Saltwater Serpents

The first sightings of the Gloucester Sea Serpent date from 1638. In 1817 hundreds more sightings were reported of the 40-foot, or 70-foot or even 100-foot creature. The New England Linnean Society of Boston commissioned a local Justice of the Peace to record the testimony of the witnesses and collect evidence. Newspapers had a field day with reports of the chocolate colored creature circling boats and sunning itself on the beach of Ten Pound Island. Sightings were again reported in 1884 and most recently, in 1975.

The powerful currents of the Gulf Stream carry life-giving warmth through the oceanic waters south of Florida. And its breezy trade winds have made the area a popular route for sailing vessels since man first figured out how to top a boat with billowing fabric. But the well-used route has claimed its share of casualties. The ancient coral reefs that surround the Florida Keys lie dotted with wrecks of ships large and small that succumbed over the ages to the ocean's perils: storms, pirates, and perhaps one danger a bit less known than the rest.

An unusual sight startled three scientists, all members of the British Zoological Society, one early December day in 1905, as they sailed in the yacht Valhalla somewhere south of Key West. The Valhalla, named after the mythic Norse hall of the gods, was a 17-ton cruise vessel owned by an aristocratic astronomer, Lord Lindsey, Earl of Crawford. He and his friends E. G. B. Meade-Waldo and M. J. Nicoll all witnessed a six-foot-long fin in a dull green "seaweed" color knife through the water's surface about 100 yards away. Lindsey described it as "somewhat crinkled at the edge," according to an account by James B. Sweeney in his book, Sea Monsters.

Lindsey probably almost dropped his binoculars when he saw what came next. He wrote to the respected Zoological Society that, "A great head and neck rose out of the water in front of the frill. The neck appeared about the thickness of a man's body. It was from seven to eight feet out of the water. The head and neck were all of about the same thickness."

Lindsey's companion M. J. Nicoll said the creature's head was like that of a turtle, that it had eyes, and that the head and neck swayed from side to side. Unfortunately, the yacht was traveling at high speeds and soon outdistanced the strange creature, ending the scientists' scrutiny. But a few hours later, two crewmen on the Valhalla also glimpsed a huge beast just below the surface of the water. They said they did not know what it was, but it had no blowhole and was not a whale.

The Valhalla sighting was widely reported, particularly since the witnesses were considered impeccable due to their scientific standing. But saltwater serpents had been in the news for many years by that time, especially along North America's eastern coastal waters. One of the most famous was the Gloucester serpent, which was sighted a bit farther north in the chillier waters off Massachusetts, in 1817.

The huge and mysterious marine beast was seen so many times, in fact, that a local scientific committee was formed to look into the matter. The group of three men devoted themselves to taking detailed statements from witnesses such as two women and a number of fishermen who all saw a large, unknown creature swim right into the harbor just north of Gloucester at Cape Ann in August of that year. (A similar creature had been sighted in Cape Ann as early as 1639.) Numerous sightings followed in the days and weeks after, including one simultaneous sighting by 20 people.

The investigative group interviewed a Gloucester man named Amos Story who swore that he saw a serpent-like animal in the middle of the day in Gloucester's harbor, and was able to watch it for over an hour as it darted about in the water. The turtle-like head poked about one foot above the water, said Story.  "On this day, I did not see more than ten or twelve feet of his body," he added.

Passengers and crew on many ships passing in or out of the harbor continued to see the monster until the end of August, when sightings curiously stopped. The creature returned in October, however, for a few final glimpses. By that time several hundred people had claimed sightings. Not all the reports agreed on the monster's size or appearance, but the general conclusion was that it had a smooth, snakelike body and a horse-sized head shaped like that of a turtle. Most people described the color as very dark brown, and many observed a row of humps following along behind the head. It was said to move its body like a caterpillar, hunching and straightening vertically.

Estimates of its speed varied, since some people observed it swimming rapidly and others saw it at rest. The committee was never able to come to a decision on exactly what the creature was-and indeed the few strange conclusions they did reach brought them only embarrassing, public scorn. For instance, they decided a three-foot blacksnake discovered near the harbor beach must be a "baby sea serpent," and solemnly named the new species Scoliophis atlanticus. To their dismay, a reptile specialist who correctly identified the specimen almost immediately proved them wrong.

