Huge monsters of the deep sea. Monsters from the depths of the oceans and sea monsters. Sea monsters and monsters of the deep oceans

Humanity is striving with all its might to know solar system, and then the entire Universe. It seems to people that somewhere there are the most important secrets and riddles that must be solved. But how much do we know about our own planet? She is also capable of surprising not only ordinary people, but also famous scientists, presenting various surprises. After all, every now and then stories appear where monsters unknown to science appear, terrifying and trembling the entire population of the planet. It’s as if they penetrated our world from another reality. But is this really so? What is he like? animal world of our planet? And is there room for various monsters in it?

The real monsters of the world - who are they?

Human civilization has populated the planet so densely that it has driven many representatives of the animal world to the most remote corners of the Earth. Some of them simply disappeared from the face of the planet, while others are threatened with extinction. Zoo defenders are trying their best to preserve rare species animals, but none official list The monsters that humanity has been talking about for many centuries do not appear.

If you carefully study all the eyewitness accounts, you may get the impression that animal monsters have always existed. People saw them different professions And social status, and each such meeting was accompanied by fear of contact with something unknown. Only at the end of the nineteenth century did scientists begin to take evidence of encounters with monsters seriously and even tried to photograph and video these extraordinary creatures. Every documented evidence of the existence of monsters issued to society was carefully studied, but most often classified as falsification. Still scientific world I was never able to get real confirmation of the fact that we do not know everything about the creatures living on the planet. But this does not at all bother adventure lovers who are ready to spend a lot of time on expeditions in order to take one successful photo and give the world the truth.

Monster Classification

The most famous monsters in the world have long had their own classification. Seekers of the unknown divided them into the following three categories:

• underwater;
• ground;
• anthropoid.

Of course, these categories are very conditional, but they still give some idea of ​​what the most people look like and where they live. scary monsters peace. We have collected information about those monsters that were noticed by people and repeatedly invaded their normal life. It’s worth starting with underwater creatures, which are considered the most common.

Over the last century, there have been enough references to various lizards that live in lakes. Characteristic is the fact that they are found only in freshwater bodies of water. But experts say that in sea ​​water the lizards will feel great.

Mentions of underwater lizards are found in different nations. The Scots, Yakuts, Canadians, Kazakhs and Chinese have similar evidence. This suggests that the legend about monsters living in lakes has a basis in reality.

Scientists, having analyzed sketches of monsters and video footage provided by eyewitnesses, came to the conclusion that they can be attributed to the last dinosaurs on the ground. They resemble ancient plesiosaurs, which large quantities lived in the water bodies of our planet. These creatures had a long, elongated body with small limbs in the form of flippers and a small head. The length of the neck of such lizards was similar to the body of the monster.

This structure of the monster explains why many eyewitnesses called it a snake. After all, the body and head of a monster usually appear on the surface, truly resembling a huge snake.

Loch Ness Monster

If you are interested in the most famous monsters, then you have probably heard about the Scottish lake Loch Ness. The monster that lives in its waters is known throughout the world. The lake itself is quite picturesque; it is more than two hundred meters deep and is the largest in the UK.

The Loch Ness monster was discovered at the beginning of the last century. Then it alarmed the company resting on the shore by leaning out of the water. From that moment on, crowds of adventurers flocked to the lake, dreaming of capturing the mysterious monster.

Four years later, Wilson managed to photograph the monster, and these photographs alarmed the public. They were published in all newspapers and magazines, and the scientific community tried to explain the presence of a strange creature in the waters of the lake. Almost thirty years later, the Loch Ness monster was caught on camera, where it was clear how fast it moved under water.

A little later, another video of the monster hit all the major television channels in Britain, and people again rushed to Scotland in search of a sensation. Over the past hundred years, more than four thousand people have claimed to have seen the Nessie monster (as the Scots affectionately called him) with their own eyes.

Scientists believe that the monster is completely harmless and lives in a reservoir with its big family. By official version, it fell into the lake as a result of the movement of tectonic plates and could not get out of the trap. During their existence, many generations of monsters have adapted to the changed habitat and food.

Lake Champlain - Nessie's brother

Located in Canada famous lake Champlain, which joined the list of places where famous monsters of the world live. At the end of the nineteenth century, information appeared that the sheriff saw a fifty-meter snake with humps on its back in the waters of the lake. This evidence only confirmed the numerous words of eyewitnesses, which had accumulated in large quantities since the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The monster was named Champ; it appeared annually on the surface of the reservoir, allowing people to record new details about themselves. Thanks to this, it turned out that the monster has dark skin, a very large body and an elongated head with bumps and growths.

