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→Extinction
Steller stated that he was able to get near the animals enough to "stroke their backs with my hand...they were very voracious and eat incessantly, and because they are so greedy they keep their heads always under water, without regard to life and safety. Hence a man in a boat, or swimming naked, can move among them without danger and select at ease the one of the herd he desires to strike." In hunting from a boat they routinely went after the adults - the young were too vigorous - and the thrashing made by a harpooned sea cow caused the rest of the herd to try to render assistance. The meat was reported to be like beef in flavor after cooking.
Steller stated that he was able to get near the animals enough to "stroke their backs with my hand...they were very voracious and eat incessantly, and because they are so greedy they keep their heads always under water, without regard to life and safety. Hence a man in a boat, or swimming naked, can move among them without danger and select at ease the one of the herd he desires to strike." In hunting from a boat they routinely went after the adults - the young were too vigorous - and the thrashing made by a harpooned sea cow caused the rest of the herd to try to render assistance. The meat was reported to be like beef in flavor after cooking.
After Steller had made his reports to the court of St. Petersburg in Russia, fur traders and explorers routinely stopped in many of the islands of the Bering Sea to collect sea cow meat as provisions. The animal, once extensive over the Bering sea area and the Kamchatka Peninsula, had its numbers severely depleted due to hunting by native peoples; it was a rare animal when Steller first described it. Twenty-seven years after its discovery the last ones were taken in the Commander Islands.
After Steller had made his reports to the court of St. Petersburg in Russia, fur traders and explorers routinely stopped in many of the islands of the Bering Sea to collect sea cow meat as provisions. The animal, once extensive over the Bering sea area and the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]], had its numbers severely depleted due to hunting by native peoples; it was a rare animal when Steller first described it. Twenty-seven years after its discovery the last ones were taken in the Commander Islands.
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