• While many species of seals live in the polar zones of the world's oceans, some do inhabit the more temperate waters. The temperate ocean zones include those waters off most of the coastlines of the United States, from California to Alaska in the Pacific and from the Carolinas to the Canadian Maritimes in the Atlantic. Different types of seals inhabit these waters, with some species that are also able to live in the Polar Regions.
  
  

Harbor Seal

• The harbor seal has the largest geographic distribution of the seals, with those in the Atlantic found as far south as South Carolina and those in the Pacific found off the California Coast and northwards to Alaska. Harbor seals come in five separate subspecies and many colors, from black to almost yellow-gray. The harbor seal male is larger than the females and can approach 300 lbs. in weight. Harbor seals often bask together in small groups along rocky outcroppings and beaches. Very alert to potential danger, the harbor seal slips into the water at the first hint of trouble. Harbor seals live on a diet consisting of fish such as cod and flounder as well as creatures like mollusks, clams, crabs and squid. Capable of diving to 1,400 feet and staying underwater for about 27 minutes, the harbor seal sometimes pilfers fish from commercial fishing nets.
  
  

Gray Seal

• A gray seal may be black with white markings or whitish with darker spots, with the females typically lighter than the males are. Some males approach 10 feet in length and can weigh in the 800 lb. range, with females considered large at 500 lbs. Gray seals will breed off the eastern shores of Canada and are common seals off of nations such as England, Norway and Denmark. The gray seal sometimes wanders as far to the south as the New Jersey coast, according to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park site. Gray seals inhabit undisturbed rocky coves, sandbars and various islands. This seal of temperate waters eats fish, octopus, shrimp and even the occasional seabird. In the wild, this type of seal can live as long as 40 years.
  
  

Northern Elephant Seal

• Northern elephant sealbull elephant seal image by Jo Ann Koch from Fotolia.com
  
  Only the southern elephant seal exceeds the northern version in size among the seals of the world; the male northern elephant seal can weigh 4,500 lbs. and be as long as 13 feet. The species takes its name from its huge snout, which hangs down and can remind you of an elephant's trunk on the males. The males will inflate these snouts during mating season and produce sounds that can carry as far as a mile. Northern elephant seals live from the Gulf of Alaska to as far south as Baja, California. The seal usually resides a good distance off shore except when breeding and molting seasons occur. The northern elephant seal can go as deep as 5,000 feet down and its dives can endure for two hours. Its diet consists of deep-sea creatures such as squid, eels, rockfish and ratfish. The males stage spectacular and violent battles over mating territories and rights. This species suffered extensively at the hands of man, hunted for the oil in its blubber until fewer than 100 remained by about 1910. However, the species rebounded nicely once protections safeguarded it, with the estimated population now at around 150,000, according to the Marine Mammals Center website.