Basic Information
Type/Species: Sea Serpent
Origin: Dragon Sightings in Massachusetts, USA
About Gloucester's Sea Serpent
On August 22, 1817, a publication in Boston entitled "A Monstrous Sea Serpent: The largest ever seen in America" was published. It reported a sea serpent that appeared in the harbor to be about forty-five to fifty-five feet in length with the head of a horse. Other sightings of the creature reported up to one hundred feet long. [1]
In Massachusetts, literally hundreds of people saw this creature. So many saw this sea monster that the government was forced to investigate. The Linnaean Society of New England created a special committee to investigate. Members included the judge John Davis, the doctor Jacob Bigelow, and the naturalist Francis Gray. [1]
The most odd thing about this sea serpent was that it was said to move as a caterpillar. For obvious reasons, it would be almost impossible for a sea serpent to move like this; sea snakes move just like land snakes. [1]
A short while later, some people found a black snake-like creature washed up on the shore of the sea. Someone purchased it and then ordered for it to be dissected. The believers of the sea serpent thought they had found their proof: a baby sea serpent! However, although originally it was reported as such, it was actually a deformed common blacksnake. [1]
Physical Description
It was said to be between forty-five and one-hundred feet in length with the head of a horse and the width of a barrel. [1]
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Footnotes
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
