- Sea Ape
Infobox Paranormalcreatures
Creature_Name = Sea Ape
Image_Caption =
Grouping =Cryptid
Sub_Grouping = Marine
AKA =
Country =Russia /United States
Region =Shumagin Islands ,Alaska
Habitat =
First_Reported = 1741
Status = UnknownThe Sea Ape is a marineanimal known from a single sighting by explorerGeorg Wilhelm Steller , onAugust 10 ,1741 , in waters off theShumagin Islands ,Alaska .*cite book|last=Coleman|first=Loren|coauthors=Huyghe, Patrick|others=Trumbore, Harry|title=The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide|publisher=Avon Books|location=New York, NY|date=April 1999|pages=207|chapter=North America|isbn=0-380-80263-5] This is the only animal described by Steller that has not been corroborated by physical evidence or other witnesses.Description
Steller described the animal as about 5 ft (~1.5 m) long, with a head similar to that of a
dog . It had large eyes, pointed erect ears, and long whiskers. Its tail resembled that of ashark , 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". [Frost, Orcutt William. 1993. "Journal of a Voyage with Bering, 1741-1742". Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804721815]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. [Frost, 2003. Bering: The Russian Discovery of America. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300100590]Steller attempted to shoot the animal with a gun, but missed. He claimed the creature was seen several more times in various places.
The ship's log did not note the sea ape encounter, and Steller's 1742 governmental report made no mention of it, but he included a description of the creature in his "
The Beasts of the Sea ".Explanations
According to biographer Dean Littlepage, [Littlepage, Dean. 2006. "Steller's Island: Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska". The Mountaineers Books. ISBN 1594850577] the most likely explanation for the sea ape is a young
Northern Fur Seal . Their forelimbs are set back far enough on their torso that they might have been obscured below the waterline, and the "shark-like" tail might have been the animal's hind flippers. Steller was already familiar with fur seals, but Littlepage speculates that poor lighting during the lengthiest encounter with a probable juvenile could account for the misidentification.Cryptozoologists speculate that the sea ape might have been a congenitally malformed fur seal.
References
External links
[http://cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/stellers-seaape/ Cryptomundo >> Stellar's Sea Ape] - Illustration, hypotheses, and information
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