News

Several hundred years ago, the coral reefs of the Caribbean had up to six times more fish than they have today, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The estimate is made by American scientists poring over the fate of the Caribbean monk seal, a fish-loving mammal driven to extinction in 1952.

Historical records from the 17th and 18th century show there were huge numbers of monk seals, distributed among 13 colonies across the Caribbean.

They were so plentiful that some ships' maps of the West Indies even noted particularly dense locations of seals.

Alas for Monachus tropicalis, colonisation of the West Indies unleashed unbridled hunting, the bounty being seal oil that was used to grease machinery in sugar plantations.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the seals were reduced to a final redoubt of a few atolls - and their worst enemy became natural history museums and private collectors keen for monk seal skeletons...