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!DO SEA MONSTERS EXIST ? 1 iMftUNSUBSTANTIATED TALESSfrequency of illusionsAll nations have accounts of peculiar monsters. Such animals are nearly always mythical and find their ideal m the sea serpent. The sea serpent has never lacked an audience or implicit believers in its existence; and the tales of its manifestations, if lacking 111 cohesion and unsubstantiated, are, to say the least, vastly entertaining(writes E. G. Boulenger, in TheListener1).All kinds and manner of things uponthe sea surface may convincingly suggest a huge sea snake. Seals, turtles, schools of porpoises, masses of weed are all a cause of this illusion. Whatcould be more suggestive of a sea serpent than the 30ft club-tipped arm of a giant squid raised for a few moments above the waves? Such a spectacle, seen at dusk and silhouetted_ against the sunset, might easily convince the most blase teetotaller on board a ship. The incessant appearance of the *easerpent from the year 1520 down to modern times has been tabulated, and the list totals over 250 cases. In_ 183U one was observed in. the Atlantic by the master of a schooner. Its neck was ornamented with a mane, andwhen its head appeared above the surface it made a noise similar to that oi steam escaping from a boiler. In 184/ a specimen was observed off St. Helena by the Captain of H.M.S. Daedalus. The animal, estimated at over 100ftin length, was stated to have the head of a lizard wiLh huge jaws full of long and jagged teeth. A few years after an account of an encounter between a sea serpent and a fishingparty in Ballyeotton Bay was givenin the '* Zoologist,T The moment it was shot at the beast disappeared. But before this it disgorged a shoal of fish, which when handled gave the mostsevere shocks. The same j*ear a specimen was observed by tho,se on a Spanish man-o* war to overpower ^ a sperm whale. More convincing evidence of the existence of some huge serpentshaped animal was given some years ago. by the late Mr E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, who was a member of the Zoological Society’s Council* and the late Mr M. J. Nichol, who was for many rears an assistant in the Giza Gardens in Egypt. This sea serpent was observed early one morning from the yacht Valhalla in the South Atlantic. At first all that was observed was a dorsal fin about 4ft long standing out of the water. Below, the outline of a snake could be distinctly seen. Suddenly a neck about 6ft m length supporting a turtle-shaped head appeared m front of the fin. For a short time the animal moved with the ship at about eight knots, but it suddenly dived and disappeared for ever.These modern sea serpent tales are distinctly tame compared with those told by on© Olaus Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala, who lived in the sixteenth century. According; to this esteemed divine, the Norwegian coast was the home of an enormous sea serpent that snatched sheep from the cliff tops by way of a snack or appetiser, and would then make a satisfying meal off a large schooner with deck fittings, cargo, and so forth. This archbishop swore to having been an eye-witness to this incident which he set down in black and white. At that time no camera was, of course, available, but the archbishop, nothing daunted, commissioned an artist who did ample justice to the oeea-sion. , ...It is unlikely, but just possible, that an unidentified serpentine sea monsterdoes exist. Putting aside the inventions of some highly imaginative or even intoxicated voyager, one must take into account the deceptive distance of the open sea and wiles played upon the human sight by light, wind, cloud, and waves. Many normal phenomena, such as a flock of birds in single file, the long arm of a squid, a shoal of porpoise, or a certain giant fish, are often mistaken for a giantsea snake. .Still more difficult to believe in than the sea. serpent is the Loch Ness mon-yter, which held the attention of the world for over two years, and accord-in td some, is still at large. Day by day, science, taking nothing for granted, adds to our store of facts, demolishing eld assumptions and disposing of ancient fallacies. But thecaveman who heard the voices or gods m thunder and saw bones of giants in fossil lizards, still lies dormant in .all of us, as the belief of so many persons of normal intelligence in the Loch Ness monster shows. This hump-backed, giant animal with ©yea like motor lamps deserves a close study if only because it is, a 'good example of mass hallucination. Manytheories are offered to explain the Loch Ness monster. First it 1ms been suggested that it may be some fish or lizard closely akin to forms supposed extinct for many millions of years. It has also been suggested that it is a yea serpent and, finally, that it is some animal, unidentified and new to science. Before discussing these possibilities forwhat they are worth, Lochr Ness, itself, which nearly cuts Scotlahd in two, denifinds soiue notice. This gigantic inland waterway is nearly 25 miles long ivitii an average depth of 430ft and a iliaximum depth of 750ftJ It is said of the Loch that it never gives-up its dead. Take into account its wild and lonely nature, its sudden storms and mists, and the stage is fairly set for the encounter of the monster. Now' let us consider the possibilities of its existence, dealing first with the supposition that it is a survival of the plesiosaurus or sonic other giant amtrqil such as lived many million years ago.The faintest contemplation of the changes, geographical, geological, and dimatieal that have been taking place since the reptile age, and the intervention of the ice age, disposes of such alikelihood. Then there is a suggestionthat a blue whale or oven a school of porpoises has gained access to the Loch. This is possible, but not likely, since the passage through the canals leading to the Loch of any animals of large size would be detected. . , ,The eye-witness accounts of this animal, though always entertaining, are,one is forced to confess, inconclusive,to sov the least. Further, we must bear in mind that the body of such an animal would long ago have emptied the Loch of all sustenance. The divert-jncr pantomime began in June, 1933,and still enjoys half-hearted revivals. It was in October of that year that the storm burst. Many people saw theT1 crow of £andago,of i1 Oh O:anotcoloikept leg ifBiand i nun will aboiwheDthejTsuthe tnrj istr; iu iBa st it iBma'ricfvok2,(MMrzonIact set tioi untwe i .1totJ\foi:rearjJfl]eoiI inpotmipmahinrIuntset22be A istiV©agmMas:sc!anqntflsabntital:ncMncco1Cdiistacll£thchevfathehtocimthMV Rmfo■PCw.insvUthma i M MmAO'r«a io,Clt;■monster and gave most conflicting accounts of it and its habits. It was orimmense size, liad arms, a mane, anaeves like the headlights of a powerful car. The following year enthusiasm rose to fever height. A well-known big game hunter went in search of it, and was made the victim of a hoax, being led to discover footprints later diagnosed as having been made with a hippopotamus foot door stopper. _ One manactually broadcast an eye-witness account of the monster which he saw on the public highway with a dead sheep in its mouth—an account which is not unlike that of the Archbishop of Upsala. Certain pioneers of undersea motion pictures travelled especially from America with a view to taking close-ups. The animal, still unidentified, was made the subject of endless jests and leg pulls, whilst inns within-any distance of the Lodi enjoyed a boom. Some attempt was made to revive enthusiasm on behalf of the oRopogo of the CanadianLakes. A showman offered £5,000 for a living specimen of the Loch Ness animal. ,One’s sympathies go fo the manywho have seen the monster of Loch Ness, but have no tangible evidence. At worst they are only in tlie same boat with the journalists whose adventuresKipling tells of in ‘ A Matter of Fact. Those men actually saw a sea serpentcast ou the waves following an upheaval. Only one of the party had th© pluck to take bis account to a news-paper office. He was shown the door. To-day he would probably have been welcomed with, open anus.
Newspaper Details
Clyde Dunstan Times
Clyde, South Island, NZ
Mon, Jul 26, 1937
Page 6
Full Page
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Kevin S.
CA 12 Jun 2021
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