sea cow, (Hydrodamalis gigas), also called Steller’s sea cow, very large aquatic mammal, now extinct, that once inhabited nearshore areas of the Komandor Islands in the Bering Sea. Steller’s sea cows were wiped out by hunters in the 18th century less than 30 years after they were first discovered by Arctic explorers. Today, the term sea cow is sometimes used to refer to other sirenians, namely, the manatee and the dugong. Steller’s sea cow was unknown to science until 1741, when it was described by German naturalist Georg W. Steller, who accompanied Vitus Bering on his voyage of discovery in
Kodiak the Steller’s sea eagle escaped from his enclosure at the National Aviary on September 25th, and thus far, efforts to retrieve him and bring him home have been unsuccessful.