Scientists couldn't ignore this a large number of information about the monster, and in the seventies of the last century an initiative group was formed to study Champa. Seven years later, one of the local residents managed to photograph the monster, and the authenticity of the photo was proven in the laboratories of the Smithson Institute. Thanks to the availability of special technologies, scientists suggested the size of the animal, which seemed simply incredible - from five to seventeen meters.

Twelve years ago, a fisherman managed to film the monster, and FBI analysts proved the authenticity of the recording. Now scientists from all over the world are trying to figure out which class of the animal world Champa can be classified as.

Ogopogo - Canada's most famous "resident"

Scientists believe that if anywhere underwater monsters can live, it is in Canada. Numerous lakes in this country were once formed as a result of the movement of tectonic plates, and it is possible that some ancient monsters could remain in these reservoirs. The most famous Canadian pangolin is the Ogopogo from Okanagan Lake.

This monster, according to eyewitnesses, resembles Nessie and Champ - the same long body with fins and a small head. The Indians said that one day a monster capsized the boat of their leader and destroyed him. From this time on, the tribes tried to negotiate with Ogopogo, sacrificing animals to him and refusing to fish in some parts of the lake.

It is worth noting that this monster was seen quite often. There are especially numerous eyewitness accounts who crossed the lake by ferry at the beginning of the twentieth century. During this period, the monster constantly rose to the surface, and more than two hundred people spoke about it. At the end of the last century, video footage appeared in which a monster is clearly visible swimming underwater. Until now, information periodically comes from the shores of the lake about the next appearance of the monster, but science cannot provide a rationale for its existence.

Lake monsters: how many are there?

Today the scientific world knows about seven lakes located in different parts of the planet, where various monsters live. Three lakes belong to Ireland, where locals quite often see underwater monsters. For example, in Lough Ree a large animal of an unknown species was seen even by three priests in the middle of the last century. Scientists took their evidence seriously and at the beginning of the 2000s they assembled a real expedition to the shores of the ancient reservoir. But, unfortunately, they were never able to capture the monster.

In our country, Lake Labynkyr in Yakutia became the monster’s home. There have always been legends among local residents about an extraordinary creature that lives in the depths of the lake and on the rarest occasions looks out to the surface. In the nineteenth century, eyewitnesses called it the Labynkyr Devil, but no one has yet managed to photograph the creature.

The long-horned sabertooth is the most terrifying monster of the deep sea

In addition to monsters unknown to science, there are also those that have long been studied. For example, in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean there lives a saber-tooth fish, the appearance of which can cause horror in any inhabitant of the planet.

Usually this monster does not grow more than forty centimeters in length, but has a dark color and a very menacing appearance. The fact is that huge fangs grow in the fish’s mouth, which do not even allow an adult to completely close its jaws. Scientists have found that the brain of this fish has two pockets that accommodate the tips of its fangs. This predator lives at a depth of more than five hundred meters; it has also been encountered at greater depths - it feels quite comfortable having descended to five thousand meters.

It is worth noting that this predator is very vulnerable to large fish. They eat it with pleasure, so the saber tooth prefers to hide in the water column and hunt only small fish.

Bigfoot - fact or fiction?

Yeti (also called Bigfoot) is a humanoid creature covered with fur and living in the mountainous regions of the planet. Yeti is especially common in North America. The local Indian tribes know a lot of legends about creatures of unprecedented power who lived high in the mountains and sought to avoid human eyes.

Eyewitnesses claim to have even seen entire families snow people, which allows us to draw conclusions about the abundance of this species. But, unfortunately, science has not yet received documentary evidence of the existence of these monsters.

In the middle of the last century, a short film was shot in which an unusual creature moving through the forest was caught on camera. Experts carefully studied the film and remained in deep doubt about its authenticity. To date, no one has been able to photograph the Yeti or find its remains.

Vampire monster living in South America

Puerto Ricans scare naughty children with stories about the Chupacabra. It is believed that this monster lives near human settlements and destroys livestock. The chupacabra usually steals goats and drinks all their blood, which forms the basis of its daily diet. Sometimes the monster completely tears its victim apart, but does not eat it. Locals They claim that the Chupacabra feeds on the blood of rabbits, chickens, and can even steal a child.

It has not yet been possible to photograph the Chupacabra on a camera or video camera, but eyewitnesses describe it as a large creature with large claws and fangs. Absolutely everyone notes the monster’s huge and glowing eyes, with which he sees perfectly in the dark.

