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Seel is a pinniped Pokémon with a thick hide covered in bluish white fur. It has a pale tan maw with a large red tongue and a pair of tusks on its lower jaw. It has circular eyes and a black nose that is capable of closing while Seel swims. There is a small horn on its forehead, which it uses in combination with its tusks to bore through ice floes. It has two flippers on its chest, and two more on the end of its tail. When the tail is raised, it resembles a waterspout.
Seel lives on icebergs in frigid ocean waters. Its warm fur and thick hide allow it to swim in waters as cold as -40°F.. It thrives in these cold environments, becoming more active as the temperature drops. Preferring to sleep during the day, it hunts for prey under sheets of ice in the late day and evening hours. While it is a graceful swimmer, it is awkward and struggles to move on dry land.
In Pokémon Adventures, Seel is the first Pokémon Lorelei owned. As a child, Lorelei saw her Seel become poisoned due to the effects of nearby industrialization. Agatha, who was passing by, healed the Seel using her Gastly. This encounter with the negative effects that humanity had on Pokémon would be the motivation Lorelei had to join the Elite Four in a plot to destroy all humanity years later.
Pryce owns two Seel that assist him in sculpting ice.
In the Pokémon Zensho manga
Satoshi received a Seel from Misty. He releases it upon his arrival in the Seafoam Islands.
Seel is a Pokéfloat. After the second half of Venusaur is revealed, the screen moves continually to the right without stopping and so fighting does not stay on Seel for very long.
Game data
NPC appearances
Pokémon Pinball: A Seel appears in a bonus stage accessible from the Blue Table. The goal is to hit the Seel that will poke its head out of the water.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation I.
Seel hunts for prey in the frigid sea underneath sheets of ice. When it needs to breathe, it punches a hole through the ice with the sharply protruding section of its head.
Seel hunt for prey in frigid, ice-covered seas. When it needs to breathe, it punches a hole through the ice with the sharply protruding section of its head.
Seel can be seen as a parallel to Spheal. Seel is exclusive to Pokémon Diamond, while Spheal is exclusive to Pokémon Pearl, with both found in the same locations in their respective versions. Additionally, both can only be obtained by breeding their evolved forms in Pokémon Platinum. Both Pokémon also appear to be based on Pinnipeds.
Origin
Seel is based on seal pups, bearing resemblance to a newborn harp seal. The horn on the top of Seel's head may also be loosely based on the narwhal.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.