Incredible facts
The modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea about. You never know what lies there - in the dark, cold depths. However, none of them compares with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.
In this article we will tell you about the lizards, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized sea creatures in prehistoric times.
Prehistoric world
Megalodon
Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that the school-bus-sized shark ever actually existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.
Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.
Megalodon's home was warm ocean, which existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was he who deprived these huge sharks of food and the ability to reproduce. Perhaps in this way nature protected modern humanity from terrible predators.
Liopleurodon
If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included some of the sea monsters of the time, Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Although scientists argue about the actual length of this animal (some say it was up to 15 meters), most agree that it was about 6 meters, with a fifth of the length being the pointed head of Liopleurodon.
Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is capable of swallowing an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.
During the research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were not lacking in agility. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks similar to those made by modern crocodiles, which makes them even more terrifying.
Sea monsters
Basilosaurus
Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most frightening ones in this world!). Basilosaurs were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and measured between 15 and 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to wriggle.
It’s hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time, 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.
Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have echolocation capabilities and could only move in two dimensions (this means that they could not actively dive or dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to pursue you if you dived or came onto land.
Cancerscorpios
Not surprisingly, the words "sea scorpion" only evoke negative emotions, however, this representative of the list was the creepiest of them. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is a special species of crustacean scorpion that was the largest and most fearsome arthropod of its time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed terror under its shell.
Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, however, imagine the full range of fear experienced by a person who would not be lucky enough to meet this sea monster.
On the other hand, these creepy creatures went extinct even before the event that killed all the dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only a few species of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that ancient sea scorpions were poisonous, but the structure of their tails suggests that they may have been.
Read also: A huge sea monster washed up on the coast of Indonesia
Prehistoric animals
Mauisaurus
Mauisaurus was named after ancient god The Maori Maui, who, according to legend, used a hook to pull out the skeletons of New Zealand from the bottom of the ocean, so just from the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The Mauisaurus's neck was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.
His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with amazing long neck– this is approximately what this creepy creature looked like.
He lived during the Cretaceous period, which meant that unfortunate creatures jumping into the water to escape velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to come face to face with these sea monsters. Mauisaurs' habitats were limited to the waters of New Zealand, indicating that all inhabitants were in danger.
Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than Dunkleosteus, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1,500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.
Based on facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, swallowing everything in its path. As the fish grew older, the single bony dental plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to obtain food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, Dunkleosteus was a real well-armored, heavy tank.
Sea monsters and monsters of the deep
Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard, similar in appearance to Liopleurosaurus. What is noteworthy is that its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.
Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. Kronosaurus's head was about 3 meters long and it was capable of swallowing an entire adult human. In addition, after this there was room inside the animal for another half.
Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of turtles, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also went to land to lay eggs. In any case, we can be sure that no one dared to destroy the nests of these sea monsters.
Helicoprion
This shark, 4.5 meters long, had a lower jaw that was a kind of curl, strewn with teeth. She looked like a hybrid of a shark and a buzz saw, and we all know that when dangerous power tools become part of a predator at the top of the food chain, the whole world trembles.
Helicoprion's teeth were jagged, which clearly indicates the carnivory of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for certain whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or moved slightly deeper into the mouth.
These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but the reason could also be their living in the deep sea.
Prehistoric sea monsters
Melville's Leviathan
Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most terrifying of them all. Imagine a huge hybrid of an orca and a sperm whale. This monster was not just a carnivore - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.
Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.
Their huge heads were equipped with the same echo-sounding devices as modern whales, which made them more successful in hunting muddy water. In case it wasn't clear to anyone from the start, this animal was named after Leviathan, the giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous Moby Dick. If Moby Dick had been one of the Leviathans, he would certainly have eaten the Pequod and its entire crew.
The modern ocean is home to many incredible creatures, many of which we have no idea about. You never know what lies there - in the dark, cold depths. However, none of them can compare with the ancient monsters that dominated the world's oceans millions of years ago.
In this article we will tell you about lizards, carnivorous fish and predatory whales that terrorized marine life in prehistoric times.
1. Giant stingray
What is it: 5 meters in diameter, a poisonous spike 25 long on the tail and enough strength to drag a boat filled with people? In this case, it is an eerie-looking flat sea creature that, from prehistoric times to this day, lives in salty waters from the Mekong River to Australia itself.
Stingrays have lived quietly in Australian waters since the extinction of the dinosaurs and the huge predatory sharks from which they descended. They originated in prehistoric times, but they managed to survive all the ice ages, and even the terrible eruption of the Toba volcano. They are very dangerous and should not be approached. Even if you think they are not nearby, you could be wrong - they are excellent at camouflage.