Residents South America believe that this monster was the result secret experiments American military. But the United States is in no hurry to confirm or deny this fact.

Monster sculptures

The world's most famous monsters can also be objects of art. Many European cities have various sculptural groups depicting devils and monsters. Some of them are historical monuments.

All the inhabitants of the planet know the monsters on the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. These terrifying chimeras sit on the façade of the building and are winged creatures with bared snouts and fangs. Parisians consider these monsters one of the most striking symbols of the city. According to some polls, they are more popular than the Eiffel Tower.

In Norway, in the city of Torheim, a cathedral was built, which with its sculptures resembles its Parisian “brother”. Its facade is covered with images of various evil spirits, which (according to legend) were supposed to scare away real evil spirits. Tourists say that many of the figures on the cathedral look extremely ominous.

In Brest, on Gogol Street, there is a sculpture of the devil. This unclean spirit is made extremely realistically and is a symbol of the city, attracting crowds of tourists here.

Humanity has always lived side by side with various monsters. Some of them are dangerous to people, while others have not done anything bad to them, but still strike terror into the hearts with their very appearance. Scientists are trying to catch monsters in order to finally obtain proof of their existence and study how the new kind representatives of the animal world. However, the monsters are in no hurry to become a world sensation; they continue to lead their solitary lifestyle, established over millennia.

From time immemorial, people have been fascinated by the beauty and power of the ocean. The bottomless waters of the seas have always kept some kind of secret and danger. Stories and legends tell of monsters living in the depths of the sea.

Do you believe in them? Let's talk about the most famous of them.

Loch Ness monster

The most famous sea monster, which, by and large, is freshwater and not sea, but it is possible that it can live in salt water.

He is also often called Nessie.

For the first time this unknown creature was discovered in 1933 and there is still no clear evidence that it existed or exists.

His photographs appear in the press from time to time, but scientific communities in all countries doubt their authenticity.

However, it remains one of the most popular legendary creatures, and many researchers are still trying to find evidence of its existence.

Although most scientists do not believe in Nessie, they admit that if it exists, it is a descendant of a “dinosaur” with long neck and webbed feet.

They say the animal is completely harmless and prefers to eat only fish.

The name Iku-Turso is translated as “thousand-horned” or “having a thousand tentacles.” In modern Finnish his name can be translated as "octopus"

In Finnish mythology there is a mention of the evil Iku-Turso, who is also called the eternal Thurso.

Lives in Atlantic Ocean, wreaking havoc wherever it appears.

Its appearance is quite interesting. He is depicted as a horned and bearded monster, which, judging by his appearance, clearly does not feed on fish.

They say that he used to be very dangerous, but the Finnish epic "Kalevala" says that one day Iku-Turso was captured and gave his word in exchange for the freedom to behave well.

Now he lives only in the ocean, and does not appear on land.

In Japanese folk tales there is a character named Umibozu.

They say that when the priest drowned, his spirit was filled with the power of the ocean and turned into a huge dark-headed creature, similar in appearance to a man.

However, Umibozu is not only the soul of the drowned priest.

This word is now used to describe any restless souls of the dead.

Attempts to communicate with them cause a storm, and the ships go down.

Sometimes Umibozu asks the sailors to give him a barrel, but if you do this, he will immediately grab you and drown you in the same barrel.

Hydra protects lakes and oceans; it can live in both salty and fresh water.

Hydra is huge and almost impossible to kill.

If one head is cut off, two new ones will grow in its place.

The Greek hero Hercules, who for some reason is often called Hercules, ultimately defeated her.

He was helped in this by his nephew, who noticed that if one head was cut off and burned with fire, new heads would not appear.

So, Hydra was defeated by two brave Greeks, but the fact that even Hercules, known for his incredible strength, needed help to fight it shows how powerful it is.

Any huge thing is called Leviathan, but did you know that mention of it is also found in the Bible?

The Book of Job talks about him and describes him as a powerful fire-breathing creature of incredible size.

They say that it was impossible to kill him, and the monster died of its own accord from old age.

Most illustrations of the monster show it as a snake or whale with a long, thick body.

Leviathan's powerful body, huge teeth and evil character terrify all sailors forced to roam the oceans.

The sea monster lives in ocean waters near the coasts of Norway and Greenland.

He is depicted as a giant squid or a man with squid tentacles instead of arms.

The only thing that remains constant about his appearance is his size. The Kraken is huge! Even the legendary gods and heroes are lost against its background.

