shown:

Now do two (2) inside reverse folds, to tuck corners F and G inside:

Now fold in half along the centerline, allowing the sea lion's upper body to swing free as shown:

Now to form the front flippers. Mountain fold along the line shown, then repeat on the backside:

Tuck the point H under the flap as shown, then repeat on the backside:

Then, crease the sea lion's head along the two lines as shown, then do an inside reverse fold to form the head:

Follow-up with a couple more inside folds to shape the mouth:

Now it's time to shape the rear flippers. Do an inside fold along the line shown....

...then a squash fold the form the right rear flipper. Repeat on the backside to form the other flipper:

Now spread the front flippers out, and your origami sea lion is complete!

These are playful animals, have a ball with them!

From reader in Rabat:

From reader in Rizal:

From Michela in Concord " A purple origami sea lion! (: "

From Megain in L.C. " Well.. This was a sea lion, but I changed a few steps and made it into a dog! I think it turned out pretty well! "