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!DO SEA MONSTERS EXIST ?! I*#nUNSUBSTANTIATED TALESSIFREQUENCY OF ILLUSIONSn3,;ed3ttl3-di.a-r-'Pal$l-i-naesAll nations have accounts of peculiar monsters. Such animals are nearly always mythical and find their ideal in the sea serpent, The sea serpent has never lacked an audience or implicit believers in its existence; and the talesof its manifestations, if lacking m cohesion and unsubstantiated, are, 4 to say the least, vastly entertaining (writes I*L G. Boulenger, in TheListener’).All kinds and manner of thanks 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. What could be more suggestive of a sea serpent than the 30ft club-tipped arm ot 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 *ea serpent 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, and when its head appeared above the surface it made a noise similar to that oi steam escaping from a boiler. In 1847 a specimen was observed off at, 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 fishingnarty in Balljcotton Bay was givenin the '* Zoologist/ The moment it was shot at the beast disappeared. But before this it disgorged a shoal of nsn, which when handled gave the mostsevere shocks. The same j*ear a specimen was observed by those on a Spanish man-0* 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 vears an assistant in the Giza Gardens in Egvpt. 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 in length supporting a turtle-shaped head appeared in 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, Archbishopof Upsala, who lived in the sixteenthcentury. 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 giant sea snake. .Still more difficult to believe in than the sea serpent is the Loch Ness mon-stcr, 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 the caveman who heard the voices or gods in 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 eyes like motor lamps deserves a close study if only because it is^ a 'good examp i« of mass hallucination. Manytheories are offered to explain the Loch Ness monster. First it has 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 H is a sea serpent and, finally, that it is some animal, unidentified and new to .science. Before discussing these possibilities forwhat they are worth, Loch Ness, itself, which nearly cuts Scotlahd in two, demands soiue notice. This gigantic inland waterway is nearly 25 miles long with an average depth of 430ft and a maximum depth of 750ft.' 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 some other giant anurqil such as lived many million years ago.The faintest contemplation of the changes, geographical, geological, and climatical that have been taking place since the reptile age, and the intervention of the ice age, disposes of such a likelihood. Then there is a suggestion that a blue whale or even a school of porpoises has gained access to the Loch. Tills 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 or this animal, though always entertaining, are, one is forced to confess, inconclusive,to sov the least. Further, we must be nr in mind that the body of such an animal would long ago lmve emptied the Loch of all sustenance. The diverting 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 theThcrowof Sandago,of i1‘ Chi Oianot,colorkeptleginBr and i mmwillabonwbeiDlt;theyTsuithetaryistrjin tBa se it aBmatricavoki 2,G€Mrzon;Eacti set! tior unci ivetJtot!Jap foil rea 1Jap conlimpoumi| pas ftbc maJun1set22,1beiAnstrV©1aglt;inMeasssclan•■qufcwSalbuticallnoMnoco:16dastlt;achathchevfa:thehtochmithMt'AmifoimpoWEimswUithmianMMinnAiOcrlt;an0,lt;clt;■monster and gave most conflicting accounts of it and its habits. It was orimmense size, had arms, a mane, andeves 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 ui a etc 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 to the manywho have seen the monster of Loch Ness, but have no tangible evidence. At worst they are only in the same boiit with the journalists whose adventuresKipling tells of in ‘ A Matter of Fact. Those men actually saw a sea serpent cast on the waves following an upheaval. Only one of the party had the pluck to take his account to a news-paper office. He was shown the door. To-day he would probably have been welcomed with, open arms.
Newspaper Details
Clyde Dunstan Times
Clyde, South Island, NZ
Mon, Jul 26, 1937
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Kevin S.
CA 12 Jun 2021
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Clyde Dunstan Times
