I am not sure a lout the sea lions, but have you thought about the Dolphin Encounter? My daughter and I did this in August and enjoyed it.
The Dolphin Encounter you meet at the Dolphin Nursery. The group is about twenty people. There are introductions and the guide explains some rules. Then you go inside the dolphin nursery where you get to watch a training session and ask trainers questions.
After the nursery, you walk over to the Dolphin Cove (is that the correct name?). Your group is matched with a trainer and several dolphins. For us, it was just my daughter and myself matched with three boy dolphins. other families of four were all together. We were able to try some hand signals, pet the dolphins, and ask the trainer questions. You do not get to feed the dolphins (trainer said that the dolphins only get fish as a reward for doing things right, and we wouldn't know).
There were lots of SeaWorld photographers taking pictures. We bought a cd for $25. We purchased at the end of the day, not at the kiosk there, and were able to get other photos on the cd as well. If you have people in your group not participating in the tour they would be able to take photos for you.
The tour is an hour, but really takes about an hour-and-a-half. You meet fifteen minutes before the tour, and by the time you are done and wash your hands it is closer to ninety minutes.
