fur seal

Definition of fur seal

: any of various eared seals that have a double coat with a dense soft underfur and were hunted especially formerly for their desirable pelts:

a : a large seal (Callorhinus ursinus) of the northern Pacific Ocean having its main breeding rookery on Pribilof Island in the Bering Sea

— called also northern fur seal

b : any of a genus (Arctocephalus) of seals chiefly of the southern hemisphere

— called also southern fur seal

Examples of fur seal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web On Macquarie Island, beaches may be covered with royal penguins and fur seals. — Fran Golden / Bloomberg, Time, "8 Cruise Destinations to Inspire Your 2020 Travel Plans," 27 Dec. 2019 Nearly 70 percent of Cape fur seal skins went to Turkey. — Rachel Fobar, National Geographic, "U.S. demand for pets and skins threatens some African animals," 3 Oct. 2019 SeaWorld rehabilitates sea lions, Guadalupe fur seals, harbor seals, elephant seals, dolphins and sea turtles. — Erika I. Ritchie, The Mercury News, "Video: Orphaned sea otter from Alaska gets new home at SeaWorld San Diego," 16 Sep. 2019 Up close, though, almost every inch of Seal Island is covered by the Cape fur seals that gave it its name. — David Mckenzie And Brent Swails, CNN, "Has the great white shark really vanished from Cape Town's waters?," 28 Oct. 2019 Numbers of fur seals continue to grow on tiny Bogoslof Island despite hot mud, steam and sulfurous gases spitting from vents on the volcano. — Fox News, "Fur seal moms, pups find refuge on steaming Alaska volcano," 3 Oct. 2019 Numbers of fur seals continue to grow on tiny Bogoslof Island despite hot mud, steam and sulfurous gases spitting from vents on the volcano. — Dan Joling, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Northern fur seals multiply on steaming Alaska volcano," 3 Oct. 2019 Exotic species, including ocean sunfish and Guadalupe fur seals, began roaming waters far north of their normal hunting grounds in Mexico and Southern California. — Peter Fimrite, SFChronicle.com, "‘Blob’ of warm Pacific water is back — could be trouble for marine life and weather," 10 Sep. 2019 Baby fur seals frequently hang out in tidepools, unaware of the danger just offshore as a leopard seal suddenly appears. — Craig Welch, National Geographic, "A top Antarctic predator has switched what it eats," 2 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fur seal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

9 Jan 2020

Cite this Entry

“Fur seal.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fur%20seal. Accessed 20 January 2020.

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