Phocidae (Earless Seals) — Wallace's Line

Species in this group

LC

Mirounga leonina

Daily sighting probability ~90% · Very likely

LC

Phoca vitulina

Daily sighting probability ~80% · Very likely

NT

Erignathus barbatus

Daily sighting probability ~50% · Likely

LC

Halichoerus grypus

Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible

LC

Mirounga angustirostris

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible

LC

Pusa hispida

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible

NT

Pagophilus groenlandicus

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck

LC

Hydrurga leptonyx

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck

Daily sighting probability by month

Probability-weighted average across the group's species

~30%

Jan

~30%

Feb

~30%

Mar

~30%

Apr

~40%

May

~50%

Jun

~40%

Jul

~50%

Aug

~40%

Sep

~40%

Oct

~30%

Nov

~40%

Dec

When they're spotted

When the group's species are recorded (aggregated)

Where to see Earless Seals

Warmer areas are where this group is recorded most often. Shaded: the known ranges of its 13 species, darker where more of them overlap (Mammal Diversity Database, Marsh et al. 2022). Our parks Our cities In captivity: 157 zoos & centres

Parks Ranked

#	Park	Country	Species	Daily sighting probability
1	Península Valdés	🇦🇷 Argentina	1 of 8	~90%
	Southern Elephant Seal			~90%
2	Kenai Fjords National Park	🇺🇸 United States	1 of 8	~80%
	Harbor Seal			~80%
3	Svalbard	🇳🇴 Norway	4 of 8	~80%
	Harbor Seal			~50%
	Bearded Seal			~50%
	Ringed Seal			~20%
	Harp Seal			~10%
4	Vatnajokull National Park	🇮🇸 Iceland	2 of 8	~80%
	Harbor Seal			~70%
	Gray Seal			~20%
5	Wrangell-St. Elias National Park	🇺🇸 United States	1 of 8	~70%
	Harbor Seal			~70%
6	Wadden Sea National Park	🇩🇪 Germany	2 of 8	~60%
	Harbor Seal			~50%
	Gray Seal			~30%
7	Acadia National Park	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~60%
	Harbor Seal			~40%
	Gray Seal			~30%
8	Redwood National Park	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~50%
	Harbor Seal			~50%
	Northern Elephant Seal			~10%
9	Great Bear Rainforest	🇨🇦 Canada	2 of 8	~50%
	Harbor Seal			~50%
	Northern Elephant Seal			~10%
10	Channel Islands National Park	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~50%
	Harbor Seal			~30%
	Northern Elephant Seal			~20%
11	Pacific Rim National Park Reserve	🇨🇦 Canada	2 of 8	~40%
	Harbor Seal			~30%
	Northern Elephant Seal			~10%
12	Katmai National Park	🇺🇸 United States	1 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~30%
13	Cape Breton Highlands National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	1 of 8	~30%
	Gray Seal			~30%
14	Gros Morne National Park	🇨🇦 Canada	2 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~20%
	Harp Seal			~10%
15	Olympic National Park	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~20%
	Northern Elephant Seal			<5%
16	Great Otway National Park	🇦🇺 Australia	2 of 8	~10%
	Southern Elephant Seal			~10%
	Leopard Seal			~10%
17	El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve	🇲🇽 Mexico	1 of 8	~10%
	Harbor Seal			~10%
18	Snowdonia National Park	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1 of 8	~10%
	Gray Seal			~10%
19	Table Mountain National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	2 of 8	~10%
	Southern Elephant Seal			~10%
	Leopard Seal			<5%
20	Garden Route National Park	🇿🇦 South Africa	1 of 8	~10%
	Southern Elephant Seal			~10%

