Tuesday 28 February 2012

The Real SeaSerpents



A long time ago people thought these strange coiling creatures were SeaSerpents, turned into stone by saints or gods. They called these rocks Serpentstones.

Of course we now know that they are ammonites, ancient cephalopods that swam in those Jurassic seas much like the Nautilus does in our oceans today.

Or are they.... ?

16 comments:

  1. Ooh very mysterious!!! And those look so cool!!

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  2. Look up a species known as the Giant Oarfish: that'll be the real-life sea serpent :o)

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  3. "Serpentstones" is such an intriguing word -Ii shall have to use that somewhere!

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  4. Hey, I love the photo. Hadn't heard of them being called Serpentstones before - that's cool! :)

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  5. Hi Kate,
    Ah yes, I reckon they are ready to come back to life.
    Of course, when it comes to Sea Serpents, or I guess, Lake Serpents, 'Ogopogo' is my friend and needs more recognition :)
    Take care and happy writing.
    In kindness, Gary

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  6. Ooh, so much fun to wonder about these things. How do we know that dinosaurs weren't really dragons?!

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  7. I like the first explanation better : )

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  8. What, you mean they're not really serpents? *sad face*

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  9. Oooh - off to check out this 'Giant Oarfish' and 'Ogopogo' - never heard of that one!

    I agree Simon - 'Serpentstones' does have a rather magical sound to it...

    And sorry Sue - they used to be serpents - but somebody turned them into stone ;-)

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  10. I agree with Simon. I'll definitely have to use Serpentstones in my next book.

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  11. Reminds me of Lyme Regis in South Devon!

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  12. Intriguing. I like where your mind is leading us Kate...

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  13. Ah Ellie - that's because it is :-)

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  14. Serpent stones slips off the tongue. I am off to look up giant oarfish too.

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  15. it was our whitby saint hilda that killed the snakes and turned them into ammonites. st cuthbert cursed them posthumously so their heads fell off.

    also: envy. the biggest i've found hereabouts are 16 cm across

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