Grouping Cryptid Country Russia/United States | Sub grouping Marine | |
Region Shumagin Islands, Alaska | ||
Steller's sea ape is an unconfirmed marine animal described only from a single sighting by explorer Georg Wilhelm Steller, on August 10, 1741, in waters off the Shumagin Islands, Alaska. This is the only animal described by Steller that has not been corroborated by physical evidence, or other witnesses.
Contents
Description
Steller described the animal as about 5 ft (~1.5 m) long, with a head similar to that of a hog. It had large eyes, pointed erect ears, and long whiskers. Its tail resembled that of a shark, but it had no forefeet nor forefins. Its body was covered with thick grayish hair, but its abdomen was reddish-white. Steller recalled that it resembled an animal illustrated by Gesner which had been called Simia marina, Latin for "sea ape".
Steller wrote that the animal rose its front end out of the water to observe the ship, and engaged in an amusing juggling behavior with a piece of seaweed. Steller attempted to shoot the animal with a gun, but missed. The ship's log did not note the sea ape encounter, and Steller's 1742 governmental report made no mention of it, nor did he include a description of the creature in his De Bestiis Marinis (‘The Beasts of the Sea’).
Sailor Miles Smeeton records an entry in his book, Misty Islands, of an encounter with an animal while sailing in the Aleutians Islands in 1969. His description is remarkably similar to Steller's. It was seen by himself, his daughter and a friend. They had no idea what the animal was at the time but after reading the description by Steller some time later, they felt it closely matched their own observations.
Explanations
According to biographer Dean Littlepage, a young Northern fur seal appears to be the most likely explanation for the sighting. Their forelimbs are set far enough behind on their torso, so that they could have been obscured below the waterline, and the "shark-like" tail of the creature may have been the animal's hind flippers. Steller had already been familiar with fur seals, but Littlepage suggests that the poor lighting conditions during the lengthiest encounter of a probable juvenile fur seal could account for the misidentification.
Cryptozoologists speculate that the sea ape might have been a congenitally malformed fur seal.
The possibility that the sea ape did not exist, and Simnia marina danica is a vengeful description of the Danish captain of the ship, Vitus Bering, is supported by its omission from Steller's official reports.