I read a story last year that suggested that famous stories of sea serpent sightings might in fact be sightings of whale penises. That got my attention.
This story reported on an analysis of one sighting of a ‘most dreadful monster’ off the coast of Greenland.
‘Over the years, a multitude of explanations had been offered, including that the sighting might have been of a giant squid, an (extinct) Basilosaurid whale, a giant marine otter, or a giant longnecked seal.’
But the paper suggested that witnesses may have mistaken a whale penis as the serpent-like projections from the water.
‘Many of the large baleen whales have long, snake-like penises. If the animal did indeed fall on its back then its ventral surface would have been uppermost and, if the whale was aroused, the usually retracted penis would have been visible. The penises of the North Atlantic right whale and (Pacific) grey whale can be at least 1.8 metres long, and 1.7 metres long respectively, and could be taken by a naïve witness for a tail.’
The image of an erect whale penis included in the story definitely looks like some kind of mysterious sea serpent.
Not so long afterwards, I was searching for something on Trove (the incredible wondrous National Library of Australia collection, which includes digitised newspapers). I found what I was looking for, but then in the adjacent column was a story:
It was so matter of fact, and seemed to assume that readers would know of other stories about sea serpents, that I had to look further for other stories.
I found quite a few – sea serpents were rife in Australia in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
One story from the Daily News on 16 August 1900 told of a sea serpent off Fremantle.
The captain… with the aid of his glass, could see a creature which was like a huge serpent… with a black back and white belly… It appeared to have a flattish body, the head and scales being similar to those of a snake.
The creature appeared to be attacking a small whale, which was vainly attempting to escape. The whale could be seen ‘blowing’ and once its back was visible on the surface of the water. Whenever the whale disappeared, so did its attacker. Neither, however, remained long under water. The whale and its enemy were travelling in a southerly direction, and were visible from the ship for fully an hour.
With this new knowledge of sea serpent = whale penis, this story reads entirely differently. More as a very vigorous mating between two whales, instead of a sea serpent attacking a whale.
