A Sea Monster is the term used to refer to a hypothetical aquatic creature unknown to science; generally of large proportions, of the which are said to have allegedly existed an infinity of possible sightings and testimonies around the world. From their popularity, a number of legends have been formed about various of these creatures since the earliest times. One of the most popular collections of sea monsters is the one included in the work of Olao Magno "History of the northern peoples" (Rome, 1555).
Sea Monsters are often depicted as impossibly massive creatures, due to an ancient belief (since disproven) that the ocean had no bottom and thus people envisioned monsters of unimaginable scale lurking in what they believed to be endless expanses of water, as well as sea-monsters many ancient societies believed the ocean was the domain of evil spirits and demons (such themes remained popular in horror fiction written by H.P. Lovecraft, who used the ocean as a resting place for many of his cosmic horrors, the most infamous being Cthulhu).
There are also a sub-type of sea-monster that has remained popular across human history known as a Lake Monster, a mythical or cryptid entity believed to inhabit lakes (often lakes are connected to the sea, rivers or were once part of said sea, making Lake Monsters a type of Sea Monster even if some lakes have since ceased to connect directly to the sea itself).
Most popular sea monsters[]
The hypothetical creatures popularly called 'sea monsters' and which are the best known in the world, would be the following:
Members[]
- Kraken: Scandinavian mythological monster. Its most popular description is that of a huge and terrible giant octopus, with multiple tentacles that protruded from its head, and that sank boats and devoured the crew. These accounts are now believed to have been inventions from actual encounters with giant squid, existing creatures, of which very little is known.
- Morgawr: also called the Cornish monster, it is a marine cryptid that is said to inhabit the coast of Cornwall, Great Britain, of which there would be numerous alleged sightings during 1975 and 1976, next to Falmouth Bay. On March 5, 1976, two photographs of the beast were published in the newspaper "Falmouth Packet" which, although they reached the editorial office anonymously, only showed a silhouette. It bears some resemblance to the Loch Ness monster.
- Sea Serpent: Variety of mythological sea monsters with long and serpentine bodies. Its legends go back to ancient times and have also become a classic in cryptozoology.
- Leviathan: monstrous creature that inhabited the seas in Semitic stories.
- Giant jellyfish: jellyfish of disproportionate sizes described by sailors of various eras.
- Nessie: aquatic reptile possibly a plesiosaur that lives in Loch Ness in Scotland.
- Cthulhu: sea monster of extraterrestrial origin created by writer H.P Lovecraft.
- Jörmundgander: giant sea serpent from Norse mythology which, biting its tail, could encircle the world. Son of Loki and Angrboda. In the end of the world battle, Ragnarok, he will fight Thor.
- Ryūjin: dragon from Japanese mythology, king of the seas, with a castle in the deepest waters.
Lake Monsters[]
Appearances[]
- In November 1970 a rotting corpse was washed away on Mann Hill Beach, Massachusetts, United States. The body weighed between 15 and 20 tons, and appeared to have a structure that resembled a long neck. Although the corpse was torn to pieces by the storms, most scientists are sure that it would only be the corpse of a shark that acquired that shape when some parts of its body decomposed, thus giving the false impression that it was of another animal.
- On April 25, 1977, the Japanese trawler "Zuiyo Maru" hoisted the suspected remains of a plesiosaur on board, off the coast of New Zealand. Due to the advanced state of decomposition of the unknown corpse, the captain ordered that after having photographed it, measurements taken and some tissue samples obtained, it be thrown back into the sea, fearful that it could have contaminated its cargo of fish. Many ships, after the event, searched for the unknown body that the Japanese had thrown, but without success. However, regarding the origin of the corpse, scientists are also sure that it would be a shark, since it is not strange that sharks when decomposing can acquire these forms. Proof of this is that when the samples taken on the ship were analyzed, biochemist Dr. Shigeru Kilmora from the University of Tokyo discovered that the tissues contained a special type of protein, known as elastodin, which is only present in sharks and not in the other animal groups to which the origin of the corpse was attributed.
