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

By day, the sun danced across an icescape dotted with harp seal mothers and pups with cloud-soft fur, obsidian eyes, and charcoal noses.

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

They had caught an old harp seal, and he ate its flesh and drank its blood.

From Grenfell: Knight-Errant of the North by Fullerton Waldo