For centuries, marine creatures have populated our legends on all continents. From the medieval kraken to the Loch Ness monster, the myths of these aquatic monsters populate the collective imagination, often based on testimonies from sailors, scientists or even simple walkers. Where can this fascination with big critters come from? The media The Debrief sought to understand this by asking a few questions to Scottish naturalist Adrian Shine. The latter explains that these observations offer a fascinating window into the human mind and shed light on our sometimes peculiar relationship with reality.
In his work A Natural History of Sea Serpentspublished in 2024, the naturalist proposes to explore our fascination with sea monsters and to reflect on the cultural and environmental factors which have contributed to perpetuating them throughout the ages. Although his research led him to doubt the existence of such giant sea creatures, his approach differs markedly from that of many skeptics. For Adrian Shine, it is above all a question of understanding the point of view of the witnesses who claimed to have seen these mystical creatures, and not of trying to discredit them.
1957: Adrian Shine is 8 years old. He is on vacation with his family in Mundesley, on the English Norfolk coast. They suddenly see an unusual shape in the ocean. “HASWide, to our left, there was this line of bumps moving very quickly in front of usremembers Adrian Shine. My father was the first to say the words “sea serpent”.» Little Adrian Shine’s fascination with sea serpents and other mysterious aquatic creatures was born.
He first sets out in pursuit of the legendary Loch Ness monster. Although nourished by the same curiosities as so many other monster hunters before him, Adrian Shine finally comes to terms with the sad reality: after years of study and an extensive exploration of the lake in 1987, he affirms that the creature does not exist. But then, if no solid evidence has been found for the presence of a giant sea serpent in the lake, what conditions could produce the strange ripples on the water’s surface described by so many witnesses?
The giant tortoise hypothesis
For the naturalist, the answer is much simpler than one might think. Any object moving through the water produces a recognizable V-shaped wake and, when viewed from the side and from a low height on the water, the pattern creates the illusion of several dark bumps resembling that of the Loch Ness Monster. This optical illusion would be a general phenomenon, argues Adrian Shine, and could explain the wave of observations over time.
The man then attacks the sea snake in Gloucester, Massachusetts, United States. In 1817, several residents reported seeing a strange monster there, with a “ head and neck resembling those of a turtle“. According to Adrian Shine, it is simply a leatherback turtle, capable of reaching 2 meters in length and swimming for a long time on the surface, producing the famous wake causing successive bumps in the water.
The specialist also discusses the fascinating history of the serpent of Daedalus. In 1848, the crew of the Royal Navy warship sails towards Saint Helena. Along the way, the sailors encounter what they describe as some sort of large reptilian creature. A simple drifting tree trunk, argues Adrian Shine, who explains that on a moving ship, it is extremely difficult to estimate the speed of a nearby floating object, creating the illusion that a stationary object is sometimes moving quickly. Other researchers say it could have been a sei whale.
Adrian Shine is not completely closed to the idea that some giant marine animals exist in the deep. The abyss could still be home to unlisted species: “I don’t see why there wouldn’t still be several large creatures that we haven’t recognized or described, especially in the deep. It’s just that our unknown worlds become smaller as our knowledge of the world grows.», he concludes.