They are dangerous because they can attack you with a poisonous spike containing a neurotoxin or simply damage their vital organs. The advantage is that these prehistoric monsters are not so aggressive and will not try to eat you.
2. Melville's Leviathan (Livyatan melvillei)
Earlier in this article we already talked about predatory whales. Melville's Leviathan is the most terrifying of them all. Imagine a huge hybrid of an orca and a sperm whale. This monster was not just a carnivore - it killed and ate other whales. It had the largest teeth of any animal known to us.
Their length sometimes reached 37 centimeters! They lived in the same oceans at the same time and ate the same food as megalodons, thus competing with the largest predatory shark of the time.
Their huge heads were equipped with the same echo-sounding devices as modern whales, making them more successful at hunting in murky waters. In case it wasn't clear to anyone from the start, this animal was named after Leviathan, the giant sea monster from the Bible and Herman Melville, who wrote the famous Moby Dick. If Moby Dick had been one of the Leviathans, he would certainly have eaten the Pequod and its entire crew.
3. Helicoprion
This shark, 4.5 meters long, had a lower jaw that was a kind of curl, strewn with teeth. She looked like a hybrid of a shark and a buzz saw, and we all know that when dangerous power tools become part of a predator at the top of the food chain, the whole world trembles.
Helicoprion's teeth were jagged, which clearly indicates the carnivory of this sea monster, but scientists still do not know for certain whether the jaw was pushed forward as in the photo, or moved slightly deeper into the mouth.
These creatures survived the Triassic mass extinction, which could indicate their high intelligence, but the reason could also be their residence.
4. Kronosaurus
Kronosaurus is another short-necked lizard, similar in appearance to Liopleurosaurus. What is noteworthy is that its true length is also known only approximately. It is believed that it reached up to 10 meters, and its teeth reached up to 30 cm in length. That is why it was named after Kronos, the king of the ancient Greek titans.
Now guess where this monster lived. If your assumption was related to Australia, then you are absolutely right. Kronosaurus's head was about 3 meters long and it was capable of swallowing an entire adult human. In addition, after this there was room inside the animal for another half.
Also, due to the fact that the flippers of kronosaurs were similar in structure to the flippers of turtles, scientists concluded that they were very distantly related and assumed that kronosaurs also went to land to lay eggs. In any case, we can be sure that no one dared to destroy the nests of these sea monsters.
5. Dunkleosteus
Dunkleosteus was a ten-meter predatory monster. Huge sharks lived much longer than Dunkleosteus, but this did not mean that they were the best predators. Instead of teeth, dunkleosteus had bony growths, like some species of modern turtles. Scientists have calculated that their bite force was 1,500 kilograms per square centimeter, which put them on par with crocodiles and tyrannosaurs and made them one of the creatures with the strongest bite.
Based on facts about their jaw muscles, scientists concluded that Dunkleosteus could open its mouth in one fiftieth of a second, swallowing everything in its path. As the fish grew older, the single bony dental plate was replaced by a segmented one, which made it easier to obtain food and bite through the thick shells of other fish. In the arms race called the prehistoric ocean, Dunkleosteus was a real well-armored, heavy tank.
6. Mauisaurus haasti
Mauisaurus was named after the ancient Maori god Maui, who, according to legend, pulled the New Zealand carcass from the ocean floor with a hook, so just from the name you can understand that this animal was huge. The Mauisaurus's neck was about 15 meters long, which is quite a lot compared to its total length of 20 meters.
His incredible neck had many vertebrae, which gave it special flexibility. Imagine a turtle without a shell with a surprisingly long neck - that’s what this creepy creature looked like.
He lived during the Cretaceous period, which meant that unfortunate creatures jumping into the water to escape velociraptors and tyrannosaurs were forced to come face to face with these sea monsters. Mauisaurs' habitats were limited to the waters of New Zealand, indicating that all inhabitants were in danger.
7. Rakoscorpions (Jaekelopterus rhenaniae)
It's not surprising that the words "sea scorpion" only evoke negative emotions, but this representative of the list was the creepiest of them all. Jaekelopterus rhenaniae is a special species of crustacean scorpion that was the largest and most fearsome arthropod of its time: 2.5 meters of pure clawed terror under its shell.
Many of us are terrified of small ants or large spiders, but imagine the full spectrum of fear experienced by a person who would be unlucky enough to encounter this sea monster.
