Alaska
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ter route from Russia to North America. The expedition was wrought with conflict, scurvy, and a storm that wrecked the St. Peter on Bering Island. It is called Bering Island because the expedition leader Vitus Bering hadn’t succumbed to scurvy at the time of the crash. He soon did. While on the island, Steller identified several unknown animals, such as Steller’s sea cow (a now-extinct species of dugong), Steller’s eider, Steller’s sea eagle, and Steller’s sea lion. But on August 10, 1741, while anchored off Shumagin Island, Steller categorized a creature never seen before or since. While observing the waters off the shore, Steller claimed to have seen a five-foot-long animal in the water that defied science. It was covered in gray fur with a red belly, a head like a pig with whiskers, pointed ears and large eyes, and a shark’s tail. The creature took notice of the boat and began to show off by playing with a bit of seaweed until Steller attempted to shoot it, but missed. The sea ape disappeared under the water and from popular knowledge. There are many logical explanations for Steller’s sighting, but the most telling piece that makes the sea ape’s existence doubtful is that Steller omitted it from his official report.
Were-otter The Kooshdakhaa, or “Land Otter People,” of southeastern Alaska have terrorized the Tlingit people for centuries. Like the Gonakadet wasn’t enough to worry about. According to Alpinist Magazine, the Kooshdakhaa are a race of people who can shape-shift into otters, but not before ensnaring humans in a web of cuteness (otters are adorable), and turning the humans into Kooshdakhaa themselves. Kooshdakhaa often assume the form of