Caribbean Monk Seal latest marine life extinction due to human causes
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE US-based National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) announced earlier this month that the Caribbean Monk Seal is officially extinct due to human abuses, with the last confirmed sighting of the mammal being in 1952 at Seranilla Bank, between Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula.
According to a five-year report compiled on the Caribbean Monk Seal by the NMFS, “a sufficient amount of time has passed since the last sighting of this species to make an inference on the status of this species.”
“Humans left the Caribbean Monk Seal population unsustainable after overhunting them,” said in an official statement by Kyle Baker, a biologist for the NMFS.
“Following European colonisation from the 1700s to 1900s, the seals were exploited intensively for their blubber,” the NMFS explained. “Blubber was processed into oil and used for lubrication, coating the bottom of boats and as lamp and cooking oil. Seal skins were sought to make trunk linings, articles of clothing, straps and bags.” 
Though hunting is suspected to be the main factor in the species’ demise, climate change and human waste are also assumed to have been major contributors to the extinction.
According to the Ocean Conservancy, the Caribbean, Hawaiian and Mediterranean Monk Seals suffer because of climate change that has raised water levels and “drive[n] marine debris closer to Monk Seal beaches and near shore waters. Seal pups play with trash, which can lead to entanglement and eventual death.”
Additionally, the Conservancy stated that “discarded or lost fishing gear” are likely culprits in entangling and killing the seals.
~~Adz:Left~~Dr. Kimberly Stewart, lead researcher for the St. Kitts Turtle Monitoring Network, told SKNVibes that the human impact on marine life in the Caribbean remains a major issue for conservationists.
“Marine life is very susceptible to the actions of humans, and we have to start taking more responsibility for the environment we share with these animals,” Stewart said.
“Here in St. Kitts, we are working to protect marine life like the leatherback turtles that nest here because they are part of a related ecosystem. If turtles are made extinct you will see a rise in the jellyfish population, which is the turtles’ main source of food. Jellyfish eat fish larvae, so if there were more jellyfish you would then see a dramatic decline in the fish population around St. Kitts.
“People must realise that nature is a delicate balance, and the permanent loss of any organism is going to have a negative impact on that balance,” added Stewart.
The St. Kitts Turtle Monitoring Network is part of a research project sponsored by the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, designed to study and protect the Leatherback and Hawksbill turtle population that nests in the Federation. According to Stewart, only one in every 1 000 turtle eggs fertilised makes it to adulthood.
