Editing Sea mink (section)

==Exploitation and extinction==
[[File:Whaleback Shell Midden gully - 20070722 07986.JPG|thumb|left|A [[shell midden]] in Maine|alt=A gully surrounded by low-lying leafy plants and trees. The bottom of the gully is filled with shells, and it leads to a lake]]
The sea mink was pursued by fur traders due to its large size; this made it more desirable than other mink species further inland. The unregulated fur trade eventually led to its extinction, which is thought to have occurred between 1860 and 1920.<ref name=mowat/><ref name=savage98/> The sea mink was seldom sighted after 1860. The last two recorded kills of a sea mink were made in Maine in 1880 near [[Jonesport, Maine]], and [[Campobello Island, New Brunswick]], in 1894,<ref name=mowat/><ref>The Canadian Field Naturalist, 1919, https://archive.org/details/canadianfieldnat113otta</ref> although the 1894 kill is speculated to be of large American minks.<ref name=manville/> Fur traders made traps to catch sea minks and also pursued them with dogs, although they were rarely trapped. If a sea mink escaped into a small hole on the rocky ledges, it was dug out by hunters using shovels and crowbars. If it was out of reach of the hunters, it was shot and then retrieved using an iron rod with a screw on the far end. If it was hiding, it was smoked out and suffocated.<ref name=manville>{{cite journal| first=R. H.|last=Manville|year=1966|title=The extinct sea mink, with taxonomic notes|journal=Proceedings of the United States National Museum|volume=122|issue=#3584 |pages=1–12|url= https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/16923/USNMP-122_3584_1966.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y|doi=10.5479/si.00963801.122-3584.1}}</ref><ref name=hollister/><ref name=hardy/> The minks' nocturnal behavior may have been caused from pressure by fur traders who hunted them in daylight.<ref name=mowat/>

Since the remains of brain cases found in shell middens are broken and many of the bones found exhibit cut marks, it is assumed that the sea mink was hunted by Native Americans for food, and possibly for exchange and ceremonial purposes.<ref name=loomis/><ref name=manville/><ref name=savage98/> One study looking at the remains in shell middens in [[Penobscot Bay]] reported that sea mink craniums were intact, more so than that of other animals found, implying that they were specifically placed there.<ref>{{cite book|first=B. J.|last=Bourque|year=1995|title=Diversity and complexity in prehistoric maritime societies: a Gulf Of Maine perspective|publisher=Plenum Press|location=New York, New York|page=341|isbn=978-0-306-44874-4|url={{google books|plainurl=yes|id=kWsQBwAAQBAJ|page=341}}|quote=The ''Mustela macrodon'' cranium is much more complete than those from the rest of the midden, adding to the impression that these bones were placed especially in the cache.}}</ref> Males were more often collected than females.<ref name=Sealfon07/>