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Topic: Caribbean Monk Seal


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  ScienceDaily: Caribbean Monk Seal
The Caribbean Monk Seal, the only seal ever known to be native to the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico, is now considered extinct.
Caribbean Monk Seal -- The Caribbean Monk Seal, the only seal ever known to be native to the Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico, is now considered...
Common Seal -- The Harbor Seal or Common seal (Phoca vitulina) is a true seal of the Northern Hemisphere.
www.sciencedaily.com /encyclopedia/Caribbean_Monk_Seal   (1434 words)

  
  Seal (mammal) - Search View - MSN Encarta
The northern fur seal is classified as Callorhinus ursinus, the harbour seal as Phoca vitulina, the Caspian seal as Phoca caspica, and the Baikal seal as Phoca sibirica.
The Mediterranean monk seal is classified as Monachus monachus, the Hawaiian monk seal as Monachus schauinslandi, the Caribbean monk seal as Monachus tropicalis, and the northern elephant seal as Mirounga angustirostris.
The southern elephant seal is classified as Mirounga leonina, the leopard seal as Hydrurga leptonyx, the Weddell seal as Leptonychotes weddelli, the Ross seal as Ommatophoca rossi, and the crabeater seal as Lobodon carcinophagus.
uk.encarta.msn.com /text_761564979__1/Seal_(mammal).html   (1295 words)

  
 seal - HighBeam Encyclopedia   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the walrus, the eared seals (sea lion and fur seal), and the true seals, also called earless seals, hair seals, or phocid seals.
The northern seals include two species of temperate coastal waters: the common seal, or harbor seal, of the N Atlantic and N Pacific, and the larger gray seal of the N Atlantic.
The Greenland seal, or harp seal, is found in the arctic Atlantic; the ribbon seal in the arctic Pacific.
www.encyclopedia.com /doc/1E1-seal1.html   (1079 words)

  
 Seal (mammal) - MSN Encarta
The monk seals remained in the tropics, perhaps lagging behind as their relatives crossed the equator into southern latitudes.
While modern seals have fused tibia and fibula bones in their flippers, the Hawaiian monk seal still has separate tibia and fibula bones in its hind flippers—a condition seen in the earliest fossil seals.
Even though the hunting of seals is now much less intense than in the past, threats from pollution, especially oil spills, and the accumulation of marine debris such as lost or discarded fishing line and nets still cause many deaths among seals.
encarta.msn.com /encyclopedia_761564979_2/Seal_(mammal).html   (1214 words)

  
 Profiles: Caribbean Monk Seal, Monachus tropicalis   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
Caribbean monk seals were also killed by scientists for museum collections, and the last confirmed sighting occurred off Seranilla Bank in 1952.
The Caribbean monk seal was documented as being easily approachable and not aggressive and they were easily killed during directed hunts in the 17th and 18th centuries.
All monk seal species appear to be sensitive to disturbance, and early habitat exclusion by humans throughout their range may have exacerbated their decline.
www.monachus.org /profiles/cariseal.htm   (383 words)

  
 seal, in zoology. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05
The name seal is sometimes applied broadly to any of the fin-footed mammals, or pinnipeds, including the walrus, the eared seals (sea lion and fur seal), and the true seals, also called earless seals, hair seals, or phocid seals.
The northern seals include two species of temperate coastal waters: the common seal, or harbor seal, of the N Atlantic and N Pacific, and the larger gray seal of the N Atlantic.
The Greenland seal, or harp seal, is found in the arctic Atlantic; the ribbon seal in the arctic Pacific.
www.bartleby.com /65/se/seal1.html   (941 words)

  
 ANIMAL BYTES - Monk Seals
Monk seals tend to be dark brown to grayish brown on the dorsal side and lighter yellow to whitish ventrally.
Monk seals, along with bearded seals, are the only phocids that have two pairs of abdominal mammae.
Hawaiian monk seals are found throughout the northwestern chain of the outermost Hawaiian Islands and occasionally on the main island group.
www.seaworld.org /animal-info/animal-bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/pinnipedia/monk-seals.htm   (791 words)

  
 Recently Extinct Animals - Caribbean Monk Seal - Monachus tropicalis
The Caribbean monk seal once inhabited the Caribbean Sea, northwest to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as from the Bahamas to the Yucatan Peninsula, south along the Central American coast and east to the northern Antilles.
The Caribbean monk seal was the first New World mammal to be discovered by Columbus and his company on the coast of Santo Domingo in 1494.
All monk seal species appear to be sensitive to disturbance, and early habitat exclusion by humans throughout their range may have exacerbated their decline.
home.conceptsfa.nl /~pmaas/rea/caribbeanmonkseal.htm   (680 words)

  
 Waikiki Aquarium -- Research: Monk Seals
Monk seals are unique because they are the only seals to inhabit subtropical waters throughout their entire lifespans.
Because monk seals are found in the subtropics, the way they remain cool even with a layer of blubber is still a bit of a mystery.
Furthermore, by understanding the normal range of monk seal body temperatures, we may be able to use temperature as an indicator of health during the seals' check-ups.
www.waquarium.org /research/monk_seals.html   (393 words)

