Steller's sea cow

Steller's sea cow was a large marine mammal that lived in the cold waters around the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea. Discovered by Europeans in 1741, this slow-moving animal was hunted to extinction within just 27 years for its meat, fat, and hide.

• It was discovered during a shipwreck on Bering Island.
• Its range once spanned the North Pacific during the Pleistocene.
• Indigenous peoples may have known about it before Europeans.