Episode 300: The Kraken

For centuries, sailors have insisted that within the ocean’s depths there lurks an enormous and powerful sea monster. With tentacles that can down a ship and a hungry beak ready to consume seamen by the dozen, is there truly an unknown beast lurking in our waters? Or is it merely an unbelievably real sea creature made famous by sailors’ tall tales? This week’s episode is The Kraken.

SOURCES

Is Loch Ness Monster's Long Neck a Whale Penis? Experts have Divided Opinions, News18: https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/is-loch-ness-monsters-long-neck-a-whale-penis-experts-have-divided-opinions-3754856.html

A Surprising Number Of Sea Monster Sightings Can Be Explained By Whale Erections, IFL Science:  https://www.iflscience.com/-a-surprising-number-of-sea-monster-sightings-can-be-explained-by-whale-erections-59294

Whale penis extrusion & mating practices explained thanks to underwater footage of humpback whale’s penis, Pacific Whale Foundation: https://www.pacificwhale.org/humpback-whale-penis-extrusion-and-mating/

The Kraken by Alfred, Lord Tennyson: https://poets.org/poem/kraken

Here's Looking at You, Squid, CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/giant-squid-photo

Giant Squid: The Quest for the Kraken, The World of Science (1949): https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/cns_article/id/68/

The first-ever photograph of an intact giant squid, Earth Touch News Network: https://www.earthtouchnews.com/oceans/deep-ocean/tbt-the-first-ever-photograph-of-an-intact-giant-squid/

First Giant Squid Photo, Smithsonian: https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/first-giant-squid-photo

Release the Kraken, Biodiversity Heritage Library: https://blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2014/10/release-kraken.html

The Carta Marina Of Olaus Magnus, 1539, Orkney Museums: https://www.orkneymuseums.co.uk/the-carta-marina-of-olaus-magnus-1539/

Kraken and Owl Whales: Take a Dip With History's Most Terrifying Sea Monsters, Wired: https://www.wired.com/2013/09/carta-marina/

Seafaring in the Norse world: Advice from the Konungs skuggsjá, Medievalists: https://www.medievalists.net/2022/01/seafaring-norse-world/

Sea monsters and their inspiration: serpents, mermaids, the kraken and more, Natural History Museum: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/sea-monsters-inspiration-serpents-mermaids-the-kraken.html

Convergent evolution explained with 13 examples, Natural History Museum: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/convergent-evolution.html

Books

Mythical Creatures by Lauren Bucca

The Search for the Giant Squid by Richard Ellis

Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid by Wendy Williams

Encyclopedia of the Sea by Richard Ellis

First Giant Squid Captured in Wild (on Film, That Is), New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/science/first-giant-squid-captured-in-wild-on-film-that-is.html