Sea Serpents of the Northumberland

 Did you know the Northumberland Strait has sea monsters? 

The first stories of sea serpents in the Northumberland Strait come from the Mi'kmaq First Nations. One particular monster is called Jipijka'm or "horned serpent." This is a monster that lives under water. At first it is the size of a small worm but it can make itself into a monster the size of than a horse or larger.

This, and similar serpents/monsters can be seen in numerous Mi'kmaq petroglyphs. Some show a similar serpent but with what looks to be fins. 

Mi'kmaq petroglyph showing a giant sea serpent. Image from CBC News

My favourite stories are those with detailed descriptions. Many times, the serpent was seen on a clear day in calm waters.

In October 1844, William Barry was in Arisag, Antigonish County, fishing off a community pier. There was only a slight breeze and the serpent swam by him slowly, probably within 25 feet of the pier. According to Barry, it was 60 feet long and about three feet thick. As for how it moved, "it has natural humps on the back which seemed too small and close together to be bends of the body. It moved in long undulations, thus causing the head and tail to appear and disappear at intervals."

Then in August 1845, a sea monster was reported to be stranded in the Merigomish Harbour. Reports of it even appeared in the Washington Sunday Herald with the headline "The Perennial Sea-Snake."

This sea-snake was reported to be 80 feet long and was trapped in shallower water about 200 yards from shore. Several witnesses described the creature as darker in colour, no fins, and covered in humps. It was unknown if the humps were natural or caused by the creature moving its body. The creature kept withering and bending quickly for about an hour until it had moved itself back into deeper water.

There were two recorded sightings in 1879. According to the July 13, 1879 edition of the Charlottetown Examiner, Captain John Sampson of the schooner Louise Montgomery, encountered a "enormous serpent" about 10 miles east of Pictou Island.

The weather was fine and the sea calm, allowing him to see this monster clearly. He described it as being as round as a barrel with a long, tapering head similar to a land snake, and a black back. He claimed it was moving at 7 knots and "the foam breaking on each side, as when a steamer is under way."

Coincidentally, six days earlier, Angus McEachran of Chatham saw a similar beast about 10 miles off the coast of the Magdalen Islands. He described it as a long, brown, snake-like animal with a smooth body - no scales or fins - and a flattened head. He estimated it was moving at 9 miles per hour. 

McEachran armed himself with an axe but the serpent just swam away.

There was even a recorded sea serpent sighting in 2003 off Point Aconi, Cape Breton. Lobster fisherman Wallace Cartwright thought his boat was going to hit a log when the 'log' raised its head out of the water! According to Cartwright, it had a snake-like body of about eight metres long, smooth, and brown in color. Cartwright had been a fisherman for over 30 years in 2003 and said "This was one distinct animal, one I've never seen before."

But, before you dismiss the idea of a giant snake like creature in the Northumberland Strait or Atlantic, remember that as of 2016, we had only explored 5% of the ocean floor and the waters in the Maritimes are home to some very different looking creatures. Did these people see some type of stereotypical sea serpent, probably not. Likely they saw something they could not identify at the time. But, I will admit, giant sea serpents sound pretty neat. And we know there are giant squid in the Atlantic. . . 

Ashton, John. "Sea monsters of the Strait." Saltwire. September 30, 2017. https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/federal-election/sea-monsters-of-the-strait-77850/

Bruce, Marian. Saltwater Road: Tales of Travel on the Northumberland Strait. PEI: Wood Islands and Area Development Corporation, 2014.

"Sea monster sightings off Nova Scotia documented in free e-book." CBC News. November 11, 2015. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/sea-monster-sightings-off-ns-ebook-1.3314028