Do Sea Serpents Fight With Whales?
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 17th, 2009
THE SEA SERPENT.
[Press Association] (Received August 16, at 9.50 a m) Perth, Aug 16.
For a couple of hours the captain and crew of the steamer Perth watched a fight between a serpentine creature and a whale, off Geraldton. The strange monster at times reared 20 feet out of water with a head like a serpent. The body was like a ribbon, about 6 feet wide.
West Coast Times – [New Zealand] – August 16, 1900
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I think the most likely explanation here is a giant squid. Their longer tentacles have paddled tips thus could be mistaken for a long neck with a head on the end, and they certainly would be fighting whales!
What kind of whale was it? As far as I’m aware, only sperm whales eat giant squid, and I’ve never heard of a fight occurring on the surface of the ocean, (though I don’t see why it couldn’t happen). The whole thing is a little vague. It could have been a squid, or it could have even been another whale.
I have no problem believing this could happen.
Either a Giant Squid or a Giant Octopus. Maybe an undiscovered Kraken-like creature. Sperm whales HAVE been found with scarring on them suggesting a struggle with something of the size of a Giant Squid/whatever, so this really does not surprise me.
The problem with the Giant Squid hypothesis is that they don’t come to the surface often – or at all, to my knowledge. This report suggests something that has no problems coming to the surface – or possibly a squid that was dragged upwards by a sperm whale that needed to breathe.
A couple of hours sounds pretty long to settle matters, and 20 feet out od the water is pretty huge even for a lunge.
If whales duked it out with these the same as with Giant Squid, wouldn’t we have found remains in their stomachs?
That is if they are marine vertebrates with hard bits, not exotic giant sea snails from the sea bottom. Come to think of it, snails have odd “horns” as well.
That sounds like an account I have read…
Yes, the G/Squid theory is pretty sound…it would not be inconceivable for a sperm whale to lug one up to the surface…
And I believe there have been other accounts of conflicts between whales and large serpentine or squid like critters…can’t remember the details off the top of my head, but there have been a handful.
There have been accounts though, of giant squids surfacing…mostly when they are sick…the Alecton is the famous one I would guess most people are familiar with. There was also an account (I think it was in the 20th Century), in the Mediterranean Sea where a fisherman on his trawler was on deck watching the moon rise and one came close to the surface next to his boat…he said it just looked at him and that it was longer than his trawler…or maybe as long, then just sank back down.
Great book is Kronos by Jeremy Robinson. It will give you a good Sea Serpent fix!
After I read that book, I went on to order all his works. It is a good story (Kronos) with historical facts on Sea serpents (like the above article).
Has anyone considered that it could have been whales mating? Certain large whales have male genitalia that, during courtship and mating, can be visible on the surface. Do a Google Image search for “Grey Whale courtship socialization” and you’ll see how such behavior could very easily be seen as a whale being attacked by a sea serpent!
Hi springheeledjack,
Giant squid can also be brought to the surface through warm water currents, which distrupt their bearings and buoyancy mechanisms. Many of the squid found near the surface have been found in areas where warm water and cold water currents collided, suggesting that the suid may have found themselves in warmer water than usual and been brought to the surface through those means. Once brought to the surface, these giant squid seem to have a hard time getting back down again.
I also think that a whale is capable of bringing a large squid to the surface. Whales fighting with squid on the surface have been reported before.
The main problem I have with whale versus squid in this account is the duration of the alleged battle. Although they are surprisingly resilient in the face of pressure differences between shallows and the depths, the physiology of giant squid is such that they require cold water for their blood to adequately carry oxygen. Simply put, this means that giant squid will slowly suffocate in the warmer water near the surface if it doesn’t get back into the depths. A giant squid lurking near the surface is most likely not in good shape, and it’s condition is only deteriorating. It would hardly be in the condition for a protracted, violent battle for a couple of hours at the surface.
Another problem I have with the squid battle idea is that the tentacles on these animals are not really made to be lifted high over the surface in a manner reminiscent of a sea serpents serpentine neck. The musculature, physics, and buoyancy issues all would work against this. It would be quite a feat for one to pull that off dramatically arching its tentacle 20 feet over the surface, especially in its no doubt weakened state. They just aren’t built to do that.
That being said, there are precedents for whales battling with squids near the surface. Maybe the time estimate here is off, or the violence of the battle exagerrated. Perhaps tentacles were thrashed about and whipped up out of the water in a manner similar to a sea serpent. I suppose it is possible.
As to the original question as to whether whales fight with sea serpents, I suppose it depends on the type of whale being discussed. It isn’t mentioned here. It also depends on the reason they are fighting. Was the serpent the prey, or the whale? Was it a territorial dispute? I suppose there are several possibilities for why a sea serpent would be fighting with a whale, so I would say yes- I don’t see why it would be impossible for this to happen.
I’m doubting squid. Just because the temp in the area should be too warm for them. But I supposed it could have been dragged up by a sperm whale. What type of whale are we talking about here? There are also the colossal squid….but its hard to think that a captain and crew would not see that its a squid….and ribbon like?
I think it cryptid terms the sea serpent species known as “Leviathan” which is of biblical origins along with “Behemoth”