Extinct Animals in the Ocean
Sadly, there are many animals that have gone extinct in the world and more specifically the ocean. Mongabay claims that 15 species of animals have become extinct and vanished forever from the ocean. This is so sad, and unfortunately humans are a big part of this. Extinct is defined as having no living members or no longer in existence. Many animals become endangered and people don’t care enough to make a change in order to help, so these animals go extinct. Mongabay says, “The researchers, however, warn that the number of marine extinctions could rise rapidly as the oceans are industrialized for food, fossil fuels, minerals, energy, and transportation,”
The Steller’s Sea Cow became extinct in 1768. The last one was seen in the wild and spotted by fur hunters in that year. They were relatives of the manatee and the dugong. These animals adapted to live in frigid arctic waters and grew to be as long as 30 feet long. These animals were eaten to extinction by humans. It weighs close to ten tons and people thought that it’s meat tasted delicious. The Atlantic explains their diet best: “Sea cows were obligate algivores. That means they ate seaweed — mostly kelp — and nothing else. Sea otters also thrive in kelp forests, but their main source of food are sea urchins, which also eat kelp.” Encyclopedia Britannica claimed that they “had a relatively small head and a broad, horizontal forked tail fluke. Small stumpy flippers near the front of the body were used for moving over rocky areas and for holding fast to rocks in rough seas. The bark like skin was dark brown, sometimes streaked or spotted with white. Sea cows had no teeth; instead, they relied on horny plates in the mouth to compact their soft food…”
Another animal that has gone extinct is the sea mink. These animals were hunted to extinction because of their fur. They lived along the Atlantic coast of North America. Sea Minks went extinct in 1894. Study.com explains their extinction best: “Historically, many members of the weasel family, minks included, have been hunted for their fur. It tends to be very soft and warm, especially in the winter when they grow thicker coats. The sea mink was no exception, and this is the main reason they went extinct.” In this time period in Europe there was a huge demand for fur like this, and because there were no rules or regulations for trapping or hunting endangered animals, hunters killed as many as they wanted. They had long, bushy tails and a course reddish brown coat. Their lifespan was around 6–10 years and they were 75–82 centimeters long.
The Caribbean Monk Seal, or the West Indian Monk Seal, went extinct in 1952, although they didn’t officially declare its extinction until 2008. Oceans of Fun claims that they “were found in warm temperate, subtropical and tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the West Atlantic Ocean. They were likely to haul out on low sandy beaches above high tide that were on isolated and secluded atolls and islands. They also occasionally would visit the mainland coasts and deeper waters offshore.” They were 7.5 feet long and weighed about 440 pounds. These animals were a grey-ish brown color with a yellow tinge to the tips of the hairs. They eat eels, reef fish, octopus, and spiny lobster. Seal Conservation Society says, “The reason for the extinction would seem to be quite obvious: they were mindlessly slaughtered in large numbers by European hunters, by plantation settlers and even by so-called scientists from the 17th to the 19th centuries. They were also persecuted and deliberately killed by native fishermen as they also expanded their range of activity to all parts of the seals’ distribution range.” They were hunted for their fur, hides, meats, and oil. These animals were easily captured because of their non-aggressive and tame behavior.
There are many ways we can try to protect animals from going extinct because once they are gone, they are gone forever. Humans will never get to see the Steller’s sea cow, sea mink, or Caribbean monk seal ever again. One thing you can do to help is to learn about the endangered animals in your area. For the ocean animals, you would need to live along the coast, but it is very important to know which animals might disappear soon. You can also make the decision to not buy any products of endangered animals. Lastly, you can protect their habitat. This means that whenever you are by the ocean, don’t throw your trash in the ocean- be smart. That once piece of trash doesn’t seem like much, but when everybody does it, it could cost a life, or a whole species.
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