Caribbean seal extinct; agency warns Hawaii species could be next
Associated Press
HONOLULU — The Caribbean monk seal has gone extinct.
That's the determination made by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service.
The sea mammal was the only subtropical seal native to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
The agency also warns that the Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals could be next.
The last confirmed sighting of the Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 at Seranilla Bank, between Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula.
Biologists say humans left the population unsustainable after over hunting them.
Today, there are fewer than 1,200 Hawaiian and 500 Mediterranean monk seals remaining.
