Giant Squid Carcass Solves the Mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?

Call it a clashing of two myths. Could the legendary “Kraken” or giant squid-like creature be responsible for the mysterious disappearances of ships in the so-called Bermuda Triangle?

The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the “Devils Triangle,” has been the site of many unexplained disappearances of ships (and later airplanes) for many, many years. Speculation of what could have caused the disappearance have run the gamut of everything from unusual weather phenomenon, to UFOs!

But a group of researchers from over 100 years ago, believe they had found definitive proof of what caused at least some of the disappearances, and it all started with a bizarre corpse that washed up along the shores of Florida.

The discovery of a 200-foot-long carcass of a giant squid that washed up on the beach of St Augustine, Florida, led scientists at Yale University to claim one of the Bermuda Triangle’s most-famous cases had been solved.

The Triangle is a loosely defined region in the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircraft and ships have disappeared. The vicinity of this so-called triangle is among the most heavily traveled shipping lanes in the world, with vessels frequently crossing through it for ports in the Americas, Europe, and the Caribbean islands.

Seafarers of centuries ago attributed the disappearances to various “sea monsters,” not the least of which was a “giant octopus.” That theory was mostly sparked by one of the region’s most-famous victims – a ship named for another mythological monster – the USS Cyclops, which was lost over a century ago.

In an Amazon Prime documentary entitled “Inside The Bermuda Triangle,” the incident was described thusly, “On March 4, 1918, Cyclops, a 542 foot Navy Collier left Barbados bound for Norfolk, Virginia, onboard was a crew of 309 men. Strangely, although the Cyclops was among the first ships ever to be equipped with a radio, it never issued so much as even the most preliminary SOS.”

The Navy suspected the boat was attacked by an enemy submarine, but many years later, another fantastic theory emerged to explain the loss of the Cyclops and other missing vessels – a giant squid.

“While at first glance it sounds far-fetched, the existence of a species of cephalopod, called the giant octopus, is no myth,” says, Richard Ellis, from the American Museum of Natural History. Ellis revealed how the theory was given credibility due to a bizarre discovery. He said, “In 1896, a carcass was found on the beach in St Augustine by two boys and they reported it to the Yale University.

It was 200 feet long and was identified as a giant octopus,” said Ellis, and the Yale scientists said it lent credence to the stories of a giant octopus claiming the Cyclops several years later.

Not an Octopus at All?

However, a much later analysis of what was left of the carcass in 1995 contradicted the claim, concluding the discovery could have actually been a large mass of the collagenous matrix of whale blubber. Also to dispute the theory, Dr. Jeff Marliave, from Vancouver Aquarium, claimed it would be impossible to find such a creature in this region, saying that, “Giant Octopus only occur in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

The kind of octopus that might occur in the region of the Bermuda Triangle would be a very small species and it would most likely be associated with rocky drop-offs from the islands. They would not be in the center area of the Bermuda Triangle, which is basically sand bottom.”

Marliave said the idea of giant squid or octopus attacking boats is largely folklore, and he has yet to see any real evidence of such an attack. “Now when people talk about giant octopus attacking boats, it likely stems from these very old stories from the days of whaling and sailing ship exploration, when there were engravings showing some kind of tentacled animal attacking small rowboats,” he said. Adding, “Most likely this was not an octopus, the only species that could conceivably attack a small boat would be an octopus relative, the giant squid.”

In 2005, marine biologists Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori snapped footage of a giant squid in the waters off of Japan, aggressively attacking baited lines. Bermuda researcher Rob Simone believes the discovery proves something similar could be hiding in Bermuda waters.

He said in the Prime documentary, “The legend of the giant squid is not a legend – they exist – some of them over 150-feet long if you can imagine that. We don’t know what lies beneath the depths of the ocean, this could very well be a giant creature that is particular to this part of the ocean. Maybe its food sources are contained there, we don’t know, but it could explain at least some of the ships that were mysteriously lost.”

Do you think giant squids could be responsible for all of the disappearances that have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle? Reply in the comments below.