Caribbean monk seal

The Caribbean monk seal (Neomonachus tropicalis), also known as the West Indian seal or sea wolf, is an extinct species of seal native to the Caribbean. The main natural predators of Caribbean monk seals were American crocodiles, large sharks, such as great whites and tiger sharks, and possibly transient orcas (though killer whales are not often sighted in the Caribbean); however, humans would become their most lethal enemy. Overhunting of the monk seals for oil and meat, as well as overfishing of their natural prey, are the likely reasons for the seals' extinction.

The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952, at Serranilla Bank, in the waters west of Jamaica and off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. In 2008, the species was officially declared extinct by the United States, after an exhaustive five-year search. This analysis was conducted by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Caribbean monk seal is closely related to the Hawaiian monk seal, a vulnerable species which is restricted to the central Pacific Ocean surrounding the Hawaiian Islands, and the Mediterranean monk seal, a vulnerable species, predominantly found in the waters off of Greece.