On the other hand, these creepy creatures went extinct even before the event that killed all the dinosaurs and 90% of life on Earth. Only a few species of crabs survived, which are not so scary. There is no evidence that ancient sea scorpions were poisonous, but the structure of their tails suggests that they may have been.
8. Basilosaurus
Despite the name and appearance, they are not reptiles, as it might seem at first glance. In fact, these are real whales (and not the most frightening ones in this world!). Basilosaurs were the predatory ancestors of modern whales and measured between 15 and 25 meters in length. It is described as a whale, somewhat resembling a snake due to its length and ability to wriggle.
It’s hard to imagine that, while swimming in the ocean, one could stumble upon a huge creature that looked like a snake, a whale and a crocodile at the same time, 20 meters long. The fear of the ocean would stick with you for a long time.
Physical evidence suggests that basilosaurs did not have the same cognitive abilities as modern whales. In addition, they did not have echolocation capabilities and could only move in two dimensions (this means that they could not actively dive or dive to great depths). Thus, this terrible predator was as stupid as a bag of prehistoric tools and would not be able to pursue you if you dived or came onto land.
9. Liopleurodon
If there was a water scene in the Jurassic Park movie that included some of the sea monsters of the time, Liopleurodon would definitely appear in it. Although scientists argue about the actual length of this animal (some say it was up to 15 meters), most agree that it was about 6 meters, with a fifth of the length being the pointed head of Liopleurodon.
Many people think that 6 meters is not so much, but the smallest representative of these monsters is capable of swallowing an adult. Scientists have recreated a model of Liopleurodon's fins and tested them.
During the research, they found that these prehistoric animals were not so fast, but they were not lacking in agility. They were also capable of making short, quick and sharp attacks similar to those made by modern crocodiles, which makes them even more terrifying.
10. Megalodon
Megalodon may be the most famous creature on this list, but it's hard to imagine that the school-bus-sized shark ever actually existed. Nowadays, there are many different scientific films and programs about these amazing monsters.
Contrary to popular belief, megalodons did not live at the same time as dinosaurs. They dominated the seas from 25 to 1.5 million years ago, which means they missed the last dinosaur by 40 million years. In addition, this means that the first people found these sea monsters alive.
The megalodon's home was the warm ocean that existed until the last ice age in the early Pleistocene, and it is believed that it was this that deprived these huge sharks of food and the ability to reproduce. Perhaps in this way nature protected modern humanity from terrible predators.
11. Dakosaurus
Traces of the existence of dacosaurs were first found in Germany. These predatory creatures, resembling a hybrid of reptiles and fish, dominated the oceans during Jurassic period. Their remains were found over a vast territory from Russia to England and Argentina.
Although this sea monster has been compared to modern crocodiles, its length averaged about 5 meters. Its huge and unique teeth have led scientists to conclude that Dacosaurs were at the top of the food chain in their time.
12. Nothosaurus
Despite the fact that the body length of nothosaurs was only 4 meters, they were aggressive hunters. Their mouth was full of sharp teeth and they fed mainly on fish and squid. It was believed that nothosaurs were experts in ambushes and their bodies were ideal for sneaking up on prey and taking them by surprise. It is generally accepted that nothosaurs are inextricably linked with pliosaurs, another genus of marine predators. The remains found indicate that they lived in the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago.
Material translated from the site: toptenz.net
As soon as the horror film ends, we calm the thumping heart - it’s all fiction, it’s make-believe, this doesn’t happen in life... Especially for you and only in the deep-sea edition of DARKER, in the arena of the underwater circus of nightmares - real creatures, creatures of the gloomy depths that await your fleshy bodies!
Every time he plunges into a body of water, the author of these lines panics and imagines death. Maniacal divers (a legacy of the “Amsterdam Nightmare” I watched as a child), algae wetly sliding over the body are the tentacles of an underwater creature, and further and deeper, bloodthirsty sharks await. But summer is coming. Melting in the city is unbearable. Everyone will take a vacation or go on vacation. Will go to the deep blue sea. When he gets tired of lying on the sand, he dives into the cool waves. And there, and there...
Goblin Shark
Brownie shark or scapanorhynchus (lat. Mitsukurina owstoni) - deep sea shark, the only representative of the genus Mitsukurina, the only genus of the family Mitsukurinidae. The muzzle ends in a long beak-like outgrowth, and the long jaws can extend far. The color is close to pink (the blood vessels are visible through the translucent skin). The largest known specimen reached a length of 3.8 meters and weighed 210 kg. It is found at depths of over 200 m throughout the world from Australian Pacific waters to the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic.
