pinniped summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see pinniped.

pinniped , Any member of the three existing families of aquatic, fin-footed mammals that constitute the suborder Pinnipedia (order Carnivora; see carnivore). They include the Odobenidae (see walrus) and the Phocidae and Otariidae (see seal).

A mother harp seal and a young “whitecoat.” Adult harp seals are gray with black spots. Young harp seals are called “whitecoats,” “bedlamers,” “beaters,” or “graybacks,” depending on their age.

harp seal Summary

Harp seal, (Pagophilus, or Phoca, groenlandica), medium-sized, grayish earless seal possessing a black harp-shaped or saddle-shaped marking on its back. Harp seals are found on or near ice floes from the Kara Sea of Russia west to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada. The harp seal is both the

sea lion Summary

Sea lion, any of six species of eared seals found primarily in Pacific waters. Sea lions are characterized by a coat of short coarse hair that lacks a distinct undercoat. Except for the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), males have lion-like manes and constantly roar to defend their

seal Summary

Seal, any of 32 species of web-footed aquatic mammals that live chiefly in cold seas and whose body shape, round at the middle and tapered at the ends, is adapted to swift and graceful swimming. There are two types of seals: the earless, or true, seals (family Phocidae); and the eared seals (family