STELLER'S SEA BEAR

G.W. Steller (1709-46) is probably best known to cryptozoologists for his discovery of Steller's sea-cow, now supposedly extinct.  However, when in the Kuril Islands, he received reports of another creature.  This animal resembled and growled like a bear.  It was white in color.  Steller was not sure it existed, as he never actually saw a specimen.

Map of Kuril Islands