harp seal

American  

noun

1. a northern earless seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus, with pale-yellow fur darkening to gray with age, of coasts, drifting ice, and seas of the North Atlantic Ocean, hunted for its fur.

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harp seal British  

noun

1. a brownish-grey earless seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus, of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans

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Etymology

Origin of harp seal

First recorded in 1775–85; so called from the harplike shape of markings on the backs of adults

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

harp seal

Our boat navigated into the ice, and we spent a week documenting harp seal behavior above and below the surface.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 23, 2024

The act protects the harp seal throughout its range, including the North Atlantic and Artic oceans and the waters off New England.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2023

The other two were Eloise, another young gray seal, found on the same beach as Tom, and Stewart Little, a 1-year-old male harp seal found in Ocean City.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 12, 2021

Roboticists have taken this idea several steps further with the creation of therapeutic robots like Paro the baby harp seal and Huggable the robot teddy bear.

From Slate ● Jan. 15, 2016

Then Ebierbing shot a monster harp seal about nine feet long, the largest that Tyson had ever seen, which gave about seven hundred pounds of its rich, nutritious meat and blubber.

From True Tales of Arctic Heroism in the New World by Greely, Adolphus W.