An impeccably researched debut, and an adventure through three centuries of scientific exploration.
In 1741, naturalist Georg Wilhelm Steller joins the Great Northern Expedition, as captain Vitus Bering and his crew
scout out a sea route from Asia to America. Although they never reach the American mainland, they make a unique discovery, now known as Steller's sea cow.
In 1859, Hampus Furuhjelm, the Finnish governor of the Russian territory of Alaska, sends his men to seek the
skeleton of this massive marine mammal, rumoured to have vanished a hundred years before.
In 1952, John Grönvall, a restorer at what is now the Finnish Museum of Natural History, is assigned the task of
refurbishing the skeleton of Steller's sea cow, long since extinct.
Approaching the subject of biodiversity through individual destinies, Beasts of the Sea is a story of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what humankind, in its ignorance, has destroyed.
Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston
"As deep and profound as the sea itself" Philip Hoare
1741. The crew of Vitus Bering's ill-starred Great Northern Expedition are shipwrecked off a remote, uncharted island. With no hope of rescue, they give in to despair. Until they discover the flesh of a huge marine mammal that feeds in herds on the kelp in the bay.
1859. The Russian colony of Alaska is on the brink of collapse. Governor Hampus Furuhjelm takes solace in the quest for a unique artefact: a complete skeleton of what is now known as Steller's Sea Cow, rumoured to have disappeared a hundred years before.
Even extinct, the sea cow will continue to shape lives and destinies, from the woman charged with sketching its likeness from its bones, to the expert egg restorer who will refurbish those same bones a century later.
A tribute to an iconic lost creature, and an adventure through three centuries of scientific exploration, Beasts of the Sea charts the unseen consequences of grand human ambitions and the urge to resurrect what we, in our ignorance, have destroyed.
Translated from the Finnish by David Hackston
