Seal (Books)

Seals are semi-aquatic mammals mentioned briefly in the How to Train Your Dragon Book series.

Description
The term seals may be applied to any member of the Clade Pinnipedia, even sea lions. However, 'seal' more specifically refers to members of the Family Phocidae, otherwise known as 'true seals' or 'earless seals'. Earless seals are so-called because they lack any external ear pinna (ear flap), whereas sea lions and furred seals do. They also more generally have to crawl and push themselves with their flippers on land, whereas sea lions and fur seals are somewhat better adapted to walking or shuffling along. Most true seals live in both polar regions of the globe, with a few species inhabiting temperate waters and one species, the Baikal seal, inhabiting a large, Russian freshwater lake.

True seals are well adapted for energy-saving swimming, allowing them to venture far from land to find food. Their body shape is more streamlined and torpedo-like than sea lions. They also have some morphological adaptations for deep-sea diving.

Function
Seals do not have a specific function in the Book series, but do in real life. There is some evidence that seals have been hunted for their meat and blubber for many thousands of years.

How to Train Your Dragon
Seals are mentioned briefly in this book when describing the slow awakening of the Green Death after centuries in Sleep Coma under the sea.

"But the previous week, a Killer Whale who had chased some seals unexpectedly deep was surprised to notice a slight movement in the upper eyelid of the dragon's right eye."

- Book 1