Our world is riddled with questions and wonderings about the existence of underwater monsters and abnormally large squid attacking ships and sending sailors to their demise. But the big question is, ‘ Do they really exist?’

Firstly, let's look at the evidence of one of the most famous of them all, the Loch Ness Monster, or ‘Nessie’. Nessie was reportedly first sighted according to ‘ The Life of St. Columba ‘ in 656 when Saint Columba himself was staying in Picts and came across a man burying a corpse that had supposedly been swimming who was then attacked by a mysterious ‘ water beast ‘ and dragged down beneath the water to his death. The Saint then sent one of his followers into the lake to bait the monster out. When the monster came out and attacked, Saint Columba then made a sign of the Cross and commanded the beast to stay back.

Then, years later, more sightings surfaced. Most of these were

claimed fake such as the 1997 Loch Ness Muppet. This photo was taken by magician and psychic, Anthony Shiels, who claimed to summon the monster. This, was declared a hoax due to the lack of ripples. However, now, claims have been made stating the the Loch Ness Monster may be a plesiosaur that has survived and is living in the deepest part of the lake, so cold and dark that special technology would be required to search for the mysterious creature.

The picture of Nessie taken by

Anthony Shiels was declared a

hoax

The next creature is the Kraken. The Kraken is a legendary monster of the deep thought to dwell in the depths of waters off the coast of Norway and Greenland. Many authors have postulated that the creature is a 12 metre squid despite the original tales describing a more ‘ whale ‘ or ‘ crab’ shape then tentacles. Today, most people believe that the story of the Kraken is just a legend originating from an abnormally large squid sighted by sailors which has been exaggerated and stretched when the sailors came back to land ( probably under the influence of alcohol ) until it has grown to the fearsome creature it is today.

A drawing of a Kraken pulling down a ship

Lastly, one sea monster does exist, ‘sea creature’, more like. The leafy sea dragon (also known as phycodurus eques) lives near the coast of Australia. This creature is closely related to the common seahorse. The name ‘ Leafy Dragon ‘ comes from the creatures remarkable

resemblance and movement to seaweed drifting in the ocean. This uncanny similarity is used as camouflage to keep itself safe from hunting predators. The leafy seadragon swims by using a pectoral fin on the ridge of its neck and a dorsal fin on its back closer to the tail end. These small fins are almost completely transparent and extremely difficult to see.

In conclusion, some ‘sea monsters’ do exist. These apex predators grow to enormous sizes by virtue of the fact that there are so few predators who are able to match them in size and strength. Such examples include Killer Whales, massive salt water Crocodiles, Great White Sharks, Blue Whales , Anacondas and so on. However, the existence of the Kraken and Loch Ness Monster is a just mystery waiting to be solved in the future.