Earless seal is the common name for any of the pinnipeds comprising the family Phocidae, characterized by the absence of a pinna (external part of ear, although there is a functional inner ear), a side-to-side swimming motion involving the hind-flippers and lower body, and hind-flippers that cannot be inverted forward under the body, making for slow and awkward motion on land. These characteristics distinguish phocids, also known as true seals or as crawling seals, from the eared seals (fur seals and sea lions) of the family Otariidae.
Earless seals live in the oceans of both hemispheres and are mostly confined to polar, sub-polar, and temperate climes, with the exception of the more tropical monk seals. Earless seals comprise about 90 percent of the species of pinnipeds and are the only seals in the extreme polar regions (Riedman 1990).
A number of earless seals have been commercially important for their hides or oil, such as the ringed seal, elephant seal, monk seals, and even pups of the harp seal. As a result of commercial exploitation, the elephant seal was nearly exterminated and monk sea populations were greatly depleted; the Caribbean monk seal may be extinct. Seals also have been an important food source, both for native populations, such as Eskimos, and as part of both marine and terrestrial food chains (sharks, orcas, bears).