PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Although at the present time it is not possible to provide a completely accurate picture of the Seal Serpent if it exists, it is possible based on eye witness testimony and that which we have discussed so far, to attempt a rough description of such an animal and its possible lifestyle and characteristics.
So here goes.
Our creature is big, that much we can ascertain.
Apart from the Corinthian and the Noreen report, witnesses seem to describe an animal that varies in length from 20-30ft, quite a size. The largest of the known pinnipeds, is the elephant seal and the largest recorded specimen was a rather staggering 23 ft. in length. It is not until you compare such a size to a human however, that you begin to appreciate just how big this is. If we now add say, an extra 6 ft, for a long neck, we begin to approach a length of 30ft a respectable size for any sea serpent. Anyone confronted by either beast, would I am sure find the experience a little unnerving to say the least and the sheer size and bulk of such a creature along with the element of surprise, may distort length estimates. An Elephant Seal lumbering down a beach, with its fat and blubber rolling in a rather nauseating fashion could easily appear a monster.
Size may also alter at various stages of such an animals life cycle, for instance at times of fasting, lactation and foraging.
Angry female phocid. (NOAA)
Batchelor describes a `giraffe` like head, although I personally think it looks more like a horse, while the `Discovery Island` animal appears to have a more seal like head. We cannot be sure of the Filey encounter, while Bell compares the head of his creature, which appears very small from the dimensions he gives, as dog like. Stoquelers creature and the Tasmanian beast also have dog like heads. This is interesting as there is apparently little difference between the skull of a dog and that of an otariid seal at first glance.
Some species of seal such as the Northern fur seal do have very small looking heads, which seem to be totally out of proportion to their bodies. They also have more pointed heads than other otariids.
Bull Northern Fur Seal, ( Rolph Ream NMML 1992)
Seals being mammals would vary in appearance with age and the reader may have noticed the many different types of pinniped head, from the photographs included so far in this work. Here are a few more for reference.
Figure 31 Crabeater Seals (Dr J. Bergston,
NNML)
Stellers Sea Lion Swimming (R.Ream
NNML)
If our animal were otariid, then ears would be present as they are in the Corinthian and Discovery Island encounters. They may appear small and `clipped` looking, while when they are sleeked back, they may not be as obvious, e.g.? Bells report. When raised they may appear to resemble small horns, which may obviously confuse things, while if Heuvelmans snorkels are present, they are almost certainly inflatable, as in the elephant and hooded seal and therefore not visible at all times.
The neck of our creature is of course its main feature and various lengths have been given for it, ranging from 6-20ft, (although I think we should take Batchelors account, with a pinch of sea salt!). Personally though, I feel that it may not be as long as the accounts may suggest, at least not normally. In the pictures below, a sea lion, when extending its neck, gives it a more pronounced appearance.
Therefore a six-foot neck may appear to be an eight foot one, if the animal was stretching for swimming or observation. Another interesting speculation, in keeping with what is known about present pinniped species, is that some species of male seal for instance the elephant seal and male Otariids, tend to have a more
pronounced head and neck region compared to females. Therefore a female of the species may have a shorter, less conspicuous neck than the male. The mature male may also have a mane on its neck and back in keeping with known otariids such as fur seals.
Both the South American Fur Seal and sea lion have visibly noticeable manes which are longer on the neck and shoulders than the rest of the body and in the case of the South American sea lion this also extends to the face, chin and between the eyes. On a long neck as previously discussed, this may be more pronounced. The length, width and height of the neck may therefore vary, according to age, sex and stance.
Mediterranean Monk Seal. (Dr.J.McVey, NOAA)
The body is probably massive and bulky on land, much like the elephant seal and as such would be covered in rolls of fat and blubber which may appear to ripple or become more streamlined when the creature is in the water.
In most of the accounts that we have studied fur is noticeable, although it seems to be lacking in Bells report and obviously the Filey account. All pinnipeds have fur covering the whole body, which may look water smoothed when wet and rough looking when dry. The walrus however is sparsely haired and loses most of this for a two-month period during its moult. Moulting could also explain some of the discrepancies reported in colour, for when Hawaiian monk seals have been at sea for some time they may become covered in algae, which gives their fur a green looking tint.
The fore flippers appear to be fairly big, in keeping with otariids, while the hind flippers may appear tail like when splayed, or when the animal is stretched out.
DISTRIBUTION
Heuvelmans carried out a geographical analysis of `Long Neck` reports, which showed what appeared to be a cosmopolitan range for the creature. There was a propensity of reports from around the north coast of America, United Kingdom and Scandinavia in the northern hemisphere and from around Australasia in the southern hemisphere.
As a result he concluded that such an animal was a true cosmopolitan species and great traveller.
However, I think it is worth considering, if we accept the reports from Australia, that in keeping with presently known species of pinniped it would make more sense for there to be two species, such as for instance the elephant seals, a northern and southern one.
This would mean though, that either a group of pinnipeds evolved their long necks in one area before undergoing a species divergence, or that two species underwent a process of convergent evolution.
