Steller's Sea Cow

extinct · ocean · Arctic · sea mammals

Giant ocean relative. Steller's sea cow was a huge marine mammal related to manatees and dugongs, living in the cold waters around the Commander Islands between Alaska and Russia.

Discovered by accident. A scientist named Georg Wilhelm Steller first saw one when his ship wrecked on Bering Island during an Arctic expedition in 1741, and he wrote down detailed observations about how it lived.

Once roamed widely. These creatures used to swim across the entire North Pacific Ocean during the Ice Age, but glaciers and climate changes shrank their range to just a tiny area by the time Steller found them.

Hunted to extinction. Hunters killed Steller's sea cows so quickly for their meat, fat, and skin that the entire species disappeared in less than 27 years, making it one of the fastest extinctions caused by humans.

Slow and trusting. These gentle animals moved slowly and were not afraid of people, which made it tragically easy for hunters to catch them and seal their fate.