Ocean Sentry
(from International Herald Tribune)The U.S. agency focused on the condition of the oceans says the Caribbean monk seal has gone extinct.
The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration”s Fisheries Services says the only subtropical seal native to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico is extinct. It 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.
