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Written by theunexplained.org
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During passage from Cadiz, Spain, to Tenerife, the
French sloop Alec ton encountered a monstrous sea creature on November
30, 1861. Though there was something of a swell, the weather was extremely
favorable, and Lieutenant Bouyer, commander of the ship, resolved to attempt
the capture of what he later reported to have recognized "as the Poulpe
géant (giant squid) whose existence has been so much disputed and now seems
to be relegated to the realms of myth." But the swell caused the Alecton to roll wildly, and the few bullets that
hit the creature had no effect.
Eventually Bouyer and his men managed to harpoon
the thing and sling a noose around its tail. Tentacles waving violently, the
quarry snapped the harpoon and tore most of its body free. The crew hauled
aboard a mere portion of the tail, weighing about 40 pounds.
Yet both officers and men had come close enough to the
creature to give a detailed description of it. Reporting to the minister of
the navy, Bouyer wrote:
It was in fact the giant
calamary, but the shape of the tail suggested it belonged to a species not yet
described. The body seemed to measure about 15 to 18 feet in length. The head
had a parrot-like beak surrounded by eight arms between 5 and 6 feet long. In
aspect it was quite appalling; brick red in colour, shapeless and slimy, its
form repulsive and terrible.
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