  
 NOAA Ocean Explorer: NW Hawaiian Islands
Monk seals are the most primitive living pinnipeds (seals, walruses, and sea lions) in the world.
The numbers of the Caribbean monk seal were historically reduced by hunting, but more recently, factors such as disturbance, loss of habitat, reduction in prey resources, and fishing interactions contributed to the demise of the species.
Monk seals have been fitted with small satellite transmitters to track their movements and with special cameras to videotape what they see when they are diving.
oceanexplorer.noaa.gov /explorations/02hawaii/background/monk_seals/monk_seals.html   (592 words)

  
 Seals and Sea Lions Endangered Species Handbook
The Caribbean or West Indian Monk Seal (Monachus tropicalis) was the first animal seen by Christopher Columbus in the New World in the late 15th century, and his crew slaughtered these seals on an islet off the coast of Hispaniola (Day 1981).
Although a few seals were seen after that time, including the sighting of a small colony on a bank midway between Jamaica and Honduras in 1952, an aerial survey of all possible habitats carried out in 1972, and a 1980 expedition, failed to find any sign that the Caribbean Monk Seal remained alive (Nowak 1999).
The attitude that seals and other fish-eating animals are depriving humans of food is prevalent in many parts of the world and has resulted in the killing of countless fish-eating mammals and birds.
www.endangeredspecieshandbook.org /persecution_seals.php   (794 words)

  
 Monk seals
The monk seal is dark brown to fl in colour and lighter ventrally.
The monk seal can be found in countries around the Mediterranean Sea, on islands in the Adriatic Sea, on the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands and the Atlantic ridge islands.
Monk seals get entangled in fishing nets and are shot by fishermen, trying to protect their nets.
ourworld.compuserve.com /homepages/jaap/monkseal.htm   (1043 words)

  
 Hawaiian Monk Seal -- Pictures, Animal Facts, Habitats, Video, Sound, Wallpaper -- National Geographic   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
Monk seals spend most of their time at sea, but come ashore to rest on beaches and even utilize fringe vegetation as shelter from storms.
The monk seal is named for its folds of skin that somewhat resemble a monk's cowl, and because it is usually seen alone or in small groups.
Mother monk seals are dedicated and remain with their pups constantly for the first five or six weeks of their lives.
www3.nationalgeographic.com /animals/mammals/hawaiian-monk-seal.html   (480 words)

  
 SeaWeb - Ocean Briefing Book
The monk seal is about 3 feet at birth and weighs approximately 35 pounds while adults approach 7 feet and can weigh up to nearly 600 pounds.
Monk seals (Monachus monachus) are also found in parts of the Mediterranean Sea and along the northwestern coast of America though they are critically endangered, now probably numbering less than 500 animals overall.
Indeed, approximately 60% of the isolated west African population of Mediterranean monk seals died recently in a mass mortality event (likely caused by algal poisons), thus further pushing the species as a whole towards extinction.
www.seaweb.org /resources/briefings/monkseal.php   (912 words)

  
 HAWAII WILDLIFE FUND - HAWAIIAN MONK SEALS   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
Contributing to the plight of this, the world's most endangered seal or sea lion, is the sometimes fatal behavior where competing males mob and bite into the backs of females during mating.
A Hawai'i Wildlife Fund scientist coordinated the relocation of aggressive male monk seals from the Northwestern Islands to the Main Hawaiian Islands in an effort to reduce the "mobbing" of females during breeding.
As monk seal numbers increase in the main Hawaiian islands, incidents of human/seal interactions is increasing.
www.wildhawaii.org /seals.html   (423 words)

  
 ScienceMaster - JumpStart - Seals and Sea Lions
Monk seals can be currently found in the Mediterranean Sea and Hawaii, although there is one species indigenous to the Caribbean Sea that is commonly believed to be extinct.
All of these seals have a vertical undulating motion when they move on land called "galluphing" because their pelvic bone does not provide a stable anchor point for the rear flippers to engage the ground for propulsion and the rear flippers are directed rearward.
The otariids, fur seals and sea lions, are found in temperate colder waters and are associated in tropical latitudes with cold water upwelling currents.
www.sciencemaster.com /jump/life/seals.php   (1027 words)

  
 Mediterranean Monk Seal
The Mediterranean Monk Seal gave its name to an ancient city, Phocaea, in Asia Minor, and, as late as the 15th century, was plentiful enough to fuel a commercial fishery.
Occasionally a pregnant monk seal does haul up onto a beach, Ironically, although tourists may lie happily for hours, broiling in the sun, when they see a monk seal doing the same thing they assume it is stranded or in trouble, and chase it back into the ocean.
In the early summer of 1997 the Mediterranean monk seals of the Mauritania colony were struck by a mystery disease.
www.weburbia.com /pg/seal.htm   (2440 words)