Further difficulties were caused by the fact that, possibly due to differences in weather, light, and distance, many of the witness reports varied in their recollection of the creature's appearance. This also caused people to ridicule the committee's final report, as skeptics argued that a real creature should have produced more consistent reports. Most researchers today agree, however, that the committee did perform a valuable service in questioning so many witnesses and recording their accounts.

Sea Beasts and Submarines

While the U. S. Atlantic coast seems to be a true hotspot for serpent-like, oceangoing animals, modern observations of these creatures are just as far-flung around the globe as ancient sea serpent myths. Some of the strangest-and least known-sightings were made during World War I (1914-1918) by crewmembers of German U-boats, or early submarines. In fact, one U-boat (or undersea boat) may actually have impaled a giant, prehistoric-looking sea monster on its prow!

According to author and oceanographer James B. Sweeney, Germany had dispatched hundreds of U-boats of all different sizes around the world. Because so many were sunk by Allied forces, few of their ship's logs survived, which makes it all the more amazing that so many still recorded seeing large, unidentifiable marine monsters.

A German commander named Schultze made one such report. Schultze wrote that his U-boat and two others were about 30 feet beneath the surface when his vessel suddenly ran into some kind of large object and started to sink, the bow forced downward. With some effort, the crew managed to surface. They immediately rushed to the conning tower to have a look at what they had impacted. To their great shock, they discovered the object that had almost sent them to the ocean's bottom was a giant creature like none they had ever seen.

"It was not a whale," Sweeney quoted from the commander's report. "It had a long neck, body like an elephant and a head resembling a very large turtle. The beast was all of 50 feet in length." The creature was so thoroughly impaled on the submarine's prow that the commander had to send men outside to chop it away piece by piece before they could get underway again.

Another event involving a similar beast proved even more amazing. Another submarine crew surfaced to recharge its batteries, only to discover that a massive marine animal was attempting to clamber onto the U-boat's deck! It was so heavy that it threatened to sink the vessel, forcing the German crew to open fire upon it. The beast finally decided the ocean was a friendlier environment than the submarine deck and slid back into the water. It had damaged the boat so badly, however, that the sub had to remain on the surface where it was easily picked off by a British patrol two days later.

After being captured, the German boat's captain told the British what had happened and described the creature as having "a small head, but with teeth that could be seen glistening in the moonlight."

Sweeney recounts several other sightings, and also mentions a communication proving that the German military suspected the Allies were floating monster-shaped decoys in order to lure them into traps. This shows that large marine beasts must have been appearing with some regularity in the North Atlantic during those war years.

Of course, the Atlantic is not the only ocean on the planet. The Pacific, too, has had its share of seafaring monsters and, like the east coast of the United States, claims its own sea serpent hot spots.

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Stonehenge was ancient rave spot: researchers

Ancient party place: Stonehenge lights up during a meteor shower in 2010.

Kieran Doherty: REUTERS

British researchers have unveiled a new theory for the origins of Stonehenge, saying the ancient stone circle was originally a graveyard and venue for mass celebrations.

The findings run counter to the long-held belief that Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in south-western England was created as a Stone Age astronomical calendar or observatory.

A team led by Professor Mike Parker Pearson of University College London said Stonehenge, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is both older and had a different function than previously thought.

"In many ways our findings are rewriting the established story of Stonehenge," Professor Parker Pearson said.

The archaeologists carried out a decade of research which included excavations, laboratory work and the analysis of 63 sets of ancient human remains.

They said the original Stonehenge appeared to have been a graveyard for elite families built about 3000 BC, 500 years earlier than the site that is famous today.

The remains of many cremated bodies were marked by the bluestones of Stonehenge, Professor Parker Pearson said.

Further analysis of cattle teeth from 80,000 animal bones excavated from the site also suggest that about 2500 BC, Stonehenge was the site of vast communal feasts.

These would have been attended by up to one-tenth of the British population at one time in what Professor Parker Pearson said resembled "Glastonbury festival and a motorway building scheme at the same time".

It seemed that ancient people travelled to celebrate the winter and summer solstices but also to build the monument, he said.

"Stonehenge was a monument that brought ancient Britain together," he said.

"What we've found is that people came with their animals to feast at Stonehenge from all corners of Britain - as far afield as Scotland."

He said it appeared to be the "only time in prehistory that the people of Britain were unified".

Unesco describes Stonehenge as the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world.

