Dragon Sightings
| Year | Location | Information |
|---|---|---|
| 550-590 |
Loch Ness | The famous Loch Ness Monster was seen by Cholm Chile. [1] |
| 1674 |
Cape Ann, MA, USA | John Josselyn's An Account of Two Voyages to New England reported the sighting of a large sea serpent coiled up on a rock. Another person, Obidiah Turner, also reported it. [2] |
| 1700 |
Martha's Vineyard | Sailors spotted an unnamed sea serpent [1] off Martha's Vineyard. |
| 1734 |
Off the Coast of Greenland | In Hans Egede's A Description of Greenland, the Bishop describes a huge sea serpent with the creature's head so high that it matched a mass-head, a body that was as bulky as a ship, and a body that was longer that four ships. Egede, who later became Greenland's Bishop, also claimed that the creature's body appeared to be covered in "shell work", with rugged skin and paws. The creature later reared up and dived back into the water. [2] |
| 1802 |
Gulf of Maine | Reverend Abraham Cummings reportedly followed around a sea serpent of some kind. It was said to have the head of a serpent that was large than a horse's and was fifty feet in length. [2] |
| 1848 |
Boston brig Daphne | On September 20, Captain Trelawney saw an unnamed sea monster. [1] |
| 1848 |
The Ship Plumper, due west of Portugal | The sighting occurred late 1848, but the publication in the Illustrated London News came out on April 10, 1849. A naval officer sighted a slow-moving creature with the length of about twenty feet and a head the size of six to eight feet. [2] |
| 1848 |
Frigate Daedalus, off the Cape of Good Hope | Captain Peter M'Quhae reported seeing an enormous serpent which was at least sixty feet in length. He claimed that it had no fins, and he could not say how it was moving (it was not moving as most snakes do). He reported that the head was certainly that of a snake and that there was either hair or seaweed clumped around its back. [2] |
| 1849 |
The ship Fly, in the Gulf of California | George Hope reported an alligator-like creature that had a longer neck than an alligator, and, instead of four feet, had flippers. [2] |
| 1897 |
Arkansas | William Miller killed a gowrow. [4] |
| 1905 |
The yacht Valhalla, off the coast of Brazil | Meade-Waldo and Nicoll, two naturalist, sighted a turtle-like sea monster. Meade-Waldo described the head and eye to be similar to a turtle's, and he said that he saw a frill of the monster sticking out of the water some eighteen or so inches behind where the neck was coming out of the water. It was reportedly brown and white in color. [2] |
| 1915 |
White River | The first reported sighting of the White River Monster. [3] |
| 1924 |
White River | The second reported sighting of the White River Monster. [3] |
| 1939 |
High Pine Ledge (near Plymouth) | An unnamed sea serpent was sighted. [1] |
| 1937 |
White River | In June, Bramlett Bateman reported seeing a gigantic creature, later known as the White River Monster. [4] |
Footnotes
- Beck, Horace - Folklore and the Sea
- Ellis, Richard - Monsters of the Sea
- Legendary Arkansas Monsters Have Deep Roots in History. Link Defunct: <http://www.arkansas.com/media/display/id/185>
- Downs, R.B. - The Bear Went over the Mountain: Tall Tales of American Animals
For more information on footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.
