Kraken is a Nightmare

The Kraken—a massive sea monster—legendarily rose out of the ocean to pluck sailors off ship decks or even to grasp whole vessels and carry them to the depths. It has sometimes been linked to the biblical Leviathan (e.g., Psalm 104:26; Isaiah 27:1) and the “world-serpent” of old Norse tales, Jormungandr. It was so large, some said, it could be mistaken for an island. It was a fitting subject for Tennyson’s apocalyptic sonnet, “The Kraken” (1830): It is now clear that accounts of the multi-appendaged creature best describe the giant squid, although it is only a fraction of the length attributed to the mythic beast. The giant squid’s genus is Architeuthis, and there is only a single species. (An even larger squid—Mesonychoteuthis or the colossal or Antarctic squid—exists, but its range is roughly south of the tips of South America, Africa, and New Zealand [Dockett 2017; “Colossal” 2018].)1
Despite the identification of the Kraken as the giant squid, however, there remains much to investigate—both about the maximum size of the actual creature and the accuracy of some accounts that may be greatly exaggerated or even outright fictional.
Encounters
My interest in the legendary Kraken was renewed on a trip to the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2008, courtesy of the Monster Quest TV series to investigate Lake Crescent’s purported “giant eel.” (It proved to be, most likely, otters swimming in a line [Nickell 2009].) In the course of my further travels in the province, I learned of giant squid along the Newfoundland coast. I was subsequently one of the “stars” (cast) of the “Kraken” episode of Animal Planet’s popular Lost Tapes TV series in 2010.
Historically—following specimens that were sighted or stranded at Denmark in 1545, Iceland in 1639, and Ireland in 1673—the first in North American waters was reported at Newfoundland’s Grand Banks in 1785 (Ellis 1994, 125, 126, 130; Ellis 1998, 257). Other reports eventually followed.
Attack on a Schooner
As striking as these encounters are, it was the giant squid’s attack on a 150-ton schooner in 1874 that reportedly spilled—not squid “ink” but copious printing ink in newspapers throughout Canada and the United States. My source cited testimony of both many survivors and witnesses from a nearby ship, the Strathowen. Supposedly the schooner, the Peril, had been in Atlantic waters to the south of Newfoundland.
Suddenly a gigantic creature rose from the sea and wrapped its tentacles around the Peril. Captain James Flood later told how he had grabbed up his rifle and—despite Newfoundlander Bill Darling’s warning not to shoot and so enrage the huge creature—did just that. “The oblong body,” he said, “was at least half the size of our vessel in length and just as thick. The train must have been a hundred feet long.” Although the men assailed the monstrosity with axes, it pulled the craft over and dragged it beneath the waves. The Strathowen moved in then and rescued the captain and his surviving crew members.
Conclusions
Beyond mythology and fantasy, the Kraken of old is of renewed interest as the giant squid (Architeuthis)—diminished in size but authentically real. Even at “only” sixty feet, it rivals the sperm whale for length, and we do not really know how large it may get. Richard Ellis, in his definitive book (1998, 8), states: “It is the least-known large animal on earth, the last monster to be conquered.”
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