Also worth thinking about is Mackals speculation on a northern counterpart for the leopard seal, for if such an animal is represented by Mackals information then it seems to have a totally different disposition to the true `Long Neck`. This would probably make a sort of reverse logic if the traditional long necked sea serpent were otariid as if a phocid species, technically the most advanced, had evolved a long neck it may have then been mirrored in an otariid sepcies. However, three new species of seal is probably pushing it a bit!
Personal instinct makes me more inclined to feel that a distribution pattern in the Northern Hemisphere is more likely. Probably ranging from the coasts of North America to the north of Ireland and extending to the north coasts of England and Scotland as well as Scandinavia.
However the actual range of habitation is probably much smaller, the wide distribution of sightings probably due to such animals foraging habits.
If our creature exists and is rare, then its habitat may be little known. There are still many areas of vast, remote coastline around the world, which are sparsely inhabited.
If the species has also suffered ecologically in recent years, then it may have adapted a strategy similar to the Mediterranean monk seals, which due to environmental pressure have retreated from sandy and rocky beaches to submerged caves.
Stephn Westcott, a naturalist, who has been studying the seals in the United Kingdom for many years, reports in his book, "The Seals of the West Country", at length, on how the grey seals utilise caves for many aspects of their lives. Otariids also utilise such environments and in fact off of the east coast of America in Oregon, both fur seals and Steller sea lions share a massive cave system known as the Sea Lion Caves, the largest sea cave system in the world. Here they spend long periods at certain times of the year for instance in spring and summer when they breed and leave their young on rock ledges, just outside the cave.
Therefore a rare animal, utilising caves for existence would be infrequently seen, much like the Mediterranean monk seal and is it a coincidence that Heuvelmans geographic analysis coincides with areas of rugged, rocky coastline?
As a rare species, our creature may also only exist in small, scattered family groups, migrating far and wide for various periods during the year.
The evolution of a long neck may also allow a more varied diet and if used in a role of energy conservation, may mean that such an animal is less likely to need long periods of rest, which would presumably reduce the need for land excursion.
Like other pinnipeds, such creatures would be well able to travel up rivers and to a certain degree and overland in search of food.
The accounts that have been discussed within this work are few and specific.
However if the reader accepts some of the possibilities that I have suggested then further research into these areas may be of particular interest.
Having got this far, if we are to accept the possibility that a species of seal has evolved a long neck, then we are obliged to try and classify it within the currently known families.
Without physical evidence this is impossible, but if we use the eyewitness accounts previously described, we may be able to draw some conclusions.
The phocids are the most advanced of all the pinnipeds.
If we accept Heuvelmans notion of advanced aquatic adaption then it should be within this classification that our animal belongs. Acrophoca longirostris and piscophoca it should be noted were both phocine. However a neck as long as accounts would suggest may hinder aquatic performance and as the phocids are evolving more towards a totally aquatic existence this feature seems slightly at odds. Was acrophoca logirostris then an evolutionary dead end or did a phocid adapt a form that filled a certain marine niche? The other potential problem is, that as illustrated in the Corinthian and Discovery Island accounts, ears seem to be present which is predominantly an otariid trait although again phocids such as the harbour seal may develop external ear pinnae.
From the point of view of ears and locomotion and if we accept the Tasmanian and Filey encounters as true `unknowns`, this classification would make more sense and there would probably be more room for discrepancy in description, due to sexual dimorphism. Fur would probably be more noticeable in an otariids species although in Bells account it is not obviously apparent, although the animal could have been in moult.
No otariid inhabits the North Atlantic and a wide foraging dispersal from this area both east and west may tie in with sea serpent reports.
If we wish to accept Heuvelmans theory of adaption and birth at sea though, it may have to be a new otariid species, one which has managed to surpass the phocids in terms of specialisation.
I think it is fairly safe to conclude that there are not species of long necked walrus swimming the oceans, (modern tusked ones that is) but it should be remembered that this family possess both phocid and otariid characteristics. Interestingly, fossil Walrus, of which there were once many different species, do not seem to have possessed tusks, implying that this attribute is only a recent adaption and as already mentioned there were many tuskless species in the past.
Odobonids also display both phocid and otariid traits and an odobenid that had developed a long neck instead of tusks is an interesting supposition.
Here we could imply that a recent branching in pinniped evolution has resulted in a new classification of pinniped family, which like the odobenids shares both phocid and otariid characteristics as well as having been able to evolve a more marine existence perhaps enabling it to give birth at sea. As we have seen in the case of the sea otter, this is not as unusual as it may sound and could have taken place in a relatively short geological time.
While this categorisation is quite attractive, it seems a little bit of an easy option.
My own feeling is that the animal if it does exist, shares more otariid traits than phocid or odobenid, although it may not actually have to be an otariid to do this. No otariid species are native to the North AtlantiHow the evolution of such a creature would fit into the modern theory of pinniped evolution though I do not know. However it would probably cause quite an unwanted stir.
Sea Lion Diving. (C.H.D.Reed, NOAA)
CONCLUSIONS
If we accept the hundreds of Sea Serpent accounts over the years and from all around the world which have been reported it is pretty obvious that they are not due to just one species of possibly unknown animal.
