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Georg Steller, Bering's Naturalist

by , January 2003

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The fieldwork of Steller greatly expanded our knowledge of the flora and fauna of the North Pacific. (For more on our Fire & Ice expedition to the Russian Far East, see Pictairn and Bering: A Tale of Two Islands.)

To view a map showing the route of our Fire & Ice expedition, click here.

Although nearly half the crew of Vitus Bering's second expedition met their fates on Bering Island, the rest of the men survived, spending the winter in crude underground shelters while they constructed a new boat from the wreckage of the St. Peter. The survivors lived because of the efforts of Georg Wilhelm Steller, the expedition's doctor and naturalist. Using his knowledge of botany, he decocted medicine to combat the scurvy.

His ministrations aside, it is his fieldwork in Alaska and the Commander Islands that earned the German-born Steller a place among history's great naturalists. During the voyage, Steller catalogued an incredible number of new species. When the expedition landed on Kayak Island, his identification of a distinctive species of jay helped prove the Russians had landed in North America.

The Steller's jay is but one of the animals he discovered. Others include the Steller's spectacled cormorant and sea eagle. In addition, he wrote the first descriptions of North Pacific marine mammals, including the sea lion and now-extinct sea cow that also bear his name; collected more than 200 plant species; and documented evidence of indigenous Alaskans. His contributions are all the more amazing considering he did the bulk of his work during the harsh winter on Bering Island.

Steller's work was almost lost to posterity. In 1746 a drunken Steller perished during a snowstorm. A quarter century after Steller's death, another German naturalist, Peter Simon Pallas, edited the manuscripts for publication, ensuring the survival of Steller's pioneering investigations, which became the groundwork for further study by succeeding generations.