Swordfish vs ship. 1921.

The Register 11 Apr 1921 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63038628

Who would win a fight between a ship and a swordfish?

When I first started reading this 1921 article I thought that they were stretching the connection a little. A hole in a ship and an unseen attacker doesn’t mean that a swordfish was the culprit.

I mean, it could just as easily been aliens (or sharks with frickin’ laser beams) or something…

I was slightly appeased when they said that the beak was still in the hole when the source of the leak was discovered, and that it protruded some inches into the cabin of one of the crew. Ok, so no armed sharks.

The beak had managed to get through a copper sheet and three inches of solid teak hull. I expect that the swordfish was none too happy about the collision!

In the article they also cite the example of the steamer Cashmere, which in November 1874 sprung a leak. When the leak was investigated it was found that a swordfish beak had managed to penetrate through 10 inches of planking, and was still in the hole. Ouch again!

Even if each of these holes were really caused by swordfish beak, I find it extremely unlikely that a swordfish would actually go out of its way attack a large wooden hulled ship with the intent suggested in this article.

The only way I can believe a swordfish bill went any way towards penetrating the hull of a ship is to think of a fish out for a swim, not realizing that the path it had chosen would soon intersect with that of a ship speeding straight towards it.

I know that whales can be struck by ships and do tremendous damage. I suspect that a fish with a very pointy front end could do quite a lot of damage too, although the swordfish would not exactly come out alive at the other end of this encounter!

If swordfish colliding with ships were a known occurrence (four in this article) that makes me wonder how many swordfish there were in the ocean back then. I know that there were many more ships travelling the high seas in those times, but the ocean is a very big place!

Girvan sea monster. 1953.

I haven’t done a post about a sea monster for a while and a quick check revealed to me that I hadn’t yet posted about the Girvan sea monster. I love this one, it is not often I get to post an article about a sea monster complete with a newspaper photo. Luckily some smart person took a picture of the carcass that washed up on the rocks at Girvan, West Scotland in August 1953.

Just as well they did, shortly after the townspeople, annoyed with the stench of rotting sea monster, poured oil over it and threw on a match, ruining any chance of the remains actually being identified.

A pity that instead of trying to hunt down the monsters mate, who was reportedly swimming near the coast, they didn’t try taking a photo of that too!

Girvan is also known as a town close to where the coastal cave at Bennane Head is. This cave is was said to have been the home (den of evil?) of the cannibal family in the tale of Sawney Bean.

Sea monsters AND cannibals? The parents of that town would have had no trouble making up stories to scare their children!

The Sydney Morning Herald 9 sep 1953 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18383540

A Taniwha, or not. 1951.

Morning Bulletin 11 Jan 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57065314

Leathery skin, with one large tusk protruding from its large head and a narrow tail. Not sure what this long alligator-like (but interestingly no mention of legs), creature is but it sounds interesting.

A Taniwha is a creature of Maori legend that inhabits deep, dark water, and this article notes that there has been much marine disturbance in the area that may have caused the arrival of the body on the beach.

Regardless of what it is, I would not want to encounter it if I was having an early morning swim at Waimarama beach!

The monster of the Loch. April 1st 1934

What a great picture of the usually elusive Loch Ness monster.

The caption reads; Declared to be the first complete authentic photograph of the Loch Ness monster to reach Australia. It is suggested that it was taken by a Scottish photographer on April the first and transmitted to Perth by wireless.

Who needs photoshop? I am actually really impressed by this article. Although the depiction of Nessie is a little different from the humps in the water one we are used to, this picture is a great one, and often early illustrated newspapers articles live by their captions as the picture is so blurry or dark. This one is detailed and so clear I am sure it would have amused many readers. I wonder how many of them were taken in despite the reference to April the first?

Western Mail 12 Apr 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38023502

Octopus attack. 1906

The Mercury 22 Nov 1906 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12822912

Twelve thousand plus tentacles clinging onto your ship. Not a good day on the high seas.

I wonder if the two poisoned sailors were poisoned dead, or just poisoned sick?

Were large amounts of octopussies a common thing in Erquy Bay? If not this is an even more interesting event. Yeah, I know, octopussies is not a real word, but octopi and octopuses sound no better.

