William Evans Hoyle and Joseph Thomas Cunningham

“ The immensely long arms of Architeuthis would not unnaturally be mistaken for a snake by sailors, and instead of being dragged to the bottom the whale doubtless sounded of its own accord as whales usually do (see Cuttle-fish) . (7) A sea-lion, or "Anson's seal" (Morunga elephantina) , was suggested by Owen [19] as a possible explanation of the serpent seen from H.M.S. "Daedalus"; but as this was afterwards rejected by Captain M'Quahae, [20] who stated that it could not have been any animal of the seal kind, it seems better to refer the appearance to a squid. ”

“ A more recent record of the appearance of a mysterious sea-monster is that of Messrs Meade-Waldo and Nicoll, both fellows of the Zoological Society, in the Proceedings of that Society for 1906, p. 719. These two gentlemen on the 7th of December 1905 were on board the yacht “ Valhalla ” off the coast of Brazil when at 10.15 A.M. they saw, 100 yds. from the ship, a large fin projecting above the water to a height of 18 in. or 2 ft., and 6 ft. in length. Under the water to the rear of the fin was the shade of a considerable body. ”

“ A plesiosaurus, or some other of the huge marine reptiles usually believed to be extinct, might certainly have produced the phenomena described, granting the possibility of one having survived to the present time. ”