Sea Monsters (9 page)

In 1848, a British naval ship was in the South Atlantic. Suddenly a huge animal over sixty feet long with a mane on its head rose above the water.

Stories of a monster sea serpent once again filled all the newspapers. And once again, nobody ever found out what the animal really was.

Thousands of years ago, fierce tribes lived around a lake in
Scotland called Loch Ness. They carved all kinds of animals into stone. One animal they carved looked like a strange swimming creature.

As the years passed, hundreds of people have reported seeing an animal like this in the lake. They named it Nessie.

In 1943, a soldier spotted Nessie about 250 yards offshore. He said that she had a long body and neck. Her neck stayed out of the water as she swam. Other people reported seeing the same thing.

Over the years, people have taken photos of Nessie. Many have proven to be fakes. Most are very blurry. One man confessed he made a Nessie out of clay and attached it to a toy submarine. The submarine pulled “Nessie” around the lake while he took pictures.

Finally, in 2003, scientists put 600 sonar devices into the lake. They were supposed to record Nessie sounds. But there were no strange sounds to record. The scientists decided that Nessie does not exist at all.

Still, lots of people are convinced there is something in Loch Ness. After all, so many people have spotted Nessie.

What do you think? We think that’s a hard question to answer. We know that people really saw something in Gloucester Harbor. And for thousands of years, people have seen many strange and scary things in the ocean.

There are hundreds of stories about sea serpents. Do you think these creatures could be giant
oarfish or
squids? The truth is that no one really knows exactly what they are.

The mystery lies within the seas. And until we can fully explore this mysterious world, we just don’t have all the answers.

The oceans are so vast and deep. We fear what we cannot see or understand. Maybe it’s our fear that creates monsters in the deep … or anywhere else.

There’s a lot more you can learn about sea monsters. The fun of research is seeing how many different sources you can explore.