There are too many differences in size, shape, colour, behaviour and appearance for this to be the case. There is probably no doubt a few accounts have been of rare, unfamiliar, out of the way animals, while others are probably cases of plain mistaken identity. Yet on the whole they appear to imply a body of evidence that indicates some large presently unknown animal existing.
With regard to the proposed existence of a Long Necked Seal the reader by now, may have already come to his or her own opinion. Without hard proof it may be hard to contemplate and more difficult to accept.
On one hand, common sense would imply that by the law of averages, a large unidentified seal with a long neck, because of its pinniped nature, would surely have been discovered by now whereas on the other, if such a creature does exist and has adopted some of the speculative methods of existence that I have discussed, then the odds against its existence may be lowered somewhat.
The intention of this work has never been to prove beyond doubt that such creatures do exist, but has focused more on the possibility that they could by (hopefully) adding some thoughtful insight on the subject.
It is obvious to any reader however, that people reported sightings, which seem in some cases to promote a mammalian identity. If these are genuine and we accept this then we are left with several choices.
▪ A totally new, previously unknown form of animal species has evolved;
▪ That a species of plesiosaur survived extinction, (possible?), became warm blooded, (not impossible), gave birth to live young, (absence of eggs, again possible) grew fur, ears and whiskers, turning into a mammal along the way;
or
▪ a species of seal grew a long neck (known).
A fourth option that could be relevant to UK sightings is that rogue populations of known seals such as the fur seals or even the elephant seal are inhabiting places that are normally out of their distribution pattern (Scandinavia, Scotland?).
Whether such seals could then go on and give the appearance of a long flowing mane as reported in some instances of sea serpents however is doubtful.
Similarly it would not be surprising to find that that various existing pinnipeds travel further and wider than is presently known, turning up in lakes and rivers tremendous distances from their normal habitat. Being unfamiliar to the populations that reside there they may subsequently cause confusion and misidentification as well as perhaps wishful thinking on the part of any witnesses who subsequently observe them.
In the vast expanse of water on this planet, there is plenty of room for plesiosaurs, long necked seals and even updated zeuglodonts although similar looking creatures, sharing a similar marine niche, is unlikely.
For the above scenarios, there is of course a total lack of physical evidence, something that in today’s world full of scientists studying animals in far-flung reaches of the globe and people owning video cameras is rather surprising. Conversely however, science still does not recognise `the sea serpent` and is not actively involved in searching for either a plesiosaur or seal with a long neck, let alone listening to the accounts of reliable witnesses, or speculative support for such notions.
When enigmatic carcasses turn up on the shores of beaches they inevitably turn out to be strikingly reptilian, decaying basking sharks. There are probably many bodies washed ashore or found on beaches however that are simply left to rot or are not equated with anything unusual.
Lack of physical evidence may not be that hard to accept bearing in mind that pinnipeds, swallow stones, which on death may cause their bodies to sink without trace. It is not known for sure why they swallow stones but may be due to a need for ballast, a food substitute or for grinding internal parasites up and it would be interesting to learn just how many dead pinnipeds are washed up after scavenging nature has taken its course.
There is of course the possibility that such creatures as sea serpents and other mysterious animals are not physical at all, materialising through that still little understood portal of the human mind.
This something that some researchers are considering or concluding.
Although this may be a valid solution, it is one that I would prefer to ignore for the time being.
As we have seen, people the world over appear to have witnessed animals that seem to resemble prehistoric reptiles, the foundations for such identities being layed long ago, popularised by the media and of course Loch Ness. This popular belief may indeed have affected the discovery of The Surreal Seal.
Everyone knows what a plesiosaur looks like and most people are familiar with such an animal and its physical appearance. Therefore if a witness sees a long necked sea serpent, it is almost inevitable that they will correlate it with a reptilian culprit such as the plesiosaur, for how many people are familiar with the theory for a seal with a long neck? In recent years, sightings of such creatures seem to have dwindled, (correlating nicely with the theory of threatened ecologies), but such animals if they exist must still be being seen. Could it be that in the technophobic twenty first century, a time of computers and the Internet, people are willing to ignore what they see, as they glance away from their laptop? Or is it that in such a technologically advanced age, there is no room for the romantic notion of The Sea Serpent?
It would come as no surprise to learn that people are still seeing such creatures but are either reluctant to speak of such encounters for fear of ridicule, or that the areas that such creatures must now inhabit are remote, populated by small communities who simply accept such creatures as part of every day life. If this is the case then they are doing the animals a favour, unconsciously protecting them from possible ecological or curious catastrophe. Whatever the truth, there is a place for The Surreal Seal to exist, just as there is a place for the plesiosaur and others.
Possibly more so considering some of the evidence in this work.
It is on this note that I would like to finish this speculative journey. I hope that I have updated the notion of a long necked pinniped and have raised some interesting speculation that has not been offered before. Some of my speculation will no doubt be faulted and I ask the more scientifically grounded reader to excuse such amateur shortcomings.
However at least I have dared to contemplate.
By doing this I hope that I have made the notion for the existence of The Surreal Seal more acceptable, at least in theoretical terms.
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