I tried looking for a collective noun for a group of octopus and it would appear that there isn’t really one. I think if you were on the wrong end of this small invasion in 1906 you might have gone for legion, army or horde. In my search I found someone suggesting a tangle of octopus. That works for me, I think the first word to mind when you saw a large group of octopus would be tangle.

What a great ‘one that got away’ tale for the fishermen, I doubt their day would usually involve beating off sea creatures with a hatchet. I sincerely hope one of the besieged sailors backed away from the side, up to the captain and said, ‘You’re going to need a bigger boat’.

If you know the actual term for a group of octopus please tell me!

Lake Como monster. 1946.

We have all heard of Lake Como, right? What do you think of when you hear the name? Beautiful old mansions in meticulously manicured gardens? celebrities on holiday? Ridiculously expensive real estate? This article tells me that in 1946 that there was a monster spotted there that had, excitingly, a great horn and gigantic scales. This unexpected monster was 100ft long and, after overturning fisherman’s boats, roared and disappeared.

Morning Bulletin. 22 Nov 1946.

This article from 22nd November 1946(http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56408745) uses the word mastodom. I just love it when people come up with vaguely technical words to describe something they know nothing about (see an earlier post ’Lusus Naturae’).

If you google mastodom you had really better be interested in heavy metal. I was unable to find any giant fish under this name.

A Mastodon is an elephant-like beast that existed for millions of years until fairly recently (over 11,000 years ago) and is quite difficult to describe as a giant fish. I wonder what word the journalist was really thinking of? Were they just hoping the masses were so uneducated that they would accept any monstery sounding word?

I am sure that if an elephant appeared from the tranquil depths and tipped over my boat before disappearing I would be quite surprised but I don’t think that this is what ’Polo Giovo’ was referring to. (I think they really meant Paolo Giovio. A historian in that area who died in 1552.)

There are not enough monster sightings these days, mores the pity….. I am dying for this monster to reappear and take out a random movie star after overturning their luxury cruiser.

More sea monsters. 1926.

Haven’t had a sea monster for a while so here is an article listing quite a group. I was interested to see that the prevailing thought in 1926 was that man had already classified most of the worlds animals. I admire their self belief but I think we all know that we are still finding new critters, large and small, every year. Either way, they were sure they had never before seen creatures like the ones listed in this article.

The Florida monster was clearly well-fed, weighing 15 tonnes and containing a 400 pound octopus, a 1500 pound Blackfish and 4 hundredweight of coral (a US hundredweight is just over 45kg or 100-ish pounds).

The Bombay monster that was 25 1/2ft long and described as ‘human-faced’ with sharp teeth in a mouth that was 3ft long. Not sure about you but none of the humans I know have a 3ft mouth. This monster was still alive after 48 hours on land.

The creature found at Port Fairy was an interesting collection of body parts. Over 9ft long with a tail like a screw shaft, nose like a rhinoceros (maybe they mean horn, nose is not very exciting, just a hole out of each side of its snout) a huge toothless mouth and soft black skin.

Yarmouths one was a little boring, seal-like with a beak and porpoise tail, double row of teeth and a blowhole.

The fish in Maine was described as having a wide head and a mouth like a bag and gristle instead of bones sounds to me like a small basking shark.

Burra Record 28th Apr 1926 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36044661

Port Said Sea Monster-1934.

The Courier Mail Brisbane 5th April 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1186293

After I read this article the first thing I thought was, ‘What did the Cairo museum make of the bones?’ Then I wondered if they had ever been dug up at all. Is there still a 48 foot long sea monster skeleton buried under the sands of Port Said?

Sea monsters, again.

Haven’t had a sea monster for a few days and I thought I would put in the most well known monster of all. Here is an article suggesting that Nessie is not real and that a string of mines set in 1918 surfacing and sinking is responsible for the sightings. As for the insinuation that Nessie generally appears at the start of the tourist season and that she is letting the side down by not being seen for a while…

The Advertiser 12th June 1951-http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45728965

Human Sea Monster.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23340836

I said in an earlier post that I love Forteana but that I am a born sceptic. I really, really do want someone to find a previously unidentified creature washed up on a remote beach proving once and for all that a sea monster /great sea snake / nessie actually exists. (I am also aware that this is not going to happen).

Until that great, yet unlikely, discovery occurs I will have to content myself with more articles about sea monsters.

This very real ’sea monster’ ensured that the young couple involved never had a romantic evening on the beach again!

(The Queenslander, 8th November 1934)