Black sea devil
Ceraciformes or, simply put, angler fish. One of those creatures that you immediately think of when thinking about deep sea monsters. A terrible grin. Damn decoy flashlight. AND unusual shape bodies are the result of natural deformation: these fish live on great depths: from 1.5 to 3 kilometers. But as soon as you bring them to the surface... they become even uglier: the difference between internal and external pressure swells their bodies.
Giant squid
It was these animals that gave rise to legends about monsters who, with their powerful tentacles, drag sea ships to the bottom. Frequent characters in ancient engravings on a marine theme. The masterminds behind the stories of the Kraken. For a long time they were considered mythical creatures. They were first described by the Danish zoologist Iapetus Smit Stenstrup in 1857. But almost 100 years passed before their existence was documented by Norwegian researchers. The body of the mighty mollusk washed ashore. But almost half a century passed until, in 2004, the first images were obtained by Japanese oceanologists. Eating giant squid fish, other squid and octopus. And their only natural enemy... sperm whale! Are you saying that sunken ships are just fairy tales?..
Mantis crab
Mantis sea crayfish (Odontodactylus scyllarus) - I want to talk more about this amazing animal. But I see that he has already taken a fighting stance with his jaws. There is a known case when this small (about 20 cm) crayfish broke an aquarium glass with one blow! And the unlucky divers, fearing decompression sickness, hurried to surface closer to the hospital to urgently reattach their finger. But this animal is worthy of the pen of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Pay attention to his unusual eyes. The marine mantis crayfish distinguishes 12 primary colors, focuses simultaneously on the foreground and background, and sees in the infrared, ultraviolet spectrum, and even in polarized light.
Giant isopod
Depth favors size. The force of gravity is compensated by the Archimedean force. That's why there are so many giant ones here. Isopods or isopods are one of the most numerous and diverse groups of crayfish: from boogers to those, as in the photo, the size of two palms of an adult man. Despite the fact that they are predators, giant isopods usually live in places where conditions are not conducive to good hunting. Therefore, as soon as “ocean manna” descends in the form of carrion, a hundred vile arthropods gather around the carcass of a dead whale or shark.
Iloglot
Needletooth
Even though the above image is a CGI work by the talented Ajdin Barucija from London, take a look at . Perhaps I will admire the work of the English artist and console myself with the fact that at least it is not real. The long-horned, or common sabertooth, or needletooth (lat. Anoplogaster cornuta) is a predatory fish that lives in tropical and subtropical waters of all oceans. It reaches a length of 15 cm, the weight of an adult is about 120 g. This fish is recognized as one of the most terrible animals. And the ratio of teeth to body among fish is the largest.
Sarcastic Bordered Head
Let's try to translate the English Sarcastic fringehead roughly like this. We don’t know who found them “sarcastic.” This fish behaves extremely aggressively. Defending its territory, it opens its mouth in an unusual, terrifying expression. How can one not remember the series? It is worth noting that an imaginary increase in one’s own size is a fairly common technique in the animal world. When two “bordered heads” grapple in a fight for territory or a female, they close their open mouths as if in passionate kiss. They live in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America.
Moray
via Wikipedia
Huge underwater “snakes” fascinate and frighten at the same time. They can grow up to 3 meters and weigh about 50 kilograms. An experienced diver will never get close to a moray eel. Moray eels are predatory fish and extremely dangerous. They attack with lightning speed and frenzy. There are known cases of people dying from attacks by moray eels. In ancient times, it was believed that their bite was poisonous. After all, moray eels resemble snakes in their appearance. The reality is harsher. In the blink of an eye, a moray eel can tear human flesh so severely that the diver bleeds to death.
Japanese spider crab
The legs of the Japanese spider crab (an inhabitant of depths from 150 to 800 meters) can reach 3 meters in length. He lives about 100 years. This means that one individual can terrify several generations of arachnophobes. Still, Ray Bradbury was right in the story “A Matter of Taste” about the planet of huge intelligent spiders:
« - They are our friends!
- Oh God, yes.
And again tremble, tremble, tremble.
“But nothing will ever work out with them.” They're just not people».
Skeptics have long believed that all large animals on Earth have already been discovered, and the claims of cryptozoologists about real monsters living in the World Ocean and still unknown to scientists are only fictions seeking sensation. However, eyewitness accounts, instrument readings, photographs and videos, as well as remains mysterious creatures, thrown ashore by the waves, indicate the opposite.
