Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies
Based on interviews with 93 fishermen in northern Haiti and Jamaica during 1997 an assessment was made of the likelihood that monk seals survive in this region of the West Indies. Fishermen were asked to select marine species known to them from randomly arranged pictures: 22.6 per cent (n = 21) sele...
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Fauna and Flora International
1998
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503906/ https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:503906 2023-05-15T16:33:38+02:00 Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies Boyd, I. L. Stanfield, M. P. 1998 http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503906/ https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x unknown Fauna and Flora International Boyd, I. L.; Stanfield, M. P. 1998 Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies. Oryx, 32 (4). 310-316. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x <https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x> Publication - Article PeerReviewed 1998 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x 2023-02-04T19:38:06Z Based on interviews with 93 fishermen in northern Haiti and Jamaica during 1997 an assessment was made of the likelihood that monk seals survive in this region of the West Indies. Fishermen were asked to select marine species known to them from randomly arranged pictures: 22.6 per cent (n = 21) selected monk seals. This number was significantly (P < 0.001) greater than the number who selected control species (walrus, harbour seal, and sea-lion) that they were unlikely to have observed. However, it was not significantly different (n = 19, P > 0.1) from the number who selected manatees, which are known to occur in the region in small numbers. More than 95 per cent of respondents also identified species that are known to occur commonly in the region. Further questioning of the 21 respondents who selected monk seals suggested that 16 (78 per cent) of them had seen at least one in the past 1–2 years. Those fishermen that were able to provide further descriptions gave information about size and colour that was consistent with many of these seals being monk seals. It is possible that the Caribbean monk seal is not extinct. Article in Journal/Newspaper harbour seal walrus* Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Oryx 32 4 310 316 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
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ftnerc |
language |
unknown |
description |
Based on interviews with 93 fishermen in northern Haiti and Jamaica during 1997 an assessment was made of the likelihood that monk seals survive in this region of the West Indies. Fishermen were asked to select marine species known to them from randomly arranged pictures: 22.6 per cent (n = 21) selected monk seals. This number was significantly (P < 0.001) greater than the number who selected control species (walrus, harbour seal, and sea-lion) that they were unlikely to have observed. However, it was not significantly different (n = 19, P > 0.1) from the number who selected manatees, which are known to occur in the region in small numbers. More than 95 per cent of respondents also identified species that are known to occur commonly in the region. Further questioning of the 21 respondents who selected monk seals suggested that 16 (78 per cent) of them had seen at least one in the past 1–2 years. Those fishermen that were able to provide further descriptions gave information about size and colour that was consistent with many of these seals being monk seals. It is possible that the Caribbean monk seal is not extinct. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Boyd, I. L. Stanfield, M. P. |
spellingShingle |
Boyd, I. L. Stanfield, M. P. Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
author_facet |
Boyd, I. L. Stanfield, M. P. |
author_sort |
Boyd, I. L. |
title |
Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
title_short |
Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
title_full |
Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
title_fullStr |
Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
title_full_unstemmed |
Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies |
title_sort |
circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the west indies |
publisher |
Fauna and Flora International |
publishDate |
1998 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/503906/ https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x |
genre |
harbour seal walrus* |
genre_facet |
harbour seal walrus* |
op_relation |
Boyd, I. L.; Stanfield, M. P. 1998 Circumstantial evidence for the presence of monk seals in the West Indies. Oryx, 32 (4). 310-316. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x <https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3008.1998.d01-61.x |
container_title |
Oryx |
container_volume |
32 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
310 |
op_container_end_page |
316 |
_version_ |
1766023314564710400 |