These two pinnipeds are commonly confused in casual conversation, but they have pretty distinct characteristics. Keep an eye out for these easily identifiable distinctions the next time you find yourself sharing the water with a seal or sea lion.

Flippers

First, look at how the animal is getting around. Seals have webbed, stubby front flippers, while sea lions have longer front flippers. This, combined with the fact that seals’ back flippers do not rotate, leads to seals mostly crawling or sliding on their bellies on land. Sea lions, on the other hand, look much more adept out of the water. They use their flippers like feet and are able to comfortably walk on land.

Ears

Sea lions can be easily identified most of the time by their external ear flaps (seen in the photo above). Most seals don’t have an external flap at all, but a small ear hole instead.

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Social Behavior

Seals are mostly solitary creatures — with the exception of mating season — opting to spend most of their time in the water. Sea lions, on the other hand, are much more social. They come together in colonies on land, making lots of noise with their loud vocalizations. When you approach a sea lion colony, you’ll hear its residents before you see them.

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