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A silvery 10-foot-long creature, the oarfish has fueled fisherman’s tales of sea serpents — and in some cultures has been a portent of natural disasters.

“It definitely looks fanciful; it evokes the sea serpent mythology.”

Near the coast of Norway, Magnus depicts a bright-red sea serpent attacking a ship that tilts as though it’s being taken under.

In Norse mythology, a monstrous sea serpent wrapped itself around the world’s waters.

In 1842, a vast, nearly intact skeleton was unearthed on a plantation in Alabama; it was soon identified as a member of Basilosaurus, a recently named genus of prehistoric sea serpent.