  
 Caribbean Monk Seal News - Monachus Guardian 4 (2): November 2001   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
The last confirmed sighting of a Caribbean monk seal was in 1952 and several surveys in the 1970s and 1980s indicated that the species was extinct.
The Caribbean Marine Mammal Laboratory at the Universidad Metropolitana in Puerto Rico, and the Seal Conservation Society in the United Kingdom are coordinating, in participation with government organizations, research establishments and rescue and rehabilitation organizations, the collection and analysis of stranding data and samples in order to attempt to determine the cause of this anomaly.
The hooded seals being found are mostly emaciated and dehydrated, many suffering from heat exhaustion, and are in need of immediate medical assistance to secure their survival.
www.monachus.org /mguard08/08newcar.htm   (687 words)

  
 Caribbean Monk Seal   (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-16)
The monk seal had existed in the tropical waters of the West Indies for thousands of years and was well known to the native islanders.
The last recorded Caribbean monk seal in the United States was killed in 1922 off the Key West in Florida.
Although the Caribbean monk seal is almost certainly extinct, possible sightings of this species have occurred in the West Indies over the years since 1922.
library.thinkquest.org /5481/caribbea.htm   (225 words)

  
 The Extinction Website - Species Info - Caribbean Monk Seal
It appears that the hooded seals are increasingly straying far into new territories, even those a long distance away from their home in the far north, and are visiting the tropical beaches previously enjoyed by the sadly demised Caribbean monk seal.
The only parasite identified from the extinct Caribbean Monk Seal is the nasal mite Halarachne americana, recovered in great numbers and in all stages of its life cycle from the respiratory passages of a single captive specimen.
Monk seals are pinnipeds, a group of marine carnivores that includes true seals, fur seals, sea lions and the walrus.
www.petermaas.nl /extinct/speciesinfo/caribbeanmonkseal.htm   (1815 words)

  
 HAWAIIAN MONK SEALS
Monk seals are also sometimes referred to as "living fossils" because as the oldest living members of the pinniped order they have remained virtually unchanged for 15 million years.
The reason why monk seals are such expert divers is because they, like all other species of pinnipeds, have developed a very efficient means of using oxygen, allowing them to remain submerged for long periods of time without suffering brain damage or "the bends," two common consequences of oxygen deprivation.
Monk seal pups are born with a woolly fl coat which is shed through a process called molting at the end of their nursing period.
www.earthtrust.org /wlcurric/seals.html   (3463 words)

  
 Jean-Michel Cousteau : Ocean Adventures . In-depth: Hawaiian monk seals | PBS
A small number of monk seals live along the main Hawaiian Islands, but most live along the NWHI, which is a designated wildlife refuge and offers the flat, open, protected and empty beaches that mother seals need in order to bear and raise their pups.
Monk seals were killed in large numbers for their pelts, for their oil and for food.
As mammals and as predators, monk seals are a valuable indicator species whose health reflects the health of the entire marine environment in which they live.
www.pbs.org /kqed/oceanadventures/episodes/kure/oceanscience.html   (1599 words)

  
 [No title]
Monk seals are pinnipeds, a term which means "fin foot" and is used to describe seals, sea lions, and walruses.
The monk seal has been called a "living fossil," because fossil records show it was hunting the tropical seas as long as 15 million years ago.
Monk seals survive in low numbers in a few places in the Mediterranean and Hawaii.
www.lycos.com /info/monk--monk-seals.html   (506 words)

  
 Monk Seals - Pacific, Caribbean, and Mediterranean
The monk seal is considered a living fossil by some, since they are so shy, rare, and have roots from ancient origins.
Columbus saw the first seal on his trip to the New World, and shortly thereafter, the monk seal was slaughtered by the hundreds, or possibly the thousands.
Researchers use yellow tags for the seals of French Frigate Shoals, and a letter code for the year that the pup seal was tagged along with a number identifying the individual monk seal.
www.light-science.com /articles1008.html   (734 words)

  
 PBS - The Voyage of the Odyssey - Track the Voyage - MEDITERRANEAN SEA
All Mediterranean monk seals retain a distinct white ventral patch throughout their lives that are distinct to individuals.
The Hawaiian monk seal is restricted to the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and is slowing recovering from the brink of extinction with a population consisting of approximately 1500 animals.
However, damage caused to valuable nets by monk seals or other marine animals such as dolphins or turtles may appear to some fisherman as at least one problem that is easy to solve themselves.
www.pbs.org /odyssey/odyssey/20040707_log_transcript.html   (1294 words)

  
 Caribbean Monk Seal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United States, the last recorded sighting of this marine mammal occurred in 1932 off the Texas coast.
Like other true seals, the Caribbean Monk Seal was sluggish on land.
During his 1493 voyage, Christopher Columbus described the Caribbean Monk Seal as a "sea-wolf".
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Caribbean_Monk_Seal   (443 words)

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