But archaeologists have long argued about its importance to the people who built it, ranging from a place of astronomy to one of human sacrifice.

The researchers said their findings also gave a clue to why the monument stopped being used - another mystery that has baffled archaeologists.

The earlier timeline they propose suggests Stonehenge was built before the arrival of the "Beaker people" who brought with them a less-centralised political culture.

AFP

Secret 4000 year old Maps of The Ancient World

Researcher Charlotte Harris Rees discussed Asian maps dating as far back as 4,000 years ago that show the coastlines of the Americas. Picking up on the work of her father who collected these maps, she suggested that the ancient Chinese were seafaring and traveled to America far before Columbus' arrival. As further evidence, she cited genetic markers that are shared only by Asians and Native Americans.

Background
Charlotte Harris Rees, author of Secret Maps of the Ancient World embarked on an exciting journey of discovery after finding out that her late father, Dr. Hendon Harris Jr. (the author of The Asiatic Fathers of America), had been right: the Chinese were in America thousands of years before Columbus. Charlotte's book lays out overwhelming evidence (including DNA tests) in support of her father's conclusions.

For years after his death in 1981, Dr. Harris' map collection lay forgotten in a box under his son's bed. Hoping to verify their accuracy, Charlotte and her brother took the maps to the Library of Congress in 2003, where they have been studied for the last few years.

In this exciting segment, Charlotte tells us how DNA sampling can reveal the entire migration history of a people, recounts her experiences with the Library of Congress, and shares her thoughts on why this startling discovery has been overlooked despite having been in plain sight. This is a great time to rethink history and to step into the thrill of discovery. Join us in this modern-day adventure!

Origin of the species might need rethink

Dr Gavin Young and fellow ANU researches have discovered a new species of ancient fish they have named "Edenopteron Keithcrooki". Dr Young is pictured with a life size model of the fish built by Baz Crook, son of Professor Keith Crook, who the fish is named after. Photo: Melissa Adams

By Fleta Page

Reporter at The Canberra Times

After five years of painstaking work, researchers from the Australian National University have identified a new species of fish, which raises questions about current theories of the evolution of land animals.

The four researchers suspected they were onto something big when in 2008 they found a four-centimetre-long fang while searching for remains of a toothless armoured fish in rocks near Eden.

But it took years and ''thousands of man hours'' to put all the pieces together, catalogue them and determine that the 360-million-year-old remains were of a large, previously unknown species of predatory lobe-finned fish.

''It's good fun to find these things and dig them up … [but] you bring it back and then you're confronted by this great mass of blocks and what does it all mean?'' Dr Gavin Young of ANU's school of earth sciences said.

''We could see all the bone, but we couldn't work out what it was - we thought we had two fish, two skulls jumbled up together. Later on we discovered it was just one skull which had been slightly displaced.''

Dr Young, his son Ben Young, Robert Dunstone and Dr Timothy Senden called the species Edenopteron keithcrooki, which became the official name on Thursday with the publication of their peer-reviewed findings in the international journal PLOS ONE.

It's named in honour of its Eden origins and Professor Keith Crook of the former ANU geology department, who now lives there and pioneered geological work in the region.

It's believed descendants of Devonian-period lobe-finned fish, such as the Edenopteron, evolved into the first land animals, but Dr Young said hypotheses of where this happened may need to be re-evaluated with the discovery of the Edenopteron.

''Edenopteron was put in a family named after another fish found in Canowindra [in NSW],'' he said. ''When the Canowindra fish were described about 15 years ago, they were thought to be related to fish from the northern hemisphere and there's sort of a complete idea about how the land animals evolved from this entire group, and it all happened in the northern hemisphere.

''Now that we've got the Eden fish and two fish from Canowindra, they actually form their own group, it really means that the entire sort of framework for how the first land animals actually evolved has to be completely rethought.''

While only the head and pectoral girdle of the Edenopteron has been excavated and reconstructed, Dr Young and his team believe the fish - which has a 48-centimetre-long jaw - would likely have been about three metres in length.

''It's a pretty big fish, it would have been a pretty fearsome predator, sort of on the scale of a saltwater crocodile today.

''We know that part of the pectoral girdle is still in the rock, so if we can lift up a few more blocks, we might find that the body is actually preserved in the rock.''

The team applied for a permit to continue their excavation in Ben Boyd National Park six months ago, but are still waiting to hear back.