What marine mammal from the Caribbean was hunted to extinction, with the last sighting in 1952?

The Caribbean monk seal was the marine mammal hunted to extinction whose last confirmed sighting occurred in 1952. Also called the West Indian seal or sea wolf, it was native to the Caribbean Sea and nearby waters.

People hunted the seals heavily for the oil in their blubber and for meat. Fishing also reduced the prey available to them, adding pressure to a species that gathered in coastal colonies. Historical accounts describe large groups being killed, and the seal's habit of resting on beaches made it especially vulnerable.

The final confirmed sighting was recorded at Serranilla Bank, west of Jamaica and off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Several later reports were investigated, but none produced reliable evidence of surviving animals. The United States officially declared the species extinct in 2008 after an extensive five-year search.

The Caribbean monk seal was closely related to both the Hawaiian monk seal and the Mediterranean monk seal. Those species survive, but both remain threatened. Its extinction is a reminder that marine mammals can disappear through sustained hunting even when their habitat still exists.