Steller's sea ape

Steller's sea ape is a purported marine mammal, observed by

German zoologist Georg Steller on August 10, 1741, around the Steller's sea ape
Shumagin Islands in Alaska. The animal was described as being Grouping Mammalian
around 1.5 m (5 feet) long; with a dog-like head; long drooping First 1741
whiskers; an elongated but robust body; thick fur coat; no limbs;
attested
and tail fins much like a shark. He described the creature as being
playful and inquisitive like a monkey. After observing it for two Country United States
hours, he attempted to shoot and collect the creature, but missed, Region Aleutian Islands,
and the creature swam away. Alaska

There have been four attempts to scientifically classify the creature, Details Lives in oceans
described as Simia marina, Siren cynocephala, Trichechus
hydropithecus, and Manatus simia. Most likely, Steller simply misidentified a northern fur seal.

Accounts

Original account

Observations

German zoologist Georg Steller, aboard the ship St. Peter on

Vitus Bering's Great Northern Expedition (1733–1743),
described several new species during the voyage. At around
sunset on August 10, 1741, near Shumagin Islands, Alaska,
Steller reported a strange and unidentifiable creature floating
near the ship.[1]

The creature purportedly stared at the ship for two hours, Shumagin
according to Steller, seemingly out of admiration. It got so Islands
Atka Island
close to the ship that it could have been poked by a pole, but
would swim farther out whenever the crew attempted to Locations of purported sightings
approach. He said it raised a third of its body out of the water,
maintaining a human-like posture, for several minutes. After a
half hour, the creature dove under the water and swam underneath the ship to the other side, and did this
repeatedly about 30 times.[1]

Steller stated that, when a large seaweed stalk about 5.5–7.5 m (3–4 fathoms; 18–24 feet) long floated by,
the creature quickly swam towards it and grabbed it with its mouth. The creature then swam closer to the
ship and, purportedly, did juggling tricks with it like a trained monkey, though eating pieces of it now and
again.[1] Steller's description of it as a sea-monkey probably stemmed more from such behavior rather than
actual resemblance to a monkey.[2]
Steller attempted to collect the animal, so he took a gun and fired at it, but missed. He reported that the
creature disappeared for a moment, but quickly came back, frightened, and once again gradually neared the
ship. Steller fired at it again, but missed or only wounded the creature, which swam away. It was not seen
again.[1]

Description
Steller reported the creature as being two ells (1.8 m) long, the combined length of the forearm and
extended hand. It purportedly had a dog-like head, with pointed and erect ears, large eyes, and whiskers on
the upper and lower lips resembling a Fu Manchu mustache.[1]

He described the body as being long and fat, and thinning towards the tail. He said the creature had a thick
fur coat, which was gray on the back and reddish-white on the belly. He did not see any forelimbs or
pectoral fins. The tail apparently had two fins, the upper fin double the size of the lower fin, much like a
shark.[1]

Other accounts

In June 1965, on his ketch (Tzu Hang), a sailor Miles Smeeton, his daughter Clio and his friend Henry
Combe purportedly saw a similar creature on the northern coast of Atka Island. They reported the creature
as being about 1.5 m (5 feet) long, and having 10–13-centimeter (4–5-inch) reddish-yellow fur, and a face
resembling that of the dog breed shih-tzu. Mr. Smeeton details this 10–15 second encounter in his book
Misty Island, noting Steller's observations closely matched his own.[3]

Research history
All Steller's writings regarding his expedition were published
posthumously, but most of his writings were lost. His account of the
creature was detailed in his diary, published in two installments by Prussian
zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1781 and 1793.[1] He also made a small
note in his most famous book De Bestiis Marinus, calling it an "imperfect
account" for lack of a specimen:

I describe the traces of a certain unknown animal upon the

island of Shumagin, and I insert a sketch of a sea ape, and with
this imperfect account I must content myself and others.[4]
Simia marina in Conrad
Gessner's Historia
Steller assigned this creature to "Simia marina" – which was illustrated in
animalium
Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner's book Historia animalium – based on its
resemblance, strange behavior, rapid movements, and playfulness.[1]
However, the man who first reported "S. marina", Italian biologist
Gerolamo Cardano, said it was likely a snake, and Gessner said that it had a covering more like a turtle, and
the creature was reportedly green and hairless overall.[5][6] At least five years had passed since Steller last
saw or read a description of Gessner's sea ape to when he had described his account.[1]

