SEA MONSTER MYSTERIES

ANCIENT TALES abound of mythical, giant serpentine, horse-headed beasts terrifying sailors in the Atlantic Ocean. But did you know Australia’s coastline is home to perhaps the most diverse hodgepodge of ‘sea monsters’ on Earth?

One of the first recorded sightings in Australian waters was at Geographe Bay, 200km south of Perth, (24 July 1879), the colonial chaplain claimed the unidentified creature was “60 feet long, straight and tapered, like a long spar, with the butt-end and its head and shoulders showing well above the surface”. Not surprisingly, it hasn’t been seen since.