Talk:Sea serpent

Structure

Based on a rather quick reading, I would say that: 1) the "needs work" notes at the top are still valid; 2) the article would benefit greatly from restructuring. E.g.

• Mythology
• Legend
• Modern sightings
• Proposed natural explanations

I do think a mythologist, or at least an editor experienced in this area, is needed. I feel myth and legend are two separate fields, but I couldn't give a scholarly definition of them. --D Anthony Patriarche (talk) 14:11, 1 December 2019 (UTC)

Gibberish?

The last two paras of 'Reported Sightings', one of which is a quoted document, make no sense at all. I have no idea what the last editor was trying to say, but can it be reverted to an uncorrupted version? Chrismorey (talk) 16:46, 1 September 2021 (UTC)

Reported sightings

The cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans lists hundreds of reported sightings and describes tens of them in some detail. The selection given here is very limited and biased toward the oldest reports. Whatever one thinks of Heuvelmans' classification of sightings, or his contention that large oceanic species remain to be discovered (and I wouldn't bet against him) this section is woefully inadequate IMO.

The problem with classifying this article as Mythology is that eye-witnesses believed they were seeing corporeal unknown creatures. They may well have been wrong, and in many cases misidentified a known species, but they didn't believe the 'sea monsters' they saw to be mythical dragons. There may be a need for two articles, one on the mythology of marine monsters and another on currently-unidentified marine creatures. Chrismorey (talk) 16:55, 1 September 2021 (UTC)

"Great Sea-Centipede" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Great Sea-Centipede has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 July 3 § Great Sea-Centipede until a consensus is reached. Steel1943 (talk) 20:08, 3 July 2023 (UTC)

External Link Dead

The external link "Video of the oarfish, a creature that possibly inspired the sea serpent mythology." now links to a Thai betting site. ~2026-28727-99 (talk) 13:57, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

Fluent in Hungarian? Please help this page.

Hello Talk page!

Does anyone here speak Hungarian? Because I don't.

As Chrismorey has pointed out, the last paragraph of "Portuguese waters, 1848" is very rough. It's a translation of a passage from A tengeri kígyó by Ráth-Végh István. It's highly possible the person who translated it might've been a bit overconfident in their knowledge of English at the time and got a touch overly literal with their translation, which is understandable... as someone who has been learning another language myself, I know that I can sometimes get a bit overly confident for my current skill level and get things mixed up. Nevertheless, the readability of this section was notably hindered.

If someone who knows Hungarian could retranslate the section, that would be a huge help.

Here's the passage as it appears untranslated in the book:

• "Egyszerre egy óriási kígyó bukkant fel A vízből, ÉS a legnagyobb cetet a boa constrictor módjára kétszer körülfonta. (Megjegyzem, az ilyen fizéter 20-30 méter hosszúra is megnő!) Mintegy 15 percig tartott A halálos küzdelem, a tenger csak úgy habzott és tarajos hullámokat vert körülöttünk, végre a cet hátulja kiemelkedett A vízből, s fejjel előre lebukott a mélybe, ahol a kígyó bizonyára végzett vele. Hideg borzongás futott végig rajtunk A cet végküzdelmének láttára; úgy vergődött szegény A szörny kettős gyűrűjében, mint egy kis madár A sólyom karmai közt. Tekintettel a két gyűrűre, a kígyó 160-170 láb hosszú és 7-8 láb vastag lehetett."

Here's the passage as it currently appears translated in the article:

"A giant snake appeared at once from the water - and the largest cetacean a boa constrictor way wrapped twice. (I note such a physeter It can grow to 20-30 meters long!) It lasted for about 15 minutes the deadly struggle, the sea was just foaming and crashing waves around us, finally the back of the whale stood out Out of the water, he sank head first into the deep where the snake must have killed him. A cold shiver ran through us a cet at the sight of his final struggle; so writhing poor in the monster's double ring, like a little bird between the claws of a falcon. View of the two rings, the snake. It could have been 160-170 feet long and 7-8 feet thick."

Angilas (talk) 00:06, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Hans Egede's Sea Serpent Sounds Like a Humpback Whale

The description specifically brings up a wrinkly underside (humpback whale throat), round scales covering the body (barnacles and/or injuries), and "broad" flappers, which all match pretty closely to the description of a breaching Humpback Whale. ~2026-38515-76 (talk) 20:28, 6 July 2026 (UTC)

Interesting. If you can find a reliable source that argues in favor of the whale hypothesis for Egede's sighting, perhaps it could be added to the article. Angilas (talk) 01:55, 11 July 2026 (UTC)