Myths, monsters and marvels of the deep
Far below the waves, the deep oceans are the last truly unexplored wilderness on Earth. Today, special underwater vehicles are allowing scientists to start to delve into this hidden world and discover some of the amazing – and often very weird! – creatures which live there. But for thousands of years, the glimpses sailors caught of strange sea-beasts led to some pretty scary stories...
Gigantic sea serpents were the subject of many other mariners’ tales. Could these be anther case of mistaken identity? The amazing oarfish, a huge, silver, ribbon-like creature is the largest known bony fish on Earth. Edged with a bright red dorsal fin, this deep-sea dweller has been known to grow as long as 17m. Or perhaps the rare, prehistoric-looking frilled shark (pictured) was the culprit!
The beast which basks
The ‘devil whale’ was feared by sailors around the world. It was said that the creature spent long periods basking at the sea’s surface, and was so vast that ships’ crews mistook its back for an island. Unfortunate sailors would anchor and land, only to be dragged, ships and all, into the deep when the whale dived. Sightings of any of the largest whales – fin, right or blue, which can grow over 30m long – could have launched this tall tale.
Tails of the unexpected
Countries all over the world have their own versions of mermaid myths. Even Christopher Columbus claimed to have seen three on his first voyage to the Americas in 1493. Half-woman and half-fish, mermaids were seen sometimes as goddesses, sometimes as mischief-makers who could cause storms and lure men into the sea to drown. It’s possible that the mammal shapes of dolphins, dugongs or manatees could have caused the illusion, and it’s known that guitarfish, a kind of ray, were sometimes killed and exhibited as captured mermaids because of the almost-human ‘face’ formed by the mouth and nostrils on their flat undersides.
Tentacles of terror
Armed with many long limbs which could tear the masts from ships, the Kraken was thought to be a massive monster which lived close to Norway and Iceland. But those who saw it had probably glimpsed a huge octopus or squid. The tentacles of the Pacific octopus can grow to 4m long, while the colossal squid can measure a mighty 14m end-to-end – that’s about the length of a double-decker bus. Yikes!
Find out more about the mysteries below the waves at the Natural History Museum’s brilliant exhibition The Deep, which runs until 5 September – dive to nhm.ac.uk/thedeep for more details!
Pictures © Getty