Finding the Real Sea Monsters

Candice Gaukel Andrews Nov 8, 2011

*Fictitious sea monsters and terrible krakens have kept generations of readers on the edge of their seats.*

Sea monsters are the stuff of thrilling fiction. From Jules Verne’s 1870 book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, opens in new tab to James Cameron’s 1989 movie The Abyss, tales of what creatures lurk in our oceans have captured our rapt attentions for more than a hundred years.

But when those fictions bump up against fact, it’s likely to send a different kind of shiver down our spines—the kind that makes us feel that what really once went bump in the night is more frightening than anything we could ever imagine.

Just that kind of a chill was sent through the scientific community a few months ago when the fossil of a new sea monster was found in Antarctica. Read the report from Phys.org,, opens in new tab and then—just for a bit of electricity—watch the trailer for The Abyss, below.

Oh, and, before you put that snorkel mask on again, you might just want to take a quick look around.

Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,

Candy