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Steller's Sea Cow |
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Hydrodumalis gigas - the Steller's sea cow. The Steller's sea cow was a member of the the order sirenia, which it shared with manatees and dugongs. They grew to about 28 feet long, and weighed about 7 tons. Generally, they resembled dugongs, only with a proportionally longer neck and smaller head, curved flippers, and of course, they were much larger. The first sea cows were recorded by German Wilhem Steller and the Russian crew of Captain Bering's ship, the St. Peter, when it ran aground on the island of Kamchatka, in the Bering sea. Reportedly, they did nothing but eat kelp and alage, ignoring the boats and men, and were unable to submerge, even when struck with a harpoon or bullet. Their flesh was reported to taste like veal, and was very important as food while the St. Peter was being repaired, and even later in the voyage. Unfortunately, all later explorers used the animal the same way, and the last sea cow was killed in 1768, according to the records of Martin Sauer, only 27 years after they were dicovered. Throughout the 1800s, reports of sea cows were common and as late as 1962 six sea-cow-like animals were sighted by whalers in the gulf of Anadyr. The most recent - and intriging - sighting occured in 1977 when a fisherman in Kamchatka reported actually touching one. Some people suggest that a small population could survive around some unknown little island far out into the unexplored northern sea. - entry provided by Ethan H. Touzjian, EHTouzjian@intergate.com
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