1 86 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SEAS 



size. The Manatee of the Amazon reaches about 8 ft. in 

 length, whilst the Asiatic and Australasian Dugong more 

 than doubles this measurement, which was much excelled 

 by Steller's Sea Cow, a creature hunted to extinction 

 within recent historic times. The latter animal was dis- 

 covered in the Bering Islands in 1741, and from then 

 onwards hunted so relentlessly that by 1768 not a single 

 specimen remained. Apparently it had become isolated 

 in the Bering Island group, where, immune to natural 

 foes, it grew to a huge size and lost first its elephantine 

 tusk — preserved in the living Dugong — and finally the 

 remnant of its teeth. 



Dugongs differ from Manatees as regards the structure 

 of the skull, in the nostrils being situated on the upper 

 surface of the muzzle, and not at the apex, in the tail 

 being crescentic in shape and not rounded, and in the 

 absence of nails on the nippers. 



To-day the remaining Manatees and Dugongs are 

 accorded a certain degree of protection, and on rare occa- 

 sions are exhibited in zoological gardens. They appear 

 to be the last of a vanishing race, for in the not so remote 

 past they are known to have enjoyed an almost world-wide 

 distribution, fossil remains having been found even in 

 our own country. 



Though the precise origin of the Whale is obscure, 

 there is evidence that these animals are of much more 

 ancient lineage than the Manatees and their adaptations 

 to an aquatic life are therefore the more complete. No 

 other marine animals are so cosmoplitan or have taken 

 such full advantage of the vast areas and food supplies 

 at their disposal. As a result the Whales are the largest 



