They live a nomadic lifestyle, spending months out at sea and then returning to land to rest. The earless seals are the phocids. They are what you would think of as a seal. They are called earless because they lack ear flaps. However, this does not mean they are deaf.
Seals have tiny openings, which are called pinnae, that serve as ears.
There are eighteen species of seals. The most distinguished feature of the seal is the flipper. This sets the seal apart from other pinnipeds. They have short foreflippers with a claw on each toe. The hind flippers are also clawed.