In Canada, huge giant squid tentacles, mysterious narwhal horns, razor-sharp teeth of enormous sharks, and the terrifying strength of the orca are the source of many fabulous tales. Even sea serpents have taken refuge in our country's waters!

Are all of these mysterious observations reported over the years true? Could we have mistaken this simple, natural phenomena or have we confused the whales, large fish, octopuses, giant squid, walruses and seals for animals to exist only in our imaginations?

This remains to be seen...

Mermaids were originally represented with a bird’s body and a woman’s head. With their melodic songs, they enchanted passing sailors, drawing them onto the rocks to devour them.

ULYSSES AND THE MERMAIDS

During his voyage, Ulysses had to face the terrifying mermaids, which attracted sailors to the rocks with their enchanting songs. To resist the fatal charm of these fabulous creatures, Ulysses asked his companions to tie him firmly to the ship’s mast, and ordered them to plug their ears with wax. This is how the crew avoided shipwreck.

There are numerous stories of whalers found alive after spending a few hours or even days in a cetacean’s stomach. Is this possible?

In fact, only the sperm whale's esophagus is big and elastic enough for a human body to fit inside. However, since there is no source of air in a whale’s stomach, a person could not survive for more than a few minutes without suffocating.

JONAS AND THE SEA MONSTER

For disobeying God’s commandments and being responsible for a violent storm, the prophet Jonah (Jonas or Yunus) asked to be thrown into the sea, to calm the angry waters. Swallowed by a marine monster, he lived in the fish's stomach for three days before being spat out on a beach, still alive.

During the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, people were convinced that the North Atlantic Ocean was the home of dreadful monsters: whales, giant lobsters, sea serpents, fabulous beasts with sharp and pointed fangs... Throughout the years, sailors have opened new roads and proved that the ocean was indeed passable. Scientists have started to spread their knowledge and demystified the marine fauna. However, sea monsters were still present in marine cartography until the mid 17^th century.

MAP OF SEA MONSTERS

This German Renaissance map features the marine monsters which had frightened sailors in the Northern seas.

Large fish, marine mammals and colossal mollusks have inspired many supernatural stories. Although many have been proved to be true, others remain a figment of our imaginations.

Rostrum of sawfish

The Gulf of St. Lawrence was haunted by the "sciegouine des mers", a fabulous sawfish. With teeth down the entire length of its back, they charged boats and cut through the hulls of wooden ships.

The marine monsters with a long saw-like snout depicted in the natural history books of the Renaissance period may have inspired the "sciegouine" legend. Sawfish, which can exceed seven meters long, do not live in the cold Canadian waters.

The Kraken is one of Canada’s legendary animals. Sightings of this enormous octopus or giant squid have been reported by many seamen sailing the waters off the coasts of Canada. All of them claimed to have seen long tentacles which menaced their boats.

For centuries, vague or precise observations, fanciful or reliable testimonies, and countless hoaxes about the sea serpent have been piling up. Newspapers report large serpentine-like animal sightings every year. They are most often "observed" in large lakes or in the waters of British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador.