Species Recovery, Northern Elephant Seal

The Northern Elephant Seal was thought to be extinct by the end of the 1800s due to heavy predation by sealers for hundreds of years. After whales had become scarce, seals were hunted primarily for their blubber to be used for lamp oil.  “After being declared extinct in 1884, a remnant population of eight animals was found on Mexico's Guadalupe Island eight years later. In what has to be a low point in the history of scientific expeditions, a Smithsonian team then proceeded to kill seven of those eight animals for specimens. But elephant seals survived out of sight, with the population reduced to an estimated 200 animals. Mexico officially protected the species in 1922, with the United States following a few years later.”