Study what sounds like marine mammal''s hide (7)

I believe the answer is:

conceal

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'hide' is the definition.
('conceal' can be a synonym of 'hide')

'study what sounds like marine mammal''s' is the wordplay.
'study' becomes 'con' (I've seen this before).
'what sounds like' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'marine' becomes 'sea' (I've seen this before).
'mammal''s' becomes 'eal' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'sea' is a homophone of 'c'.
'con'+'c'+'eal'='CONCEAL'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for conceal that I've seen before include "Place out of sight" , "Screen" , "Hide, cover" , "Keep out of sight" , "hush up!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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