Steller's sea cow

1. Hydrodamalis gigas
Steller's Sea Cow

2. Characteristics
• The sea cow grew at least 8 to 9
meters, much larger than the manatee.
• The adult sea cow can weight 4 to 23
tons.
• The head was disproportional agains the
body, it was smaller.
• They had an excellent hearing.
• The Steller's sea cow was almost mute,
making only deep breathing sounds.

3. Lifestyle
•Individuals spent the majority of their time
feeding or resting.
•Their head could be kept submerged for 4-5
minutes at a time.
•The were most of the time sleeping and
searching for food. The juvenils used to
hunt.
•When they submerged they sleept for 4-3
min.
•The sea cow was also a slow swimmer and
apparently was unable to submerge.

4. What they eat?
• The sea cows eats seaweed
near the surface and sea
grasses, but normaly soft
algae. They don’t have teeth.
They usually are near the
rivers searching for food.

5. •Fossil evidence indicates that the past
distribution of the Steller's Sea Cow was much
wider, including the coasts of Japan and North
America.
•They were often found near the mouths of stream
or rivers, which suggests they could not tolerate
drinking marine water.

•They inhabited the shallow cold marine waters
rich in algae and sea grass near the shore around
Bering Island and Medney Island (Copper Island).
Range & Habitat

6. Reproduction
The scientists don’t know a lot of this
part, but they say that this animals
don’t has a normal reproduction.
They do it in spring, when they are in
heat.
The female search the male to
reproduce.

7. Extinction Causes
•The Steller’s Sea Cow was hunted primarily
as a source of food. The milk of harvested
cows was consumed directly or made into
butter. The thick, tough hide was used for
shoes, belts and to make skin-covered
boats
•The intense hunting of sea otters on the
Bering Sea islands may have contributed to
the final extinction of the Steller's Sea Cow.
•The sea cows would have faced a new
competitor for food.  (Weinstein & Patton,
2000)

8. Relatives