Cute but hungry sea lion shows up for dinner.

A skinny sea lion photographed yesterday in a booth at an upscale beachside San Diego restaurant has become the poster child for California's starving pup population whose food supply has been cut by El Niño.

The malnourished eight-month-old pup was wriggling along the beach when she found an open door into the Marine Room in La Jolla and took a seat at an empty booth.

The pup was later taken to SeaWorld's Animal Rescue Center, and experts say, though she's severely underweight and dehydrated, she'll likely recover.

This is far from the first emaciated sea lion SeaWorld staff have rescued this year. There's been a surge in sea lion mortality over the past year, with marine biologists collecting thousands of sick, starving, stranded or dead pups. So far this year, SeaWorld has rescued 47 sea lions and other marine mammals.