| The family of true seals, also called hair seals or | | | | harems. |
| earless seals includes about 18 different species. | | | | One of the best known of all the true seals is the |
| About half of these live in the frigid waters of the | | | | common, or harbor, seal. It inhabits coastal areas of |
| Arctic Ocean, the ranges of some of them extending | | | | the Northern Hemisphere all around the world. Off |
| into temperate regions. Another five species live in | | | | the United States it ranges as far south as California |
| the Antarctic. Three species, the closely related | | | | and North Carolina. Most adult harbor seals average |
| monk seals, live in warm waters of the Pacific around | | | | from 4.5 to 5.5 feet long and weigh from 100 to 250 |
| Hawaii, as well as in the Mediterranean and | | | | pounds. Their coats are mottled and streaked with |
| neighboring waters and in the Caribbean. All the monk | | | | gray, black, and yellowish markings. |
| seals are quite rare. The Caribbean species is perhaps | | | | The harp, or saddleback, seal inhabits waters all |
| ex-tinct. Elephant seals, the biggest of all the | | | | around the Arctic. It is probably the most plentiful of |
| pinnipeds, live both in the Antarctic and in Pacific | | | | all the northern seals. Another abundant species is the |
| waters off the coast of Lower California. | | | | ringed seal, which is found anywhere from Alaska to |
| True seals have no outside ears. They have coats of | | | | Labrador. Other species include the ribbon seal of |
| short hair, with no thick underfur. The young of a | | | | Alaskan waters; the big gray seal of the North |
| number of species are born with white woolly coats, | | | | Atlantic; and the hooded, or bladder- nose, seal of |
| which they quickly shed. Adult males and females are | | | | Newfoundland and Greenland waters. |
| about the same size. The males usually do not form | | | | |