On our site we usually present you with topics of interest about the world of animals, and this time we want to do it about a specimen that, according to the Nordic stories, for centuries caused fascination and terror at the same time. We refer to the Kraken. The stories of the sailors mentioned that there was a giant creature, capable of devouring men and even in some cases sinking ships.
Over time, many of these stories were considered exaggerated and, due to the lack of evidence, became fantastic stories. However, the great scientist Carlos Linnaeus, creator of the taxonomy of living beings, included in his first edition of the work Systema naturae an animal called the kraken, with the scientific name of Microcosmus, within the cephalopods. This inclusion was discarded in later editions, but considering the stories of the sailors and the consideration of a scientist of the stature of Linnaeus, it is worth asking if the kraken exists or ever existedContinue reading this article to be able to answer this interesting question.
What is the Kraken?
The word "kraken" is Scandinavian and means “an unhe althy animal or something evil”, a term that refers to an alleged sea creature of colossal dimensionsthat attacked ships and devoured their crew members. In the German language, "krake" means "octopus", while "kraken" alludes to the plural of the term, which also refers to the mythical animal. The terror generated by this creature was such that the reports on the Norse stories indicate the omission of the name kraken, since this was a bad omen and the animal could be invoked. In this sense, to refer to the fearsome marine specimen, the words "hafgufa" or "lyngbakr" were used, which were related to giant creatures, such as a fish or a whale of colossal sizes.
Kraken Description
The description of the Kraken referred to a large octopus-like animal that when floating could look like an island in the sea, measuring more than 2 kilometersReference was also made to its big eyes and the presence of several giant tentacles. Another aspect that was mentioned by the sailors or fishermen who said they had seen it, was that when it appeared it could cloud or darken the water where it swam. The stories also pointed out that if it did not sink the boat with its tentacles, when it plunged violently into the water it caused a great whirlpool that ended up sinking the boat anyway.
The Legend of the Kraken
The legend of the Kraken is found in Norse mythology, specifically in the 1752 Natural History of Norway, which was written by the Bishop of Bergen, Erik Lugvidsen Pontoppidan, in which the animal is described in detail. In addition to the size and characteristics mentioned above, the legend of the Kraken relates that thanks to its immense tentacles, the animal could hold a person in the air, regardless of its size. In these accounts, the aforementioned specimen was distinguished from other monsters such as sea serpents.
On the other hand, the stories about the Kraken attributed both seismic movements and underwater volcanic activities and the emergence of new islands that occurred in areas such as Iceland. Also the strong currents and large waves were supposedly caused by the movements that this creature made when moving underwater.
But not all these legends highlighted negative aspects, the fishermen also reported that when the Kraken emerged, thanks to its enormous body many fish surfacedand that they, positioned in a safe place, managed to capture them. In fact, it later became popular that when a man had an abundant catch, he was told that if he had fished on a Kraken.
The legend of the Kraken spread in such a way that this legendary animal has been incorporated into various works of art, literature and film.
Does the Kraken exist or did it exist?
Scientific reports are of vital importance to know about the veracity of a particular species. In this sense, as to whether the kraken exists or existed, it's hard to knowWe must remember that the naturalist and scientist Carlos Linnaeus considered it within his first classification, although as we mentioned, he later eliminated it. On the other hand, in the early 1800s, the French naturalist and scholar of molluscs, Pierre Denys de Montfort, in his work General and Particular Natural History of Molluscs, describes the existence of two giant octopuses, one of these being the Kraken. This scientist dared to affirm that the sinking of a group of several British ships had been due to the attack of a giant octopus. However, later, some survivors reported that the terrible accident occurred due to a great storm, which ended up discrediting Montfort and discarding the idea that the Kraken was a giant octopus.
Unlike the above, in the mid-1800s, the existence of a giant squidwas verified, which was found dead in a beach. From this finding, the studies on this animal were deepened and, although there are no exhaustive reports regarding them, since it is not so easy to locate them, it is currently known that the famous Kraken is referred tosome species of cephalopods , specifically squids, which have amazing sizes, but in no case with the characteristics and strength described in mythology.
Giant squid species
Currently, the following giant squid species are known:
- Atlantic giant squid (Architeuthis dux): the largest specimen identified was a dead female 18 meters long and 250 weight kg.
- Giant warty squid (Moroteuthopsis longimana): they can weigh up to 30 Kg and measure 2.5 meters long.
- Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni): it is the largest extant species. They can measure almost 20 meters and a maximum weight of about 500 Kg was estimated through the remains of a specimen found inside a sperm whale.
- Dana squid or squid octopus (Taningia danae): they can measure about 2.3 meters and weigh a little over 160 Kg.
The first video record of a giant squid was not until 2005, when a team from the Japanese National Science Museum managed to record the presence of one. So we can say that the Kraken is actually a giant squid, which while amazing, is not capable of sinking ships or causing seismic movements. Very probably, due to the ignorance at the time, when observing the tentacles of the animal, it was thought that it was a large octopus. So far it is known that the only natural predator of these species of cephalopods are sperm whales, cetaceans that can weigh about 50 tons and measure 20 meters, so that with these sizes they can undoubtedly easily hunt giant squid.
