Sea Mink

"The little-known Sea Mink of New England and the Canadian maritime provinces, although not properly a sea mammal, was restricted to coastal waters and suffered from fur hunters quite as much as the seals and otters. For a mink, this creature was a giant - easily the largest in the world . . Manly Hardy wrote in Forest and Stream magazine that his family, who were fur-buyers in Maine, recognized this very large mink as a distinct form which was commonly available until 1860 . . . It was undoubtedly the highly competitive European fur trade that dealt the final extinguishing blow . . . In 1880, a Sea Mink was sold to a fur-buyer at Jonesport, Maine. it had been killed on one of the nearby islands and measured over 66 cm (26 in.) without the tail. It was the last record of the species."