#true seal

[gnotknormal]

EVER SEEN a RIBBON SEAL?????

now you have....

[sitting-on-me-bum]

"Earless" True Seals Actually Do Have Ears

Jan Vrzina / EyeEm / Getty Images

[unofficial-sean]

Distant harbor seals

[sunnylaurels]

SEALS

Azarashi means ‘true seal/earless seal’ 

Azarashi-ka means ‘Phocidae’ (earless seal family)

Seiuchi means ‘walrus’

Ottosei means ‘fur seal’

Ashika means ‘sea lion’

Ashika-ka means ‘Otariidae’ (eared-seal family)

Kikyakurui means ‘Pinnipeds’ (SEALS)

[ichika405]

あざらし

[inarminwetrust]

Calypso 💜

[animaltoday]

Ross Seal (Ommatophoca rossii) - 

This seal is a small true seal (crawling seals; slightly smaller front flippers  compared to the larger ones of the sea lions and fur seals) that lives in Antarctica.  It is the smallest and rarest antarctic pinniped.  They can reach lengths of up to 7 feet.

Most of the year, its coat is a dark brown with a silver belly, and dark chin streaks.  During winter its coat becomes tawny and white with brown streaks. They have large eyes which are adapted to seeing better in the deep water.  Squid and fish make up a primary part of their diet.

Its distribution is strictly bound to the dense pack ice and cold waters of Antarctica.  So little is known about it, that it is considered to be the least common Antarctic seal.  They are usually solitary, so populations are difficult to follow.  Population numbers are currently unknown, and even less is known about the population trends. 

Photos: (top) (middle left) (middle right)

[bluemarbleworld-blog]

Weddell Seal