Ten tentacles and a powerful beak
It is difficult to imagine a more terrible image than the image of one of these huge monsters soaring in ocean depths, even more gloomy from the ink liquid released by these creatures in huge quantities; it’s worth imagining hundreds of cup-shaped suckers with which its tentacles are equipped, constantly in motion and ready at any moment to grab onto anyone or anything... and in the center of the interweaving of these living traps is a bottomless mouth with a huge hooked beak, ready to tear the victim apart, found herself in tentacles. Just thinking about it sends a chill through my skin.”
This is how the English sailor and writer Frank T. Bullen described the largest, fastest and most terrible of all invertebrates on the planet - the giant squid.
In ancient times, sailors called these monsters krakens. These terrible creatures have terrorized sailors for several centuries. Sometimes all sorts of fables were told about them, for example, that sailors mistook a kraken resting on the surface of the water for an island, landed on it and woke up the dormant monster. It sank sharply, and the resulting giant whirlpool pulled the ship and its people into the abyss. Of course, this was a clear exaggeration, but there is no doubt that krakens actually reach gigantic sizes and can be dangerous to humans.
In size, the giant squid is quite comparable to the average sperm whale, with which it often enters into mortal combat, although it is armed with very sharp teeth. The squid has ten tentacles: eight regular ones and two that are much longer than the rest and have something like spatulas at the ends. All tentacles are studded with suckers. The usual tentacles of a giant squid are 3-3.5 meters long, and the longest pair stretches up to 15 meters. With its long tentacles, the squid pulls its prey towards itself and, entwining it with its remaining limbs, tears it apart with its powerful beak.
Biologist and oceanographer Frederick Aldrich is confident that giant squids even 50 meters long can live at great depths. The scientist points to the fact that all the dead specimens of the giant squid, about 15 m long, that were found belonged to young individuals with suckers of a five-centimeter diameter, while on many sperm whales, harpooned or thrown ashore by a storm, traces of suckers of a 20-centimeter diameter were found...
Newspapers wrote about the worst encounter between a man and a giant squid in 1874. The steamer Strathoven, bound for Madras, approached the small schooner Pearl, bobbing on the water. Suddenly, the tentacles of a monstrous squid rose above the sea surface, they grabbed the schooner and dragged it under the water. According to the surviving captain of the schooner, his crew watched the fight between a huge squid and a sperm whale. The giants disappeared into the depths, but after a while the captain noticed that a short distance from the schooner a huge shadow would rise from the depths. It was a monstrous squid measuring about 30 meters. As he approached the schooner, the captain shot him with a gun, followed by a swift attack by the monster, which rammed the schooner and dragged it to the bottom.
Legendary sea serpent
If most scientists no longer doubt the reality of the giant squid, then another legendary monster - the Great sea serpent- many of them don’t believe. Meanwhile, the first mention of a sea serpent was made two thousand years ago. Since then, the monster has been described more than once by various eyewitnesses in many languages of the world. Of course, many of these accounts are clearly fabrications or exaggerations, but some of the reports are quite reliable.
One of the most reliable reports was received from the sailors of the English ship Daedalus, who, off the west coast of Africa on August 6, 1848, noticed a snake-like creature approximately 30 meters long near the side of the ship. The animal, which was observed for 20 minutes, swam at a speed of about 15 knots. A drawing by one of the Daedalus officers shows an animal with its head in a medium-thick tree trunk, and one of the reports indicates that the monster had long, uneven teeth.
Scientists have already found one candidate for the “title” of the Great Sea Serpent. In 1959, Dutch researcher Anthony Bruun published a description of a 1.8-meter-long eel larva caught at a depth of 300 m off the coast of Africa. If the size of the larva of an ordinary eel is about 3 centimeters, then an almost 2-meter “baby” can easily grow into a 20-30-meter monster. Perhaps it was just such a giant eel that tourists saw and photographed in clear water near the Great Barrier Reef in 1965. It was a creature 20-25 meters long with a dome-shaped head and a body tapering towards the end with a long, whip-like tail. Another creature that skeptics believe may be mistaken for a sea serpent is herring king, reaching a length of seven or more meters.
Fantastic monsters of the depths
If anyone believes that the mysterious monsters that were observed in ancient times in the seas and oceans have not survived to this day, then he is greatly mistaken. So, in the late 80s of the 20th century, sea captain S. Lebedev told cryptozoologist S. Klumov about an encounter with an unknown large animal in one of the Kuril straits. At first, on the whaling ship "Dolphin" under the command of S. Lebedev, they wanted to harpoon an unknown animal, but its size turned out to be so impressive (the part of the gray back that protruded from the water reached about 15 meters in circumference) that the sailors decided not to risk it.
