A Monster Emerges in the Oresund
Sometime between 1545 and 1550, a strange sea creature was caught or found on the beach near the Oresund strait between modern-day Denmark and Sweden. Described as nearly eight feet long with fins, a tail, and a black head, it quickly earned the name “sea monk” for its supposed resemblance to a man in monastic robes.
Naturalists Put It in the Books
French naturalists Pierre Belon and Guillaume Rondelet described it in the 1550s. It was later included in Conrad Gesner’s 1558 Historiae Animalium, one of the most important zoological texts of the Renaissance. None of the scholars had seen the animal firsthand.
Theories Span Centuries
In 1855, Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup suggested it was a giant squid and named it Architeuthis monachus. Others thought it could be an anglerfish, seal, walrus, or a dried, altered shark specimen called a Jenny Haniver.
The Angel Shark Hypothesis
Marine biologist Charles Paxton concluded in 2005 that the most likely candidate was the angel shark (Squatina), based on its shape, size, and features. Still, the true identity of the sea monk remains uncertain.
