Legend of the species

In July 1897, the French warship Avalanche clashed with sea monsters called "giant sea snakes" to three times in the bay Along. The cannon was cracked but could not touch it. Before Avalanche, other ships also met "giant sea snakes". Since then, "sea snake" became one of the largest mysteries of zoology .

Reality and legend

British Daedalus corvette made a voyage from Antilles to Cap. On August 6, 1848, at 16:00, in the South Atlantic Ocean between the island of Saint-Hélène and the Cap of BonneEspérance (also known as the Tempest, located in southern Africa), under the cool north-west breeze and gourd it was clear, the Sartoris officer suddenly saw a suspicious object in the mass of foam. Sartoris immediately warned M'Quhae commander on the jetty. The animal that floats on the sea surface is seen as a giant sea snake . Monster head raised 2 meters above the water. A part of its body is visible over 15 meters long.

The legendary sea monster.

Monsters swim along the ship, keeping a distance. Then it appears under the hull, on the port side, at the starboard side. Both crews watched intently the action of the monster for about 20 minutes. The strange thing is that 10 years later, also in this position, the Carnatic commander Shuckling also witnessed the same scene. First, he believed it was a long wooden stick, the remnant of the mast. But then he saw this 'mast ' move and obviously had a raised head. Monsters have a few details that seem to resemble monsters that the Daedalus has seen.

Reports of these two captains caused the British press to consume so much ink. These evidences continue to be verified by the recurring stories of sailors in which the most serious is the Gulf Along story that occurred on February 25, 1904.

A strange black streak

That day, the gunboat La Décidée prepared to train under the command of Captain L'Eost. In the afternoon, L'Eost noticed a black trail 300 meters long appeared on the port side of the ship. Its surface is covered with a thick layer of algae that looks like fish scales. The gunboat La Décidée lurched closer to the black streak. A canoe was prepared to drop into the sea. Everyone on the train silently watched.

Unexpectedly, 'reef strip ' moved strongly like a seismic movement. That is an acceptable hypothesis. But the surprising thing is that the sea is still, beyond the slight whirlpool created by the 'rocks' . A few more seconds passed, L'Eost ordered the engine to be turned off. Now the captain no longer believes in seismic movements, but thinks it is one or more animals without knowing what species. L'Eost had not yet ordered the release of the boat into the sea when suddenly ' rocks ' changed shape.

To everyone's astonishment, a giant animal appears to be a reptile with a grainy, brown skin. Can't see the animal's head. Unexpected " snake " disappears. Soon after, the mysterious sea animal appeared 150 meters from the ship. This time it went very fast and everyone saw its triangular head and its folded eyes. Solid head diameter is about 80cm. The monster didn't seem to see the ship.

According to legend, this sea ​​serpent has been trembling for many generations of sailors, but now it seems harmless. He swam behind the ship, rising a few seconds on the starboard side of the ship and finally diving.

Analysis of zoology

It is evident that the existence of the " giant seaweed" has haunted many zoologists and hidden zoologists. In 1893, Dutch zoologist Oudemans published the book about this mystery ('Giant sea snake'). He concluded that it was a finned animal (pinnipède) shaped like a long-necked dinosaur (plésiosaure) and named him Megophias megophias . The description of Oudemans is based on a collection of animals.

In 1965, Bernard Heuvelmans published a book on this issue. Through studying hundreds of evidence statistics, Heuvelmans wanted to prove that "giant sea snake " has a complex origin:

1. The animals were observed, but were not identified at the time of the event, and were recorded as: whale sharks (cetorhinus maximus), giant card squid (architeuthis), and belt fish (regalecus glane), a giant tapeworm species like lineus longissimus.
2. Animals that are not closely related to solid animals have not been identified.

According to Heuvelmans, the long neck is obviously of the fins, and the other four probably belong to the small whale. The humpback is sure to have a close relationship with the zeuglodonte.

The latest evidence of sea snakes

On July 30, 1915, the German submarine U-28 sunk the British ship Iberia and it exploded at a depth of 100 to 200 meters. Along with the wreckage of the ship splashed into the air, a giant sea ​​crocodile , 20 meters long, was also thrown high and fell in the water.

On December 30, 1947, the American Santa Clara passenger ship struck an eel- shaped animal about 15 meters long off North Carolina. The animal is then wounded to death and blood flows over a sea.

In October 1969, at a depth of 270 meters off the Bermudes region, Alvin's submarine was "face-to-face" with a giant animal of reptiles and long necks. But unfortunately the animal was gone before it was filmed. In April 1977, fishermen hit the Japanese gill net Zuiyo Maru caught a giant object over 10 meters long. The photographs showed a long-necked, long-tailed animal that resembled a long-necked dinosaur. But unfortunately, the fishermen threw the animal's body into the sea because it could not bear its stench.

A paddle fish drifted to the coast of southern California, USA in 2013.

Rick Feeney, manager of the marine collection at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, said: " They are beautiful creatures, silvery skin with iridescent blues and bright red fins."

He added: "The shape of the sea snake helps them to camouflage perfectly in the water. People can only admire that magical beauty whenever they rise to the surface of the sea. This event is almost the same. encountering aliens. '

According to Mr. Feeney, the phenomenon of sea snakes straying into shallow waters near the shore is quite rare. Only about 500 cases have been recorded since 1700 in many parts of the world, including the UK, Australia, America, Mexico, Costa Rica and Japan.

In 2013, two sea serpents died and drifted to a beach in the US in just one week. Marine biologists immediately collected samples, and sent samples to organizations interested in this giant fish.

So far, the reason why sea snakes washed ashore is still a big mystery. Many assumptions have been made, including storms, mating, starvation and disease.

Rick Feeney believes that red tide, predator, ocean and human climate change . are additive agents that lead to sea ​​snake phenomenon .

In Japan there are even legends of sea snakes capable of predicting earthquakes . However, Mr. Feeney rejected this hypothesis.

Scientists are hoping, the development of science and technology will bring modern means to unravel the mystery of a sea creature that has become a legend.