Relatively recently, Australian scientists conducted a scientific experiment related to the migration of great white sharks along the coast. Suddenly, their thermal sensors, as Metro writes, detected a giant monster at depth. It swallowed a three-meter-long white shark, nicknamed Alpha, whose movements scientists recorded using a GPS navigator and thermal imagers. As researchers say, science has yet to find a creature capable of swallowing such large prey without tearing it into pieces.
By the way, a megalodon could swallow a three-meter white shark without any problems. This is an ancient shark of the species Carcharodon megalodon, which lived in the seas and oceans 2 million years ago. It is believed that this shark has long been extinct, but some researchers doubt this. The fact is that in 1918, Australian lobster fishermen saw a huge white fish 30 meters long in the sea. And among the megalodon teeth discovered by oceanologists on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, there was one that was only 11 thousand years old, and by historical standards, completely “fresh.” Based on the remains found ancient shark scientists have recreated her appearance. The length of the megalodon reached 25 meters, weight - 100 tons, and the two-meter mouth of the monster was dotted with 10-centimeter teeth.
About what lurks in the depths incredible monsters, is evidenced by the mysterious sound in the ocean, nicknamed by the Americans Bloop. It was recorded in the ocean by employees of the National Agency for the Study of Oceanic and atmospheric phenomena USA. Amazingly, the sound was so loud that it was picked up by two microphones 3,000 miles apart. According to scientists, all the characteristics of a sound indicate that it belongs to a living being. Scientists don’t know who “yells” like that in the ocean. None of known to science creatures are not capable of producing such an impressive "scream".
For those who still doubt the presence of monsters unknown to scientists in the World Ocean, I advise you to type just three words “monsters washed ashore” into a search engine and look at pictures on this topic. You will see many photographs of the most incredible creatures; I think that after watching this, your skepticism will noticeably decrease.
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Briefly about the article: Who can really be sure what is hiding there, in the many kilometers of ocean depths? Are all the stories about huge sea monsters fiction, or do the most natural monsters live right next to us? Look for answers on the pages of the World of Fantasy.
Troubled waters
Monsters depths of the sea
Understand death? Certainly. This is when the monsters finally get to you.
Stephen King, "Salimov's Lot"
Water - the best place for miracles. It's like a completely different world. Another universe is right at our fingertips. The creatures living in the ocean are completely different from those on earth and look like real aliens in comparison. Biblical monsters emerged from the “eternal sea,” and the giant Leviathan also lived there. People have already visited the Mariana Trench - the deepest place on the planet - but they still know very little about the inhabitants of those unimaginable depths that even Everest would not reach if we decided to turn it over into the water.
Nowadays, people no longer experience a mystical horror of the sea and treat it exclusively as a consumer (for example, about 90% of toilets in Hong Kong are powered by sea water). However, just a hundred years ago, terrible rumors about ships being dragged to the bottom by giant octopuses still circulated in port taverns, and science fiction writers populated the oceans with mystical creatures from other dimensions.
At the bottom
Remember what ancient nautical maps looked like. Whales, dolphins, newts, snakes and shells “swimmed” in the oceans. Stories about monsters inhabiting the expanses of water appeared almost before navigation itself and have successfully survived to this day. Deep monsters, hungry for human flesh, can be found in any culture that has had contact with the sea. Ancient authors described encounters with these creatures in rather vague terms, mentioning glowing eyes, a lion's mouth, horns, fur and other attributes of the classic “prefabricated creature” characteristic of those times.
When travel to other continents ceased to be as sensational as the current flights to the moon, stories of “deadly dangers” lost the flavor of heroic tales and began to resemble the truth. In 1734, the Norwegian missionary Hans Egede, a man of common sense and not prone to exaggeration, wrote about his voyage to Greenland:
The number of evidence of encounters with sea monsters in our time has sharply decreased, but even they are quite enough to make one wonder where such unanimity comes from? Most often, a serpentine body of large size is described (about 10-20 meters, which cannot be compared with ancient stories about sea dragons), or some kind of amorphous mass armed with tentacles.
It is interesting that the majority of such observations fall on the lot of fishermen or people of “land” professions who accidentally find themselves at sea. And those who work closely with underwater world(submarine crews, oceanographers and even divers) encounter the mysteries of nature extremely rarely.
It is generally accepted that some (but not the most significant) part of such stories is an ordinary hoax, and the rest is a mistake or an optical illusion. Anyone who has been on the high seas understands how difficult it can sometimes be to identify a particular animal. Incessant excitement, natural optical distortions and significant observation distances - it is in such an environment that “monsters” are born. A writhing sea snake is likely to be algae, and the slimy carcass of a giant octopus is likely to be an ordinary seal.