Cities Ranked

#	City	Country	Species	Daily sighting probability
1	Seattle	🇺🇸 United States	1 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~30%
2	San Diego	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~20%
	Northern Elephant Seal			<5%
3	Rotterdam [The Hague]	🇳🇱 Netherlands	2 of 8	~30%
	Gray Seal			~10%
	Harbor Seal			~10%
4	Vancouver	🇨🇦 Canada	1 of 8	~30%
	Harbor Seal			~30%
5	Dublin	🇮🇪 Ireland	2 of 8	~20%
	Gray Seal			~10%
	Harbor Seal			~10%
6	Montevideo	🇺🇾 Uruguay	1 of 8	~10%
	Southern Elephant Seal			~10%
7	San Francisco	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~10%
	Harbor Seal			~10%
	Northern Elephant Seal			<5%
8	Helsinki	🇫🇮 Finland	1 of 8	~10%
	Gray Seal			~10%
9	Liverpool	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	1 of 8	~10%
	Gray Seal			~10%
10	London	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	2 of 8	~10%
	Gray Seal			~10%
	Harbor Seal			<5%
11	Stockholm	🇸🇪 Sweden	1 of 8	~10%
	Gray Seal			~10%
12	Boston	🇺🇸 United States	1 of 8	~10%
	Harbor Seal			~10%
13	New York City	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~10%
	Harbor Seal			<5%
	Gray Seal			<5%
14	Los Angeles	🇺🇸 United States	2 of 8	~10%
	Harbor Seal			<5%
	Northern Elephant Seal			<5%
15	Auckland	🇳🇿 New Zealand	1 of 8	<5%
	Leopard Seal			<5%
16	Buenos Aires	🇦🇷 Argentina	1 of 8	<5%
	Southern Elephant Seal			<5%
17	Lisbon	🇵🇹 Portugal	1 of 8	<5%
	Gray Seal			<5%
18	Montreal	🇨🇦 Canada	1 of 8	<5%
	Harbor Seal			<5%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

#	Zoo / Centre	Country
1	SeaWorld Orlando	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
2	SeaWorld San Diego	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
3	Moscow Zoo	🇷🇺 Russia	In captivity
4	Pairi Daiza	🇧🇪 Belgium	In captivity
5	National Zoological Park	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
6	SeaWorld Abu Dhabi	🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates	In captivity
7	Copenhagen Zoo	🇩🇰 Denmark	In captivity
8	Skansen	🇸🇪 Sweden	In captivity
9	Cleveland Metroparks Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
10	Zürich Zoo	🇨🇭 Switzerland	In captivity
11	Aquarium of Genoa	🇮🇹 Italy	In captivity
12	Barcelona Zoo	🇪🇸 Spain	In captivity
13	North Carolina Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
14	Oceanarium in Saint Petersburg	🇷🇺 Russia	In captivity
15	Fota Wildlife Park	🇮🇪 Ireland	In captivity
16	Chomutov Zoo	🇨🇿 Czechia	In captivity
17	Kaliningrad Zoo	🇷🇺 Russia	In captivity
18	Aquarium et centre marin du Nouveau-Brunswick	🇨🇦 Canada	In captivity
19	Zoo sauvage Saint-Félicien	🇨🇦 Canada	In captivity
20	Taman Safari Indonesia	🇮🇩 Indonesia	In captivity
21	Safaripark Beekse Bergen	🇳🇱 Netherlands	In captivity
22	Columbus Zoo and Aquarium	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
23	Poznań Nowe Zoo	🇵🇱 Poland	In captivity
24	SeaWorld San Antonio	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
25	Brookfield Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
26	Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
27	Milwaukee County Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
28	Zoo Gdańsk	🇵🇱 Poland	In captivity
29	Los Angeles Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
30	Parque Zoológico de León - Zooleón	🇲🇽 Mexico	In captivity
31	Toledo Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
32	Louisville Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
33	Warsaw Zoo	🇵🇱 Poland	In captivity
34	Kyiv Zoo	🇺🇦 Ukraine	In captivity
35	Saint Louis Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
36	Six Flags Discovery Kingdom	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
37	Berlin Zoological Garden	🇩🇪 Germany	In captivity
38	Dierenpark Hoenderdaell	🇳🇱 Netherlands	In captivity
39	Wrocław Zoological Garden	🇵🇱 Poland	In captivity
40	Moody Gardens	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
41	Nyíregyháza Zoo	🇭🇺 Hungary	In captivity
42	Indianapolis Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
43	Oregon Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
44	Wildlands	🇳🇱 Netherlands	In captivity
45	Taronga Zoo	🇦🇺 Australia	In captivity
46	ABQ BioPark Zoo	🇺🇸 United States	In captivity
47	Karlsruhe Zoo	🇩🇪 Germany	In captivity
48	Zoo Aquarium de Madrid	🇪🇸 Spain	In captivity
49	Edmonton Valley Zoo	🇨🇦 Canada	In captivity
50	Hanover Zoo	🇩🇪 Germany	In captivity

Show all 50 Show fewer

Challenges

Part of the challengePacific CoastNorth AmericaSea otterSea lionHarbor sealHumpback whale

Earless Seals

Species in this group

Southern Elephant Seal

Harbor Seal

Bearded Seal

Gray Seal

Northern Elephant Seal

Ringed Seal

Harp Seal

Leopard Seal

Daily sighting probability by month

When they're spotted

Where to see Earless Seals

Parks Ranked

Cities Ranked

Zoos & Centres Where Found

Challenges