The Coconut from Under the Sea
For centuries, huge double nuts washed up on the shores of the Indian Ocean, and nobody had ever seen the tree they grew on. Sailors decided it grew under the sea.
What was reported
Giant nuts, the biggest seeds in the world, shaped like a pair of hips, were found floating in the Indian Ocean or washed up on beaches in the Maldives and India. Since no one had seen them growing, people believed they came from trees at the bottom of the sea, guarded by monsters.
They were thought to cure poisons and worth a fortune: the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II offered a huge sum for one. In 1768, French explorers found the trees growing in the Seychelles, in a valley on Praslin island.
Explanations offered
The coco de mer palm grows wild only on Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. Its nuts sink when ripe, and only float once they've rotted inside, which is why the ones found at sea were always empty. Its forest, the Vallée de Mai, is now protected.
- When
- Found at sea for centuries; the trees found in 1768
- Where
- Vallée de Mai, Praslin, Seychelles
- Witnesses
- Sailors, kings and collectors
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.