One could put an end to this, but literally in recent years, nature seemed to have mercy on scientists and gave them irrefutable evidence of the existence of one of the most popular sea monsters.
| Brake fish |
In ancient times, people were afraid of another seemingly completely harmless sea “monster” - the remora (from lat. remora- delay), that is, the fish stuck. It was believed that these small shark riders were from the family Echaeneidae (from the Greek. echein- hold, and naus- ship) can stick around the ship, completely stopping its progress like sargassum algae. Pliny the Younger called them one of the reasons for the defeat of the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. On the coasts of Africa and Australia, remora are used for fishing - they tie a live fish to a rope and release it into the sea. The stick swims up to the nearest turtle, attaches itself to it - and the fisherman easily pulls the prey ashore. A similar episode is described in Alexander Belyaev’s story “The Island of Lost Ships.” |
Kraken
The Kraken is a legendary sea monster that supposedly lives off the coast of Iceland and Norway. There is no consensus regarding his appearance. He could equally well be an octopus or a squid. The Danish bishop Erik Pontoppidan first spoke about the Kraken in 1752, describing it as a giant “crab fish” that easily drags ships to the bottom.
According to the bishop, the Kraken had the size of a small island and was dangerous for ships not so much because of its predatory habits as because of the speed of its descent into the depths of the sea - by diving, it could create an extremely strong whirlpool. As the Kraken rested at the bottom, large schools of fish swarmed around, attracted by its excrement. Pontoppidan also wrote that fishermen sometimes took risks and spread their nets directly over the monster’s lair, because this provided them with an excellent catch. On this occasion they even had a saying: “You must have fished on the Kraken.”
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kraken light hand Self-taught zoologists turned into a giant octopus, but at the same time he was attributed the lifestyle of a cuttlefish or squid (most octopuses live at the bottom, squids live in the water column). Even the world famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus included the Kraken in the classification of real living organisms (the book “System of Nature”) as a cephalopod, but later changed his mind and removed all mentions of it.
Some naval disasters were attributed to the Kraken, and his relatives - giant octopuses under the general name “luska” - were allegedly found in the Caribbean Sea (it is not surprising that the heroes of the film “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” will have to fight a huge octopus). It was even called the “monk of the sea,” although the original term referred to a creature that washed up on the shores of Denmark in 1546 - a fish that, according to contemporaries, was “strikingly similar to a monk.”
Beer snack
And then the fairy tale became reality. In 1861, the French ship Alekton brought a piece of giant squid ashore. Over the next two decades, remains of similar creatures began to be found along the entire northern coast of Europe (it was later determined that changes in the temperature regime of the sea were to blame, driving these creatures to the surface). Fishermen also began to notice that the skin of some of the sperm whales they caught had strange markings - as if from very large tentacles.
In the 20th century, there was a real hunt for the once legendary Kraken, but either too young individuals (about 5 meters in length) or half-digested fragments of adults were found in fishing nets and in the stomachs of sperm whales. Luck smiled on researchers only in the 21st century.
Japanese oceanographers Kubodera and Mori spent two years trying to find the elusive Kraken by tracking the migration routes of sperm whales (these whales often hunt giant squid). On September 30, 2004, they arrived on a five-ton fishing boat near Ogasawara Island (600 miles south of Tokyo). Their tools were simple - a long steel cable with bait, a camera and a flash.
At a depth of 900 meters it finally took the bait. The giant squid, about 10 meters long, grabbed the bait, got entangled in its tentacle and spent four hours trying to free itself. During this time, several hundred photographs were taken confirming the extremely aggressive nature of this creature.
It has not yet been possible to catch live giant squids (architeuthis). However, dead, well-preserved specimens are already available to the general public. In December 2005, the Melbourne Aquarium put on public display a seven-meter-long Architeuthis frozen into a huge piece of ice (the monster was purchased for 100 thousand Australian dollars). Earlier this year, London's Natural History Museum showed off a nine-metre specimen preserved in formaldehyde.
Can giant squid sink ships? Judge for yourself. It can reach a length of over 10 meters (evidence of twenty-meter individuals is not confirmed by anything). Females are usually larger. Since approximately half the body length is made up of tentacles, the weight of this mollusk is measured at only a few hundred kilograms. This is clearly not enough for a large vessel (especially considering that the giant squid, like its small relatives, is completely helpless outside the water), however, taking into account the predatory habits of this creature, it can be assumed that Architeuthis poses a theoretical danger to swimmers.
