SEA CRYPTIDS

When you think of the phrase “cryptid”, you probably flip through a few heavy-hitters; Bigfoot, Mothman, Chupacabra, the works. But what if there was an untapped source of mystery. 

Roughly 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, which is a statistic held by no other planetary body. Yet, we’ve surveyed less than a fifth of the oceans on the planet purely because of the inaccessibility. 

Take the Mariana Trench for example; it’s nearly seven miles deep and impossible to touch the bottom due to the pressure compared to the surface. To be exact, about “over 1,000 times more” according to Gene Carl, a NASA oceanographer. 

However, life finds a way. In 2004, the first photographs of the Giant Squid were taken—a creature previously thought to be something out of science fiction. They even live in the ocean’s “Twilight Zone,” between 1,000 to 2,000 feet with a pressure of 2,500 PSI. 

Submarines are usually crushed at 900 PSI.

So how do these animals survive? How many other frightening creatures lurk beneath the surface?

If there are any more cryptids, it’s incredibly unlikely that they’re eating out of your trash cans and hiding in the woods behind your house. It’s more likely that they’ve adapted to the high pressure of water in the ocean and living in the 85% of it we’ve yet to touch. 

One of these cryptids can be considered a predecessor of the Giant Squid: The Kraken. Tales of the Kraken were passed around by sailors and it was discovered to be the Giant Squid in the 1900s when the first Giant Squid carcass was discovered.

Mermaids, while a bit more far fetched, also have ties to reality in dugongs. The gentle sea cow can be compared to one iteration of the myth, but there are many variations.

The most popular, and so far unproven, sea cryptid is the Loch Ness monster. Also frequently called Nessie, its existence has been constantly debated, disproven, and proven until a cycle finally emerged. While not quite as popular as Bigfoot, Nessie definitely has made a name for itself.

The ocean and the world of cryptids have always been interlocked, and it has been that way because we lack the ability to explore the depths of the ocean any further than we currently have. If we had the tools and the resources, what could we really find below the surface?