Well, this is delightful. A little girl visiting the National Zoo yesterday was running alongside the sea lion tank on in the American Trail section. But, as sometimes happens when one runs where one should not, the girl took a spill.

And the tumble didn’t just startle her family; the sea lion swimming along the viewing area spun to an immediate halt. Was it in bemusement? Or perhaps amusement? Small children tripping and falling is almost always funny. But we choose to believe the sea lion was concerned about its young visitor’s safety. Nice sea lion.

UPDATE: The sea lion’s fascination with the falling child is now in GIF form, courtesy of DCist reader Dana Bell.