What is a sea serpent?
Sea serpent is the general name for giant snake-like monsters that appear in the sea. Nordic legends and medieval maps depict great sea snakes attacking ships, and from the Age of Exploration onward, sailors around the world continued to report sightings.
Famous sightings
Especially famous is the record of a sighting in the South Atlantic in 1848 by the crew of the British Royal Navy warship HMS Daedalus. The captain reported seeing a creature nearly 20 m long swimming with its head above the water, and it was widely reported in the newspapers of the time.
What are sea serpents really?
Proposed identities include the oarfish, a long, slender deep-sea fish that can reach several meters; large eels; dolphins or whales swimming in a line; and floating seaweed mistaken for a creature. There are also theories proposing an unknown giant marine animal, but no solid evidence has been found.
