Steller's Sea Cow
Academy Award:
Last Recorded Sighting:
1768
Main Factors of D6's Extinction:
Human Consumption
Over-Fishing
IDENTIFICATION: Hydrodamalis gigas) is a large extinct sirenian mammal. Formerly abundant throughout the North Pacific, its range was limited to a single, isolated population on the uninhabited Commander Islands by 1741 when it was first described by Georg Wilhelm Steller, chief naturalist on an expedition led by explorer Vitus Bering. Within 27 years of discovery by Europeans, the slow moving and easily captured Steller's sea cow was hunted to extinction.
Species in Action:
Habitat and Lifestyle:
According to Steller, "The animal never comes out on shore, but always lives in the water. Its skin is black and thick, like the bark of an old oak…, its head in proportion to the body is small…, it has no teeth, but only two flat white bones—one above, the other below". It was completely tame, according to Steller. They fed on a variety of kelp. Wherever sea cows had been feeding, heaps of stalks and roots of kelp were washed ashore. The sea cow was also a slow swimmer and apparently was unable to submerge.
Genus:
Hydrodamalis gigas
Maximum Size:
800cm
Average Size:
700cm
750cm
Depth:
0.0metres
100.0metres
Global Distribution:
North Pacific Coast, Alaska to California and Japan
Former Hotspot:
Commander Islands
Unique Physique:
The sea cow grew at least 8 metres (26 ft) long, much larger than the manatee or dugong. Steller's work contains two contradictory weights: 4 and 24.3 tons. The true value probably lies between these figures, around 8-10 tons. It looked somewhat like a large seal, but had two stout forelimbs and a whale-like tail.
Reproduction & Longevity:
The only first hand information comes from the remarkable George W. Steller. He was the naturalist, doctor, and botanist on Vitus Bering's tragic second Kamchatka expedition. He was the only scientist to see and describe the sea cow, an amazing animal that would became extinct at the hand of man just 27 years later. The sea cow belonged to the sirenian family, which includes dugongs and manatees. Its evolutionary journey took it from the warm waters off Peru to the cold waters of the Bering Sea. Through this long-standing evolution, it lost its flippers and finger bones to "arms" with no wrists. It lost its teeth to "horny plates" to crush its mono-diet of kelp, and it lost its diving capability to float on the tide by the great kelp beds close to the islands.
The sea cow's evolutionary sacrifices made it an easy target for man. The rush for marine furs started a stampede more intense than the Alaska gold rush 150 years later. Outfitters stocked up on Bering Island - one 7,223 pound, 26 foot sea cow could feed a crew of 33 men for one month at sea. The meat was delicious and would preserve for long periods of time.
Visual ID:
Efforts to Conserve Species:
None.
HOWEVER: The Nikolskoye village museum has a rare skeleton of this creature, badly in need of restoration. The AMIQ Institute assembled an international team including Dr. Daryl Domning of the Smithsonian Institution, Russian scientists and a Canadian teenager to visit the islands to restore and stabilize the skeleton. Unfortunately, proper authorization could not be obtained and the project has been delayed indefinetly.
Organisation(s) Supporting Conservation Measures:
None
D6 Extinction Stats:
Fossils indicate that Steller's sea cow was formerly widespread along the North Pacific coast, reaching south to Japan and California. However, the population of sea cows was small and limited in range when Steller first described them. Steller said they were numerous and found in herds, but zoologist Leonhard Hess Stejneger later estimated that at discovery there had been less than 1,500 remaining, and thus had been in immediate danger of extinction from overhunting by humans.
Countries Responsible for Catastrophe:
Europeans living in Canada, America and Japanese
National Responses to Future Marine Conservation Issues:
CANADA:
AMERICA:
JAPAN:
How We Deep Sixed Them:
They were quickly wiped out by the sailors, seal hunters, and fur traders that followed Bering's route past the islands to Alaska, who hunted them both for food and for their skins, which were used to make boats. They were also hunted for their valuable subcutaneous fat, which was not only used for food (usually as a butter substitute), but also for oil lamps because it did not give off any smoke or odor and could be kept for a long time in warm weather without spoiling. By 1768, 27 years after it had been discovered by Europeans, Steller's sea cow was extinct.
Given the rapidity with which its last population was eliminated, it is likely that aboriginal hunting caused its extinction over the rest of its original range (aboriginal peoples apparently never inhabited the Commander Islands).
Hunters in Action:
