A Curious News Story of a Sea Monster From 1752.

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mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Flicking through a 1752 bound edition of 'The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure' (a monthly journal published in London) I've come across a few interesting tales (all apparently true) but this one I just read stood out above the rest. It goes thus.

January 25.

We have received the following relation from Trapani [Sicily], dated 18th of last month.

A fisherman being out in a little vessel near that port, unfortunately fell overboard, and was instantly snapt up by a monster resembling a large sea-dog, in sight of several other fishermen, who then made to shore with all speed, lest the monster should take a fancy to make a dinner of them next: but as soon as they had recovered from this panick, they considered the damage the monster might do to their fishery, and being likewise desirous to revenge the death of their comrade, they got divers iron instruments made, to which they fixed large steel hooks, and then went out in their boats in quest of the monster which had appeared several times before near that shore.

Having found him on the 6th of November, they baited their hooks with pieces of horse flesh; but this device did not succeed; the monster kept aloof as if it has suspected their design; wherefore they threw out a noose with a bait suspended in the middle of it, two or three men holding each end of the cord. This stratagem succeeded; the monster leapt at the bait so vigorously, that its whole head got thro' the noose, and the fishermen instantly pulling the rope, dragged it to shore.

It was twenty palms in length, and its mouth excessively large, with three rows of teeth in the upper jaw,; and the tail was six palms in length; the belly was not proportionate to the rest of the body, being only fourteen palms in circumference. It was a female, and weighed upwards of 4000lb. The next day the fishermen cut it up, and found in it a great quantity of fish, one half of a man's skull with the hair on, as also the two legs and part of the backbone and the ribs which they judged to be those of their unfortunate comrade that was devoured a few days earlier. They afterwards burned this monster lest it should infect the air. It appears from Pliny and other authors, that sea-monsters of this kind were known to the ancients by the name of Canis Catcharias.


So folks, what was this sea-monster with 3 rows of teeth? According to the OED it is "the common or harbour seal, Calocephalus vitulinus; ‘also (in California), one of the eared seals, Zalophus californianus’" but I have my doubts.

Interesting tale all the same.

Regards,

Jay.
 

georged

Lifer
Mar 7, 2013
5,491
13,920
Maybe some Aussie caught a Leopard Seal while fishing southern waters and decided to use it to get back at his sister's husband who moved to Sicily without paying that drinking bet he owed him? (Getting it there would have been a bit tricky, and making sure it ate the right human even trickier, but otherwise such a plan makes perfect sense.)


Screen Shot 2022-09-24 at 12.35.11 PM.pngScreen Shot 2022-09-24 at 12.36.57 PM.png
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Maybe some Aussie caught a Leopard Seal while fishing southern waters and decided to use it to get back at his sister's husband who moved to Sicily without paying that drinking bet he owed him? (Getting it there would have been a bit tricky, and making sure it ate the right human even trickier, but otherwise such a plan makes perfect sense.)


View attachment 170984View attachment 170985
Well, a leopard seal sort of fits the description but this was estimated to be 4,000lbs (apparently adults weigh 440-1,200 lbs). Also being native to the Antarctic, I doubt it would survive in Mediterranean waters despite its diet of Sicilian fishermen :oops: .

That said, I can't for the life of me suggest anything else.

Regards,

Jay.
 
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Chaukisch

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 31, 2021
535
3,568
34
Northern Germany
I love these stories of seaman's yarn. Many weird things live hidden in the water and some of them get quite large. It's a big, vast and mostly unknown world down there, there's lots of room for fairytales.

Leviathan?
The giant snake that comes out of the sea and lives through us? I don't think they had submarine cable internet back then. 😁
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
The multiple rows of teeth and contents of its belly suggests a shark to me.
Me too, but then I would have expected them to describe it as a 'giant fish' or whatever, as opposed to a sea-dog/sea-monster.

The more I think about it, the arctic seal just doesn't work for me, not in the warm waters of the Med.

Regards,

Jay.
 

shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,084
49
Las Vegas
Sounds fishy, pun intended, to me.

At 20 palms in length it would be approximately 5 feet in length, assuming we're talking about standard English palm units.

I would hazard a guess the 4000 Lb measurement was either a wildly inaccurate guess, a wild embellishment, or both.

I would also guess serious mis-identification of the stomach contents are at play as well.
 
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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,402
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
there are always those rare freaks in all walks/swims of life. And sometimes animals go where they're not supposed to be (it's like they don't consult with us before getting lost or traveling). Though I feel like there is some exaggeration going on here. Might just be because there is something about fishing that makes people exaggerate the size of things that they catch.
 
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mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,434
I like the old maps with the sea monsters drawn on them. Two tons of seal sounds too much, but these sailors were dragging this ashore by hand, so it could seem that heavy. Crocodiles, an orca, a big shark -- depends on the accuracy of the location described. Big enough to eat a person whole, from the account.
 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
Interesting suggestions there.

The bit of the description regards the monster's teeth tallies with the skull George posted above. How many sea creatures would have teeth thus described I wonder?

Also, as Shanez says, the overall measurements are somewhat questionable.

Regards,

Jay.