MARINE MONSTERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21763, 31 March 1934, Page 2 (Supplement)

MARINE MONSTERS

RIVALS FOR LOCH NESS TWO SEPARATE REPORTS OTHER CASES RECALLED A shiny black sea-serpent with a head measuring 2ft. across and a body 65ft. long, is claimed to have been seen by two officers of the Mauretania during a recent cruise in the Caribbean Sea. ■A description and sketch were duly entered in the ship's log. Tho men who claim to have seen it are Mr. S. W. Moughtin, senior first officer, and Mr. J. W. Cuancc, senior third officer. The log entry states that Gft. of the monster's head was out of water and about 40ft. of its body could be seen.

Reports of another monster to rival the famous Loch Ness specimen have come from the North of England. For some time there has existed a feud between Grimsby and Clecthorpes fishermen. They have suspected one another of interference "nth their fishing gear. Fish caught on their hooks lias been wrenched straight off again, leaving only particles. Clecthorpes men have been keoping all-night vigil in the hope of catching the offenders. Recently some of them went out to examine the lines and found what they expected—fishy fragments hanging to empty hooks. But they saw also something they had not expected.

A' fisherman named Kir wan who had been standing in the bows of the boat suddenly gave a shout and fell backward, pointing over the side of the boat. His companions then saw what they describe as " a huge black shape" moving rapidly away from them in a " terrific swirl " of water. The men think that it may have been a seal, but it was much larger than any they have ever seen.

Nearly 200 instances are recorded in which sea serpents or monsters are reported to have been seen since the 16th century.

In 1848 the officers and crow of H.M.S. Daedalus, in all 110 witnesses, testified to seeing an animal, whose length they swore was nearly 100 ft., which passed close under the ship's taft'rail. Its jaws, they said, full of large and jagged teeth, were big enough to hold an upright man. Two years later a fishing party in Ballycotton Bay, County Cork, reported encountering a monster which disgorged a shoal of fish that gave electric shocks when handled. More recently a serpent of unusually fearsome appearance is stated to have stainpeded the beach bathers on the shores of Lake Michigan. It disported 40ft. of coiled monstrosity in the shallow waters, said many people, who declared that it had eyes like saucers and teeth as long and sharp as the tines of n pickaxe.

But of all the sea serpent stories, none has yet eclipsed the account published in the 16th century by Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala. He declared, and supported his story with terrifying drawings, that a sea serpent visited the Norwegian coast, snatched a few grazing sheep from the cliff tops, and, still unsatisfied, devoured a threemasted schooner complete with deck fittings and cargo, and dressed with a crew of 50 men!