Caribbean monk seal

The Caribbean monk seal (Neomonachus tropicalis), also called the West Indian seal or sea wolf, is an extinct true seal that once lived in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic. It was a large, robust animal that could reach nearly 2.4 metres in length and weigh 170 to 270 kilograms, with a rounded head, a broad muzzle, brownish to grayish fur with a paler underside, and sometimes a greenish tinge from algae growing on its coat. Groups hauled out on low sandy beaches of isolated atolls and islands, and the animals probably fed on fish and crustaceans. Because the seals showed little fear of people, hunters killed them by the hundreds for blubber oil and meat from the time of Christopher Columbus onward, and overfishing of their reefs removed their food. The last confirmed sighting was at Serranilla Bank in 1952, and the United States declared the species extinct in 2008. It is a close relative of the Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals.