It is hard to guess what a Caribbean monk seal weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Caribbean monk seal (Monachus tropicalis) on average weights 198.38 kg (437.35 lbs).
The Caribbean monk seal is from the family Phocidae (genus: Monachus). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 2.29 meter (7′ 7″). Usually, Caribbean monk seals have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The Caribbean monk seal, West Indian seal or sea wolf (Neomonachus tropicalis) was a species of seal native to the Caribbean and is now believed to be extinct. The Caribbean monk seals’ main predators were sharks and humans. Overhunting of the seals for oil and overfishing of their food sources are the established reasons for the seals’ extinction. The last confirmed sighting of the Caribbean Monk Seal was in 1952 at Serranilla Bank, between Jamaica and Nicaragua. In 2008, the species was officially declared extinct by the United States after an exhaustive search for the seals that lasted for about five years. This analysis was conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Caribbean monk seals were closely related to the Hawaiian monk seals, which live around the Hawaiian Islands and are now endangered, and Mediterranean monk seals, another endangered species.
Animals of the same family as a Caribbean monk seal
We found other animals of the Phocidae family:
- Harbor seal bringing 87.31 kilos (192.49 lbs) to the scale
- Baikal seal bringing 89.5 kilos (197.31 lbs) to the scale
- Crabeater seal bringing 225 kilos (496.04 lbs) to the scale
- Baikal seal bringing 89.5 kilos (197.31 lbs) to the scale
- Harp seal bringing 132 kilos (291.01 lbs) to the scale
- Spotted seal bringing 99.02 kilos (218.3 lbs) to the scale
- Hawaiian monk seal bringing 223 kilos (491.63 lbs) to the scale
- Ringed seal bringing 71.1 kilos (156.75 lbs) to the scale
- Hooded seal bringing 278.95 kilos (614.98 lbs) to the scale
- Grey seal bringing 197.29 kilos (434.95 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Caribbean monk seal
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Monachus tropicalis:
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin with a weight of 186.76 kilos (411.73 lbs)
- Melon-headed whale with a weight of 206 kilos (454.15 lbs)
- Equus onager with a weight of 205 kilos (451.95 lbs)
- Waterbuck with a weight of 203.2 kilos (447.98 lbs)
- Lion with a weight of 158.75 kilos (349.98 lbs)
- Red hartebeest with a weight of 176.12 kilos (388.28 lbs)
- Asinus with a weight of 172.5 kilos (380.3 lbs)
- Crabeater seal with a weight of 225 kilos (496.04 lbs)
- Lichtenstein’s hartebeest with a weight of 168 kilos (370.38 lbs)
- Sambar deer with a weight of 176 kilos (388.01 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Caribbean monk seal
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Caribbean monk seal:
- Polar bear with a size of 2 meter (6′ 7″)
- Nyala with a size of 1.94 meter (6′ 5″)
- Irrawaddy dolphin with a size of 2.5 meter (8′ 3″)
- Giant eland with a size of 2.52 meter (8′ 4″)
- Common eland with a size of 2.66 meter (8′ 9″)
- Atlantic white-sided dolphin with a size of 2.29 meter (7′ 6″)
- Kouprey with a size of 2.18 meter (7′ 2″)
- Dugong with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
- African buffalo with a size of 2.53 meter (8′ 4″)
- Weddell seal with a size of 2.55 meter (8′ 5″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Caribbean monk seal
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Caribbean monk seal: