ABSTRACT

This chapter considers in detail about a quarter of the 400 reliable accounts which refer to sea serpents. It focuses on the classification of the reliable reports, depending on their characteristics, and explores what groups of animals the unknown creatures have evolved from or are related to. There are seven main groups of large unknown sea creatures: the Waterhorse, the Scandinavian Giant Otter, the Multi-humped, the Long-necked Seal, the Multi-finned, the Sea Saurian and the Giant Eel. The Waterhorse has a head resembling that of a horse or camel, with a distinctive mane on the neck. The Otter normally inhabits cold, northern waters, such as those of Scandinavia and Greenland. The Giant Eels are often seen on the surface in dramatic circumstances, e.g. apparently wounded, writhing in agony, or fighting with other creatures, such as whales, eels having tremendously powerful bodies.