Anyone who values ​​his life will beware of him if he moves to Norway by sea. This villain hates people and will do everything possible to destroy them.

Beware of him! However, he is not the worst. Scarier, bigger and more powerful than him...

Jörmungandr is a character from Norse mythology, also called Jörmungandr, Midgardsorm, the Midgard Serpent, or the World Serpent.

Jormungandr is so huge that he can easily cover the entire Earth.

Have you heard of the Norse god Thor, the incredibly powerful lord of lightning? So he will be poisoned to death by Jormungandr during the end of the world, or Ragnarok.

Just imagine, Jormungandr also has poison! It would seem that its size alone is enough to easily deal with anyone.

Jormungandr is the most dangerous and huge sea monster, which has no equal.

It turns out that sharks in the ocean are not the worst thing. There is a whole bunch of sea monsters, compared to which, even more White shark It will seem like a harmless crucian carp.

Surely many have heard, and some have seen photos of sea monsters. However, most people consider them to be fiction, a kind of “horror story”. Is it really? We will talk about this in our article.

Prehistoric sea monsters

We will begin our conversation by getting to know the animals that have already disappeared from our planet. Millions of years ago, huge sea monsters lived in the depths of the seas and oceans. One of them is Dakosaurus. His remains were first discovered in Germany. Then they were found over a fairly wide area - from Russia to Argentina.

Sometimes it is compared to a modern crocodile, with the only difference being that Dacosaurus reached five meters in length. Its powerful teeth and jaws gave researchers reason to believe that it was the top marine predator of its time.

Nothosaurus

These sea monsters were slightly smaller than the Dacosaurus. Their bodies did not exceed four meters in length. But nothosaurus was also a formidable and aggressive predator. Its main weapon was externally directed teeth. The diet of these animals consisted of fish and squid. Scientists claim that nothosaurs attacked their prey from ambush. Possessing the smooth body of a reptile, they would sneak up on prey silently, attack and eat it. Nothosaurs were close relatives of pliosaurs (a type of deep-sea marine predator). As a result of the study of fossil remains, it became obvious that these sea monsters lived in the Triassic period.

The main human activity takes place on earth, therefore water world is not fully explored. In ancient times, people were sure that many monsters lived in the seas and oceans, and there was a lot of evidence describing encounters with such creatures.

Sea monsters and monsters of the deep oceans

Research into the depths of water is still being carried out; for example, the Mariana Trench (the deepest place on the planet) has been explored, but the most terrible sea monsters described in ancient scriptures have not been discovered. Almost all nations have ideas about monsters that attacked sailors. There are still reports from time to time that people have seen huge snakes, octopuses and other creatures unknown to science.

Hairy snake

According to historical chronicles, these monsters were discovered in depths of the sea ah around the 13th century. Until now, scientists have not been able to confirm that giant sea snakes are real.

1. A description of the appearance of these monsters can be found in the work of O. the Great “History of the Northern Peoples”. The snake reaches a length of approximately 200 feet and a width of 20 feet. He lives in caves near Bergen. The body is covered with black scales, there is hanging hair on the neck, and its eyes are red. He attacks livestock and ships.
2. The last evidence of a meeting of a sea monster was about 150 years ago. The crew of a British ship that was heading to St. Helena saw a huge reptile with a mane.
3. The only known animal that fits the description is the belt fish, which lives in tropical seas. The length of the caught specimen is approximately 11 m. The rays of its dorsal fin are long and form a “plume” above the head, which from a distance can be mistaken for hair.

Hairy snake

Sea monster kraken

Mythical sea ​​creature, which looks like a cephalopod, is called a kraken. It was first described by Icelandic sailors, who claimed that it looked like an ordinary floating island. Descriptions of this monster of the deep sea are common and confirmed.

1. A Norwegian ship in 1810 noticed in the water a huge creature similar to a jellyfish, whose diameter was about 70 m. A record of this meeting was in the ship's log.
2. The fact that giant sea monsters krakens exist was officially confirmed by science in the 19th century, since giant mollusks (something between an octopus and a squid) similar in description to a kraken were found on the shore.
3. Sailors declared a hunt for these creatures and specimens 8 and 20 m long were caught. Some encounters with the kraken ended in the wreck of the ship and the death of the crew.
4. There are several types of krakens; it is believed that the monsters reach 30-40 m in length, and have large suction cups on their tentacles. They do not have spines, but have a brain, developed sensory organs and circulatory system. To protect themselves, they are capable of releasing poison.

