Ever Heard Of The Kraken?

Anyone who is a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies should have an idea. The Kraken is the legendary sea monster, so terrifying that it could reach its tentacles up to the top mast of a ship and pull it down to the bottom of the sea, leaving crew either to drown or to be eaten…the scary thing is this creature that so many scoff at could be alive and in our oceans today, there is evidence that this creature really does exist.

The kraken can be found in Norse mythology, evidence of the creature can be found dating all the way back to the 12th century…it was said that this monster was the size of an island. It was in 1752 the Bishop of Bergen wrote his book, "the Natural History of Norway"; in this he describes the Kraken as being the size of an Island about one and a half miles across, he also wrote in his book that the Kraken could lay hold of the biggest ship and pull it down to the bottom. As time passed the stories became a little less exaggerated about the monster, but one theme remained throughout them all, the Kraken was indeed a monster.

Today it is believed that he Kraken is not some strange looking thing that is unimaginable…it is believed that the Kraken is one of two creatures that we have in our oceans today…either the Giant Octopus or the Giant Squid…these two modern monsters fit the descriptions of the Kraken on many accounts but it is the Giant Squid that is the most likely candidate. The Giant Squid is a very aggressive creature, although they are not a big as a mile and a half across, they do get to be very huge…big enough in fact to attack and kill a sperm whale. There were three confirmed occasions in the 1930’s where giant squids attacked ships, people believe that the ships were attacked because the squid mistook it for a sperm whale. It was in 1965 that a Soviet whaler watched the battle between a giant Squid and a 40 ton sperm whale, in that particular fight neither won…the squid strangled the whale and the whale bit the squid’s head off.

You might be saying,"yeah, but a giant squid still could not turn over a ship." Just remember that back in the days of the Kraken sailors had ships that were no longer that 100ft in length…so an aggressive giant squid that is just as long should not have too much trouble in capsizing the vessel.

The strange thing is the fact that nobody really knows how big the Giant Squid can actually get…ideas can be gotten from damaged carcasses that the squid can reach 100ft; there is one little bit of evidence that they get even longer. It was during World War II that a British Admiralty trawler was in the Indian Ocean, a member of the crew named A. G. Starkey was on the deck fishing when he saw something in the water.

"As I gazed, fascinated, a circle of green light glowed in my area of illumination. This green unwinding orb I suddenly realized was an eye. The surface of the water undulated with some strange disturbance. Gradually I realized that I was gazing at almost point-black range at a huge squid."

Now Starkey walked the length of the ship and found the tail at one end and the tentacles at the other…the ship was over 175ft long.

There is also evidence that there is such a thing as a huge octopus…an unknown species that can grow to over a hundred feet long and weight over a ton, the difference between the squid and the octopus is the fact that the octopus lives at the bottom of the sea while the squid near the surface; the octopus is a shy, more fearful creature while the squid is bold and aggressive. Only one body of a Giant octopus has ever been found and that was written of as being a whale…it was only later that they realized, upon reexamining some preserved tissue that it was in fact an octopus. Between legend and biology, I do hope we’ll know the truth one day.