Sea Monsters

“This great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein.”

Psalms 104: 24-26

Covering over seventy percent of our planet’s surface, the Earth’s oceans are an ever evolving enigma by which we are constantly surrounded and perpetually surprised. Approximately two-thirds of the Earth’s population lives within 50 miles of the coast, and almost half of the world’s major metropolitan centers are situated around the tide-washed estuaries and river-mouths of these aquatic continents.

The oceans have long been considered to be the fount of all life as we know it, and continue to serve as the primary source of nourishment and employment for the better part of our planet’s population. Still, as it has often been said, we know more about the surface of that cold satellite hovering 400,000 miles above, then about the vast, life rich depths of the deep blue.

It is, therefore, not surprising that this category represents some of the most ancient and terrifying legends that mankind has ever contended with. Herein you will discover a mere sampling of the vast pantheon of unknown creatures that allegedly dwell in the deep, uncharted regions of the salt water seas and oceans of our world.

Since the first ancient mariners took to the seas thousands of years ago, the ones lucky enough to return to terra firma have come armed not only with the ocean’s fresh bounty, but also tales of colossal (and often voracious) beasts that occupied the treacherous reaches of the high seas. This trend has not ended in the age of science with the discovery of sharks, whales, giant squid, rays and other known animals. In fact, it seems the more we learn about exotic marine fauna, the more mysteries we encounter.

No one can deny that our oceans are teeming with life, most of which has probably never seen the light of day, but there can be little doubt — even among the most hard line and conservative of marine biologists — that the oceans also serve as home to some of the most astounding, inexplicable and downright scary animals this world has ever known…

And, more likely than not, more than a few that we can’t even imagine yet.