In 1792, German naturalist Johann Julius Walbaum scientifically described Steller's sea ape as Siren
cynocephala.[7] In 1800, on recommendation by Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant, English zoologist
George Shaw classified it as a manatee as Trichechus hydropithecus.[8] In 1815, German zoologist Johann
Karl Wilhelm Illiger also described it as a manatee as Manatus
simia,[9] but this work in particular was later called a "worthless
conglomeration" of sirenian and cetacean species by American
mammalogist Joel Asaph Allen in 1882, with new species listed for
seemingly no reason without description or justification.[10]

In 1805, German naturalist Wilhelm Gottlieb Tilesius von Tilenau

noticed that Steller's sea ape very closely resembled the northern fur
seal.[11] Similarly, in 1936, Norwegian zoologist Leonhard
Stejneger said Steller likely observed a bachelor fur seal, as fur seals
in a playful mood have been known to exhibit the observed
behaviors, and swim with their fore-flipper tucked in, which may Steller may have misidentified a
have given the impression of completely lacking forelimbs in a low northern fur seal (above)
light setting. Also, Steller had made his account before he had ever
encountered a fur seal.[2]

See also
Steller's sea cow
Steller sea lion
Waitoreke

References
1. Steller, G. W. (1993). Frost, O. (ed.). Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741–1742 (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=VtJY90BJ1yMC&pg=PA79). Translated by Engel, M. Stanford
University Press. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-0-8047-2181-3.
2. Stejneger, L. H. (1936). Georg Wilhelm Steller, the pioneer of Alaskan natural history (https://
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31822011666914&view=1up&seq=332). Harvard
University Press. pp. 278–281.
3. Smeeton, M. (1969). The Misty Islands. Grafton. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-0-246-13489-9.
4. Steller, G. W. (1899) [1751]. "On the Beasts of the Sea". In Jones, D. S. (ed.). The Fur Seals
and Fur-Seal Islands of the North Pacific Ocean (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/111
304#page/243). Translated by Miller, W.; Miller, J. E. Stanford University Press. p. 181.
5. Gessner, C. (1604). Historia animalium (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42166528#
page/943) [History of the animals] (in Latin). In Bibliopolio Andreae Cambieri. pp. 877–878.
6. Hendrikx, S. (2018). "Monstrosities from the Sea. Taxonomy and tradition in Conrad
Gessner's (1516–1565) discussion of cetaceans and sea-monsters" (https://www.researchga
te.net/publication/326803926). Anthropozoologica. 53 (11): 136.
doi:10.5252/anthropozoologica2018v53a11 (https://doi.org/10.5252%2Fanthropozoologica2
018v53a11). hdl:1887/67726 (https://hdl.handle.net/1887%2F67726). S2CID 54212091 (http
s://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:54212091).
7. Walbaum, J. J. (1792). Petri Artedi Sueci Genera piscium (https://archive.org/details/petriarte
disueci03arte) [Swede Peter Artedi's fish genera]. Ichthyologiae (in Latin). Grypeswaldiæ.
p. 560 (https://archive.org/details/petriartedisueci03arte/page/560).
8. Shaw, G. (1800). General zoology, or Systematic natural history (https://www.biodiversitylibr
ary.org/item/128108#page/412). Vol. 1. Thomas Davison, White-Friars. pp. 247–248.
9. Illiger, J. K. W. (1815). "Ueberblick der Säugthiere nach ihrer Vertheilung über die
Weltlheile" [Overview of Mammals and their Distribution over the World]. Abhandlungen der
Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (in German): 53.
10. Allen, J. A. (1882). Preliminary List of Works and Papers Relating to the Mammalian Orders
Cete and Sirenia (https://books.google.com/books?id=gmnck8OU-DQC&pg=PA499).
Bulletin of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. p. 499.
11. Tilesius, W. G. (1835). Oken, Lorenz (ed.). "Die Wallfische" [The Whales]. Isis:
Encyclopädische Zeitschrift, vorzüglich für Naturgeschichte, vergleichende Anatomie und
Physiologie (in German). Jena: Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus. 28: 715.

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