Caribbean monk seal is declared extinct

After decades without a single survivor having been sighted, authorities on Friday declared the Caribbean monk seal extinct. The Associated Press reports:

Humans hunting the docile creatures for research, food and blubber left the population unsustainable, say biologists who warn that Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals could be the next to go.

The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 between Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service confirmed Friday that the species is extinct.

Kyle Baker, a biologist for NOAA's Fisheries Service southeast region, said the species is the only seal to become extinct from human causes.

Deemed easy hunting targets as far back as Columbus' second voyage to the Americas in 1494, the Caribbean monk seals' numbers steadily declined from a peak of 250,000 and were declared endangered in 1967.

Biologists fear the Hawaiian monk seal, a close relative, pictured at right, could be the next to go. Facing its own pressures -- depleting beaches, coastal development, marine debris and global warming -- that seal's population is declining 4% annually, according to NOAA. If numbers fall below 1,000, it could become among the world's most endangered marine species.

So what now? Authorities are "working" to take Caribbean monk seals off the endangered species list, because as the AP points out, they're no longer endangered or even threatened. They're gone forever.

But as final as that sounds, there have been species that have unexpectedly reappeared years after they were thought to be extinct. The widely publicized post-extinction sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the painted frog come to mind. Scientists call such organisms Lazarus species, referring to the biblical story of Lazarus rising from the dead. So maybe there is hope for the Caribbean monk seal after all.

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[brady westwater]

None of the ivory-billed woodpecker sightings have been fully verified yet.

[Brian Pickrell]

If it takes over 50 years between the last one dying and the authorities finally admitting the species is extinct, it's a good guess that many, many other species have already gone extinct since then--and are continuing to do so.

[Ian J.]

I'm concerned by the author's use or religious imagery that some weak minded people may have the idea in their head that a deity is going to return these poor creatures to life. That's not the way Biology works. The Ivory Billed Woodpecker has not been sited, Nessie and Big Foot have been sited more times than that mythical bird.

[Jeff Richardson]

I spotted a 'mythical' Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in 1982. I have a postgrad degree in biological sciences and have been an avid birder since childhood. I attempted to report this sighting numerous times to various authorities to no avail until just last year. No one ever contacted me back when it was a letter writing exercise in those days. I visited the site in 2006, one year post-Katrina, and was saddened that it had taken the brunt of the hurricanes force, being the epicentre of a 120 mile inland surge of water. May I enquire as to 'How authoritative must one be in order to verify a siting?' I discovered recently that there have been numerous other reported sightings within a five mile radius of the site where I was graced with a peek at this truly magnificent bird.
Signed
'I know biologically what the hell I am looking at!'