The Ross seal (Ommatophoca rossii) is a true seal (family Phocidae) with a range confined entirely to the pack ice of Antarctica. It is the only species of the genus Ommatophoca. First described during James Clark Ross' British Antarctic Expedition in 1841, it is the smallest, least abundant and least well known of the Antarctic pinnipeds. Its distinctive features include disproportionately large eyes, whence its scientific name (Ommato- meaning "eye", and phoca meaning "seal"), and complex, trilling and siren-like vocalizations.

The Ross seal shares a recent common ancestor with the other Antarctic seals, which are together known as the lobodontine seals. These include the crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx) and Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddelli). These species, collectively belonging to the Lobodontini tribe of seals, share teeth adaptations, including lobes and cusps useful for straining smaller prey items out of the water column. The ancestral Lobodontini likely diverged from its sister clade, the Mirounga (elephant seals) in the late Miocene to early Pliocene, when they migrated southward and diversified rapidly in relative isolation around Antarctica.

Ross (Ros in Scottish Gaelic) is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area once belonged to the Norse earldom of Orkney. Ross is a historical comital region, perhaps predating the Mormaerdom of Ross.

Excavations of a rock shelter and shell midden at Sand, Applecross on the coast of Western Ross have shown that the coast was occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherers.

It may be doubted whether the Romans ever effected even a temporary settlement in the area of the modern county. In Roman times, and for long afterwards, the land was occupied by Gaelic Picts, who, in the 6th and 7th centuries, were converted to Christianity by followers of Saint Columba. Throughout the next three centuries the natives were continually harassed by Norse raiders, of whose presence tokens have survived in several place-names (Dingwall, Tain, and others). At this time the country formed part of the great province of Moray (Latin: Moravia), which then extended as far west as the Dornoch Firth and the Oykel, and practically comprised the whole of Ross and Cromarty.

Seal commonly refers to:

Seal may also refer to:

LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948 – May 17, 2012), known by the stage name Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the late 1970s. She had a mezzo-soprano vocal range, and was a five-time Grammy Award winner. Summer was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach number one on the United States Billboard chart, and she also charted four number-one singles in the United States within a 13-month period.

Born into a devoutly Christian lower middle class African American family in Boston, Massachusetts, Summer first became involved with singing through church choir groups before joining a number of bands influenced by the Motown Sound. Influenced by the counterculture of the 1960s, she became the front singer of a psychedelic rock band named Crow and moved to New York City. Joining a touring version of the musical Hair, she spent several years living in West Germany, where she married Helmut Sommer, whose surname she adopted as her stage name.

Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE (born 17 November 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011. Ross also hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2, and acted as a film critic and presenter of the Film programme. Other regular roles have included being a regular panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over from 1999 to 2006, and presenting the annual British Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2007, and 2009 onwards.

Ross began his television career as a programme researcher, before débuting as a television presenter for The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4 in 1987. Over the next decade he had several radio and television roles, many through his own production company, Channel X. In 1995 he sold his stake in Channel X, and embarked on a career with the BBC. In 1999, Ross took over presenting the Film programme from Barry Norman, and also began presenting his own radio show, while two years later he began hosting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. For the chat show, Ross won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for Best Entertainment Performance, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. By 2006 Ross was believed to be the BBC's highest paid star. In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting. Ross has been involved in controversies throughout his broadcasting career. As a result, in 2008 he wrote a semi-autobiographical work titled Why Do I Say These Things?, detailing some of his life experiences.