Grendel

In the English epic, the demon of darkness is called Grendel, and he is a giant troll who lived in Denmark. When describing the largest sea monsters, it is often included in the list, and it lives in underwater caves.

1. He hated people and created panic among the people. His image combines different forms of evil.
2. In German mythology, a sea monster with a huge mouth was considered a creature that was rejected by people. Grendel was a person who committed a crime and was cast out of society.
3. Films and cartoons have been made about this monster.

Grendel

Sea monster Leviathan

One of the most famous monsters, described in the Old Testament and other Christian sources. The Lord created a pair for each creature, but there were animals of a single genus and these are different sea monsters, which include.

1. The creature is huge and has two jaws. His body is covered with scales. He has the ability to breathe fire and thereby evaporate the seas.
2. In later sources, some mythical sea monsters were justified, so Leviathan began to be represented as a symbol of the limitless power of God.
3. There is a mention of this creature in the stories of different peoples. Scientists are sure that Leviathan was simply confused with different sea animals.

Leviathan

Monster Scylla

IN Greek mythology Scylla is considered a unique creature that lived not far from another monster, Charybdis. They were considered very dangerous and voracious. According to existing versions, Scylla was the object of love of many gods.

1. The sea monster is a snake with six heads that has preserved top part female body. Under the water there were tentacles ending in the heads of dogs.
2. With her beauty she attracted sailors and could bite a galley in half with her head.
3. According to myths, she lived in the Strait of Messina. Odysseus survived the meeting with her.

sea ​​serpent

The most famous monster, which had a snake body, is Jörmungand - a mythical Scandinavian creature. He is considered the middle son of Loki and Angrboda. The snake was of enormous size, and it was able to encircle the Earth and cling to its own tail, for which they began to call it the “World Serpent.” There are three myths about sea monsters that describe the meeting of Thor and Jörmungandr.

1. Thor first met the serpent in the form of a giant cat, and he was given the task of raising it. He only succeeded in making the animal raise one paw.
2. Another myth describes how Thor went fishing with the giant Gimir and caught the bull Jormungandr on his head. It is believed that he managed to crush his head with his hammer, but did not kill him.
3. It is believed that they last meeting will happen on the day when the world ends and all the sea monsters come to the surface. Jörmungandr will poison the sky, for which Thor will cut off his head, but the flow of poison will kill him.

sea ​​serpent

Sea Monk

According to existing information, the sea monk is a large humanoid creature with arms like flippers and legs like a fish tail. Its body is covered with scales, and there is no hair on the top of its head, but there is something similar to tonsures, hence the name of this creature.

1. Many scary sea monsters live in bodies of water Northern Europe, and the sea monk is no exception. Information about it appeared during the Middle Ages.
2. These creatures frolicked on the shores, thereby captivating the sailors, and when they managed to get as close to them as possible, they dragged the victims to the bottom of the sea.
3. The first mentions date back to the 14th century. Unusual creature with a tonsure on her head, she washed ashore in Denmark in 1546.
4. Scientists believe that the sea monk is a legend that arose due to an error of perception.

Sea Monk

Sea monster fish

To date, a little more than 5% of the world's oceans have been explored, but this is enough to discover terrible aquatic creatures.

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 of the deep 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 Mariana Trench- himself deep place on the planet - however, they still know very little about the inhabitants of those unimaginable depths, which even Everest would not reach if we decided to turn it over into the water.

Nowadays, people no longer feel a mystical horror of the sea and treat it exclusively as a consumer (for example, about 90% of toilets in Hong Kong run on 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 the old ones looked like? nautical charts. 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 about “ mortal 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 here, but literally last years It’s as if nature had mercy on scientists and gave them irrefutable evidence of the existence of one of the most popular sea monsters.

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 its speed of immersion in deep sea- By diving, he 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, with the help of self-taught zoologists, turned into a giant octopus, but at the same time it 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 attributed it to the Kraken maritime disasters, and its relatives - giant octopuses under common name"Luska" - allegedly found in the Caribbean Sea (it is not surprising that the heroes of the film "Pirates Caribbean Sea 2" you will have to fight with 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 northern coast of Europe (it was later determined that changes in temperature conditions seas that drove 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 deliver a "surgical strike". They can only act on tearing and stretching. IN natural environment a habitat giant squid 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.

Recently it was classified even more close-up view giant squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). 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 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, as of 2006, the legendary Kraken you can safely identify the 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.

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 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.

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?

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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 detected 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.