Photos from open sources of
On the morning of January 13, 1852 captain of an american whaling schooner “Monongahela,” Mr. Seabury woke up from the cry of the beholder: he saw something big in the water. Rising calmly to the deck a ship drifting in the Pacific, the captain thought that when such a weak wind will not succeed in raising sails. If the forward looking saw a whale, “Monongahela” fails to approach him, which means you have to use boats.
Whale turned out to be a “sea devil”
Expanding the telescope, Seberi saw a giant creature in the water, rushing about as if it suffered hellish torment. The captain decided that in front of them is a whale that fell off the harpoon of some whalers and now beating in deadly agony.
By order of Siberia, three boats were lowered into the water. In the first, closely approaching a huge animal, was himself captain. He drove the harpoon deep into the victim’s body, and the sailors paddles to retreat to a safe distance from the raging creatures …
A photo from open sources
A moment before the harpoon reaches its target, above the water a huge head rose, darted to the boats and knocked over two of them. Then the monster dived deeply. As it sank to the bottom a heavy rope shot up above the tank. In seconds Seabury contrived to tie another rope to his end, a spare. On that the moment when the sea monster stopped diving, more than three hundred meters of rope went under water.
Meanwhile, “Monongahela” somehow managed to get closer to scene and took on board the mortally scared sailors. The end of the rope was fixed on her bollard, although Siberi doubted that strange prey is still on his harpoon.
Near the “Monongahela” was the ship “Rebecca Sims”, commanded by captain Samuel Gavitt (home port of both ships – New Bedford, Massachusetts). The sailors of both teams, shocked what happened, began to discuss a fantastic animal and build the most incredible assumptions.
What was the “sea devil”
The next morning, Captain Siberi ordered to pull out of the water rope. When the sailors pulled most of it onto the deck, on a massive carcass appeared on the surface of the water. It seemed like it some prehistoric creature that miraculously appeared from those times when there was no man on earth yet.
A photo from open sources
In length, it significantly exceeded the 30-meter “Monongahel”, the diameter of the body reached fifteen meters, and the neck – up to three. The monster’s head was also three meters high and resembled a head in shape alligator.
Amazed sailors counted 94 saber-shaped, bent inward (like snakes) tooth length of about 7.5 cm each. The animal was brownish-gray and wide (about a meter) light strip along the body. Practical Siberi tried to count, how much fat could be obtained from this monster, if it were whale. The captain would certainly be upset to learn that no fat under no thick skin …
Seabury understood how to laugh at him and his story about the “sea the devil, “if he does not provide significant evidence. Therefore the captain ordered to chop off the ugly head and put in barrel with brine, so that it is preserved until the time when the team will go ashore. In addition, he compiled a detailed report on capture of the monster, described in detail his prey and handed over these documents to Captain Gavitt, heading to his home port.
A photo from open sources
These papers were safely delivered to their destination and ended up in archive (like the text of Samuel Gavitt’s personal oath), however “Monongahela” with an incredible load on board in New Bedford so never came back. Over the years, the Aleutian Islands was a board was found with the name of this missing schooner.
I wonder if Captain Seberi had handed over to Gavitt not only report, but also your terrible trophy, the world is more than a century and a half ago would get proof of the existence of a “sea devil.” However the ocean zealously keeps its secrets, including about marine monsters …
Water Monsters
