harbor seal

noun

|Updated on: 6 Jun 2018

Definition of harbor seal

: a small hair seal (Phoca vitulina) of oceanic coasts in the northern hemisphere that often ascends rivers

Recent Examples of harbor seal from the Web

After three deaths at the Milwaukee County Zoo in April (two gorillas and one snow leopard), the zoo is happy to announce two births in May. The latest new addition to the zoo family is a baby harbor seal, who was born early Wednesday morning.

— lainey seyler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "A baby seal was born at the Milwaukee County Zoo Wednesday," 31 May 2018
Mayer spoke as his boat putt-putted among sea otters, harbor seals and pelicans crowding the salt-water estuary called Elkhorn Slough.

— Washington Post, "Sea otters rebound but struggle to regain historic range," 18 May 2018
The book is packed with facts — from the weight of an octopus (150 pounds) to the length of a killer whale’s teeth (3 to 4 inches), from how deep a harbor seal can dive (1,630 feet) to the life span of a geoduck (168 years).

— lynda v. mapes, The Seattle Times, "New children’s book dives deep into the Salish Sea," 23 Apr. 2018
Each phrase is matched with a picture of a natural object, a lovely vista or a wild creature—from a delicate spider web to rusty sandstone formations in the Utah desert to harbor seals on a California beach.

— meghan cox gurdon, WSJ, "Children’s Books: Happy Earth Day," 20 Apr. 2018
Polar bears will ride the ice for 150 miles looking for ringed and harbor seals, their favorite foodstuff.

— diane bair and pamela wright, BostonGlobe.com, "Greetings from polar bear country," 13 Mar. 2018
On the way back to the boat that evening, three harbor seals, their dark oily hair slicked back, seemed to be following our zodiac.

— emilie c. harting, Philly.com, "In Washington's San Juan Islands, an expedition cruise and wondrous hiking," 8 Mar. 2018
Rescued harbor seal pups Ravioli and Tomato adjust to their new home at Moody Gardens.

— dana burke, Houston Chronicle, "Abandoned harbor seal pups find refuge at Galveston's Moody Gardens," 1 Mar. 2018
In the northeastern United States, strains of morbillivirus killed harbor seals in 2006 and bottlenose dolphins between 1987 and 1988.

— elaina zachos, National Geographic, "Scores of Dolphin Deaths Have Scientists Baffled," 12 Jan. 2018

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