Gloucester sea serpent

The Gloucester sea serpent of 1817

The Gloucester sea serpent is a creature reportedly seen around and off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts and Cape Ann area. The heyday of sightings began in August 1817 and continued into 1818-19. The earliest alleged sighting of such a creature off Cape Ann was recorded in 1638 by John Josselyn. Occasional sightings continued over the centuries and into the 20th century.[1][2][3][4][5] [6][7][8][9][10]

The spate of 1817 sightings caused the Linnaean Society of New England to investigate. General David Humphreys visited Gloucester and interviewed witnesses. The residents of Gloucester later located a small black snake on a beach with humps, which they believed was the offspring of the serpent. The Society's analysis was published in a pamphlet which announced it was a new species which they dubbed "Scoliophis Atlanticus". However, the specimen was examined by naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur who determined it was only a common snake with tumors on its spine.[11]

Linnaean Society illustration

Charleston playwright William Crafts lampooned the reports of the serpent in his play The sea serpent; or, Gloucester hoax: A dramatic jeu d'esprit, in three acts, published in 1819.[2][4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Shattuck, Ben (10 August 2013). The monstrous serpent was real!, Salon
  2. 1 2 Brown, Chandos Michael. A Natural History of the Gloucester Sea Serpent: Knowledge, Power, and the Culture of Science in Antebellum America, in American Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Sep., 1990), pp. 402-436
  3. ↑ Brown, Joel (16 December 2010). Fresh look at vintage mystery, The Boston Globe
  4. 1 2 O'Neill, J.P. The Great New England Sea Serpent: An Account of Unknown Creatures Sighted by Many Respectable Persons Between 1638 and the Present Day (2003)
  5. ↑ Soini, Wayne. Gloucester's Sea Serpent
  6. ↑ (23 August 1886). Again the Sea Serpent, The New York Times (1886 report of sighting in the New York Times)
  7. ↑ (2 September 1818). The Sea Serpent, The Adams Centinel (reports of August 1818 sightings reprinted in the Adams Centinel)
  8. ↑ Story, Alfred T. The Sea Serpent, The Strand Magazine (1895)
  9. ↑ Bigelow, Jacob. Documents and Remarks respecting the Sea Serpent, American Journal of Science, Vol. 2, pp. 147-49 (1820)
  10. ↑ (25 August 1818). The Sea Serpent, Milledgeville Reflector (sighting stories from the Salem Register and Boston Daily Advertiser)
  11. ↑ Costantino, Grace (27 October 2014). Five “Real” Sea Monsters Brought to Life by Early Naturalists, Smithsonian


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