Where the Wild Things Were: Sea-serpents in America

Sea serpents have been spotted from shore and at sea for many hundreds of years in waters all over the world. In 1817, so many people reported seeing a sea serpent off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts that the Linnaean... [ view full abstract ]

Sea serpents have been spotted from shore and at sea for many hundreds of years in waters all over the world. In 1817, so many people reported seeing a sea serpent off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts that the Linnaean Society of New England commissioned an investigation. Later that year, two additional sightings of sea serpents were reported in Long Island Sound and included as an appendix in the Linnaean Society’s report. The authors concluded that the sea serpent was a new species of snake, a conclusion later found to be erroneous. As it stands, the mystery of the identity of the sea serpent has not been satisfactorily resolved although many explanations have been put forth over the years.   It remains a species central to the investigations of the field of cryptozoology. Whatever the ultimate identity of the sea serpent, whether one species or many, known or unknown, it or they remain elusive, and likely rare.  This paper explores the ramifications of this quest to unravel the identity of the sea serpent and the potential implications of the loss of wildness and wild beasts as we enter the Anthropocene.