seal

[For the right pronunciation, please click here.]

some common ‘true’ seals:

a grey seal

monk seals; elephant seals; Ross seals; crab-eater seals; leopard seals; Weddell seals; bearded seals; spotted seals; ringed seals; Baikal seals; Caspian seals; Robbon seals; grey seals; hooded seals; harp seals; common or harbour seal

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some common ‘eared’ seals:

a fur seal

fur seals; sea lions

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some common walrus:

a walrus

Atlantic walrus; Pacific walrus; O. rosmarus laptevi (scientific name)

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a kind of animal – mammal – semi-aquatic (= lives in water and on land) – fish-eating – most species live in sea waters, except two species the ‘Baikal’ and ‘ringed’ seals live in fresh water – large, cigar-shaped body in different shades of colours, depending on the species (kind), round head with large clear eyes, small external ear flaps (in ‘eared seals’), without external ear flaps (in ‘true/earless seals’), round, blunt snout (= mouth and nose part), sharp teeth, (tusks – the long teeth that grow downwards out of the mouth from the upper jaw in ‘walrus’), whiskers (= long stiff hairs around the mouth), large body with front and back (hind) limbs (legs) developed into flippers – front flippers used for swimming and walking, back (hind) flippers used only for swimming in ‘true’ seals, and for swimming and walking in ‘eared/walking’ seals; size: the smallest (Baikal seal) — 4 feet in length and 60-700 Kg. in weight, the largest (elephant seal) 10-15 feet (some bulls grow to about 20 feet) in length, and 2-4½ tons in weight (males much larger than females); feeds on (eats) mostly fish, and other sea animals; lives for 23-55 years; 33 species, found in all the oceans of the world,

male ~~ bull

female ~~ cow; matka

baby ~~ pup, calf, cub, weaner, whelp

group ~~ herd, trip, team (on land); school, shoal, pod (in water); harem (group of females in breeding season); rookery (breeding season); pod (a group of pups)

voice (call) ~~ bark, bellow

home ~~ — ; {rookery (on the land in breeding season)}

movement ~~ (in water) swim; (on land) ‘humping’; ‘wriggle’; caterpillar-like ‘hitching’; ‘hopping’ on their bellies

Special Feature:
Some species, like the ‘eared’ or ‘walking’ seals, can walk in dog-like fashion.

a seal on an envelope/a sealed enc elope

‘Seal’ is more commonly used, as a noun and a verb, to mean something that is put on an opening or to close or cover something permanently so that nobody can tamper with it. For example, the more common substance used in sealing is wax, and ‘seal’ is also used for some kind of mark that is put on some document to show the authority that forwarded that document. For an article that explains the two different types of seals of this kind, please click here.