Cinematic octopuses (“Rise from the Deep” or “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”) are able to playfully pierce the hull of ships with their tentacles. In practice, this is naturally impossible - the absence of a skeleton does not allow cephalopods to deliver a “precision strike”. They can only act on tearing and stretching. IN natural environment habitat, giant squids are quite strong - at least they do not surrender to sperm whales without a fight - but, fortunately, they rarely rise to the surface. However, small squids are capable of jumping out of the water to a height of up to 7 meters, so it is not worth making clear conclusions about the “combat” qualities of Architeuthis.
The eyes of the giant squid are among the largest of all living creatures on the planet - over 30 centimeters in diameter. The powerful suckers of the tentacles (up to 5 centimeters in diameter) are supplemented with sharp “teeth” that help hold the victim.
An even larger species of giant squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) was recently classified. Externally, they differ slightly from Architeuthis ( larger in size, with short tentacles studded with hooks instead of “teeth”), but are found much less frequently, and only in the northern seas and at depths of about 2 kilometers. In the 1970s, a Soviet trawler caught one young specimen, and in 2003 another was found. In both cases, the length of the squid did not exceed 6 meters, but scientists calculated that an adult specimen of this species grows to at least 14 meters.
To summarize the above, as of 2006, the legendary Kraken can be safely identified as a squid. Octopuses or cuttlefish comparable in size to the mollusks described above have not yet been found. If you go on vacation at the seaside, be on the lookout.
| Sun in claws |
If we talk about crustaceans (and the Kraken was first considered something like a crab), snapper shrimp (Alpheus bellulus) would be ideal for the role of a sea monster, if they were larger and more aggressive. By sharply slamming their claw, these crustaceans produce a miniature “explosion” in the water. The shock wave spreads forward and stuns small fish at a distance of up to 1.8 meters. But this is not the most interesting thing. When clicked, bubbles are formed, emitting a weak light invisible to the human eye. It is now believed that this phenomenon (“sonoluminescence”) occurs due to the effect of ultrasound on such a bubble. It contracts with incredible force, a microscopic thermonuclear reaction occurs (hence the release of light), and a droplet of air enclosed inside heats up to the temperature of the outer shell of the Sun. If this hypothesis is confirmed, then click shrimp can be called “floating reactors.” |
Hairy snakes
Giant sea serpents appeared in historical chronicles much earlier than the Kraken (around the 13th century), however, unlike him, they are still considered fictional. The Swedish priest and writer Olaf the Great (1490-1557) in his work “History of the Northern Peoples” gave the following description of the sea serpent:
In modern times, the most famous encounter with a sea serpent occurred almost 150 years ago. On an August day in 1848, the crew of the British ship Daedalus, heading to the island of St. Helena, observed a twenty-meter aquatic reptile with a luxurious mane of hair on its neck. It was unlikely that this was a mass hallucination, so the London Times immediately burst out with a sensational article about the “find of the century.” Since then, sea snakes have been seen more than once, but not a single reliable evidence of their existence has been obtained.
Among all the candidates for the “position” of the sea serpent, the belt fish (Regalecus glesne) is most suitable. This rather rare creature, living in tropical seas, is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest (up to 11 meters) bony fish in the world.
Strap fish. |
In appearance, the fish belt really looks like a snake. Its weight can reach 300 kilograms. The meat is jelly-like and inedible. The anterior rays of the dorsal fin are elongated and form a “plume” above the head, which from a distance can be mistaken for a tuft of hair. The belt fish lives at great depths (from 50 to 700 meters), but sometimes floats to the surface. Its unique feature is that it swims in an upright position, head up. Take a look at the photo. What might you think when you see this in the water? strange creature?
| Read, watch, play |
Books featuring water monsters:
Films featuring water monsters:
Games featuring water monsters:
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If the ancients did not lie about the Kraken, then maybe we should pay more attention to other legends? After all, there are “giant versions” of familiar aquatic creatures! The American lobster grows up to 1 meter in length and 20 kilograms in weight. The limb span of the Japanese spider crab reaches 4 meters. And the jellyfish Cyanea capillata is generally the longest living creature on the planet - its bell can be 2.5 meters in diameter, and its thin tentacles extend up to 30 meters.
In 1997, US Navy hydrophone stations tracking submarines off the coast of South America recorded a very strange sound in the ocean, undoubtedly made by a living creature. The source could not be identified, however, judging by its acoustic power, none of the marine animals known today could “gurgle” so loudly.