This is the moment a sea lion at an eastern China zoo shows what a pro it has become when it comes to posing for photos with visitors.

Video footage of one encounter shows the sea lion posing stock still as it pretends to kiss a girl.

But a split second after the snap it took, the creature slips away ready for the next punter.

The girl, named only as Zheng in local media in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, went to visit a local zoo where she met the “ruthless photo machine” on 10th December.

Zheng met the incredibly entertaining sea lion and sat by the side of its pool to take a picture.

And a classmate filmed the moment when the sea lion approached the girl and smoothly leaned in and posed for a picture like a true pro.

But as soon as the snap was over, it ditched for the next in line.

Zheng said she found it very funny and a little embarrassing that the animal did not want to stay a second longer.

She later shared the video on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

Netizens ridiculed the sea lion as a “ruthless photo machine” and how it “charged for every second”.

Others joked that it must not have liked how the girl’s hair smelled or that it did not like the expression she made while posing.

And user ‘flower head’ wrote in a comment: “Seal: OK, next.”