The Sea Monk
A creature caught off Denmark had a head like a tonsured monk and scales like a habit, and appeared in books across Europe.
What was reported
Around 1546, fishermen in the Øresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden, were said to have caught a sea creature with a human-like face, a round, shaven-looking head like a monk's tonsure, and a scaly body that resembled a monk's robe.
Pictures of the 'sea monk' appeared in the great natural histories of the 16th century, including those of Conrad Gessner and Guillaume Rondelet.
Explanations offered
In the 1850s the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup suggested it was a giant squid. Others have proposed an angel shark, a seal or a walrus, distorted by retelling and by the drawings of the time. Without remains, it can't be identified for certain.
- When
- Caught around 1546
- Where
- Øresund, between Denmark and Sweden
- Witnesses
- Fishermen, as reported by naturalists
- Status
- Probably 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.