The Bermuda Sea Serpent of Hungry Bay

In 1860 the sea serpent was still an open question. Learned journals such as The Zoologist printed reports of it. Bermuda had its own naturalist, J. Matthew Jones, author of The Naturalist in Bermuda, published the year before.

January 22, 1860. George Trimingham and a relative were strolling along the beach at Hungry Bay, then spelled "Hungary Bay," in Paget, on the South Shore. On the sand lay a long, ribbon-like animal. It was dying. It measured 16 ft 7 in from end to end, and less than a foot wide.

W. D. Munro sketched it. Jones came soon afterwards and examined it thoroughly. Even he hesitated over what to call it. He described it as "not undeserving of being styled a member of the sea serpent family."

Captain Hawtaigne wrote to The Zoologist under the title "A sea serpent in the Bermudas," describing a "dead sea serpent." A letter from Bermuda in the New York Times of February 21, 1860 spoke of "the capture of the member of the sea serpent family." Scientific American reported that "the sea serpent has been caught at Bermuda in the form of a huge creature."

Then came the picture. March 3, 1860. Harper's Weekly printed an engraving made from Munro's sketch. The headline read "The Great Sea-Serpent, Found in Hungary Bay, Bermuda, on January 22, 1860."

Edward Newman, editor of The Zoologist, described the fish as new to science. He named it Regalecus jonesii, a name that appears to honour Jones. A holotype of Regalecus jonesii from Bermuda is held at the Natural History Museum in London, very likely the Hungry Bay fish itself. Later ichthyologists folded the name into the giant oarfish, Regalecus glesne.

The clues had been there from the start. The New York Times called the animal the "great gymnetrus," an older name for oarfish. Hawtaigne's own description, Karl Shuker notes, "left no doubt."

No hoax has ever been alleged. The animal was real, and a naturalist handled it. Giant oarfish are deep-sea fish that tend to come to the surface when sick or dying. Their size, elongated bodies and undulating swimming pattern have made them a leading explanation for sea serpent reports, including the HMS Daedalus sighting of 1848. Over time the Bermuda story grew. Some retellings move it to 1880. One gives the fish a length of 30 feet.

A. C. Oudemans listed the 1860 Zoologist reports in The Great Sea-Serpent of 1892. Munro's original sketch is owned by the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo. In 2009 former Premier Dr David Saul carved an 8-ft cedar oarfish for the museum, his second. The first stands at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

The Harper's engraving has been reproduced worldwide. A sea serpent washed up on a Bermuda beach. It had a body, a sketch and, in the end, a species.