Giant Skeleton Washes Ashore in Russia's Far East (PHOTOS)
The five-meter-long carcass of a sea creature was found on the Bering Island buried under a thin layer of pebble and sand, REN TV has reported.
A worker from the local Komandor natural reserve caught sight of several ribs sticking out of a seaside cliff and a team of eight workers then dug out a skeleton consisting of 45 discs, 27 ribs, a shoulder blade, and several shoulder and wrist bones.
The carcass, which experts said belongs to a Steller’s sea cow, was measured at a little over five meters, but the actual size of the sea creature could exceed six meters.
The Steller's sea cow was named after George Steller who first discovered it in 1741 as part of a team of explorers who ventured into parts of the Arctic Circle.
When first recorded, the Steller's sea cow was said to be living in abundance in the North Pacific.
The enormous herbivores were closely related to the dugong still found grazing in the oceans today, but were of considerable size, at between seven and 10 meters in length and weighing over five tons.
Sadly, these remarkable giants of the sea, who had a seal-like appearance with a tail resembling that of a whale, were wiped out less than 20 years after their first contact with humans.
- Source : Sputnik
