In centuries past, the harbor of Gloucester in New England was the site of several sea serpent sightings. Unlike Scotland's Loch Ness Monster, these creatures were sometimes witnessed by large crowds... but what were these massive (albeit seemingly harmless) beasts? Let's take a look at...
- The Gloucester Sea Serpent Sightings
- The Opinion of the Boston Society of Natural History
- A Whale of a Tale
- A Deep Sea Visitor
- A Tentacled Menace
- A Multitude of Monsters
 |
| The Gloucester sightings date back centuries - and are still an enigma! (engin akyurt) |
The Gloucester Sea Serpent Sightings
Since 1635, Gloucester Harbor in Massachusetts has periodically played host to a mysterious visitor. The best descriptions come from 1817-1818, with the creature described as being a "prodigious snake" by the Boston Daily Advertiser. Estimates put it between 50 and 100ft in length, with a body as thick as a barrel and a dog-like head close in size to that of a horse.
The creature also seemed to be fairly quick in the water, able to evade all attempts to capture or kill it. Despite its size, the creature seemed to have little interest in humans and spent most of its time chasing herring - though small boats did have to maneuver way from it lest they be struck.
Interest was further piqued when a small serpent washed up on the beach - it was quickly declared to be the lesser progeny of the creature in the bay. The Linnaean Society took the opportunity to declare the suspected sea serpents examples of a previously undiscovered species, specifically Scoliophis atlanticus.
The Opinion of the Boston Society of Natural History
In 1863 the Boston Society of Natural History declared that the serpents were not a new species at all, with the the lesser serpent from the beach being identified as a common black snake with a deformed spine.Opinion was less definite on the nature of the larger serpent, but the general view was that the sightings were simply misidentifications of a "humpbacked whale scooping fish." But is that explanation really plausible?
 |
| Is this what they saw? (Phoebe Dill) |
A Whale of a Tale
Now, I don't know if you've seen a humpback whale in person (I was lucky enough to see them up close several times on whale-watching boats) but they really don't match the description of the Gloucester sea serpent. They are fairly stocky, have large fins, a distinctive tail and a stark black and white color scheme - they really do not look serpentine at all. On the other hand, they do eat herring and their head could (at quite a stretch) resemble that of a dog.
Here's where I find the humpback hypothesis deeply suspect. Gloucester is a sea town in an area with a long-standing humpback whale presence. The idea that a harbor-full of mariners would misidentify a humpback as a sea serpent seems pretty far fetched!
Another theory that's been offered is that the serpent could have been a narwhal. These cetaceans normally frequent the waters of the Arctic, but they do occasionally go wandering and there is a persistent current from the Arctic to Massachusetts. Some descriptions of the serpent claim it possessed a stinger - something that could be explained by the tusk of these whales. There is a flaw with this theory though - narwhals are not particularly big (around 13-18ft) which falls rather short of the reported 50-100ft serpent. It's been suggested that multiple whales could create the illusion of "humps" on a long serpentine body... but wouldn't the observing fishermen be wise to such optical tricks?
 |
| I mean, it's not that serpent-like... (Mike Doherty) |
A Deep Sea Visitor
So is there a more feasible creature that could have seemed like a giant serpent in the waves? One creature often proposed as an explanation for sea serpents is the oarfish, an alien looking creature from the deep sea.
The giant oarfish is the longest known bony fish in the Earth's oceans, with the largest caught specimen being nearly 25ft long (which is till a little shot for depictions of the Gloucester serpent.) In case you were wondering, the oarfish outclasses eels in size - the longest moray eel grows to around 13ft while the longest conger eel reaches around 10ft.
These fish have a slivery skin rather than scales and a reddish dorsal fin running along the length of their back - and the end result really does look like a depiction of a sea serpent. Interestingly, they only appear near the surface when sick or dead. Japanese superstition paints them as omens of doom - it's said that that seeing one is a portent of natural disaster!
A Tentacled Menace
There's another creature that might fit the bill - the lion's mane jellyfish. Now you might be wondering how a jelly would masquerade as a sea serpent. The answer lies in the sheer size that this creature can grow to. The largest examples are found in the waters of the Arctic, where their bell can reach 8ft in diameter and their tentacles can extend nearly 120ft.
Drifting in the water, the tentacles of a large lion's mane jelly could resemble a body of a serpent. It's also worth noting that the Labrador Current carries the waters of the Arctic all the way to Massachusetts, meaning that a large jelly could find itself washed into Gloucester!
There's another possibility to consider - perhaps some sightings of the serpent could be explained by a giant squid. These deep-sea cephalopods can reach some pretty impressive lengths when you consider their tentacles - the largest recorded had a length of 43ft. You could also argue that the mantle of a giant squid could resemble the muzzle of a dog, from some angles!
 |
| Eels don't grow anywhere near 50ft long... (Wouter Naert) |
A Multitude of Monsters