The term seal is often used very loosely, to refer to any marine mammal in the order Pinnipedia, including walruses and sea lions. But scientists narrowly define a seal as only the phocid (from the family Phocidae), which is the “earless” seal. These seals do have ears, but they are internal; in other words, they lack the visible external ear of other animals. Further the “true seal” uses only its forelimbs for motion on land.
Of the roughly 17 species of seals, only 1 lives in warm water; the others live in cold and temperate waters. True seals are awkward on land, but agile in the water. Carnivores, they like to eat squid, fish, and assorted invertebrates.
