Stronsay beast: the bizarre animal which experts searched for 200 years

Science Adina Camarasu
http://stocknewsusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/17450812-ml.jpg

Stronsay beast is an interesting story about a bizarre marine animal, unwitnessed by experts until now.

There have been many stories and legends about sea monsters that are living in the mysterious water depths. Also, mythology abounds in such images. Is it human imagination that createed the idea that these monsters really exist, or is it the reverse: the existence of these monsters created mythologies?

One such case which remained in suspension since 1808. In Orkney Islands, belonging to Stronsay, Scotland, was found a bizarre corpse in September 25, 1808, after a stormy night.

The animal was large, with a body like that of a snake, with a long neck and three pairs of legs. After measurements, it was discovered that the creature was 16,8 meters in length, but some of its tail was missing.

It was 1,2 meters wide and had a circumference of 3,1 meters. The head was similar to that of a sheep and its eyes were bigger than of a seal. Its skin color was grey and was rough to touch. The creature had 6 legs and long hair from shoulders to tail.

The corpse rotted shortly after it was found. In November 1808, the information about this creature reached the Natural Hisotry Society of Edinburgh, but they were unable to identify the animal. So, they decided to register it as a new species. Anatomist John Barclay named him ‘Halsydrus Pontoppidan’.

There were some who were against this discovery. Everard Home said it may be a basking shark. He claimed that shark’s corpses can have bizarre shapes, as the one described by locals. In 1849, Professor John Goodsir came to the same conclusion.

Whatever the truth, this was a case that remaind unresolved. It may have been a shark in putrefaction, but it could have been more than that.