THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN — AUGUST 05, 1874
CAPTURE OF A SEA MONSTER.
Quite a sensation was produced on Saturday last at Atlantic City, N. J., by the arrival at the landing in the inlet of the fishing sloop Amanda. B., having on board a veritable sea monster, the like of which has never before been seen in these waters. The oldest fishermen and watermen manifest surprise at the appearance of this monster of the deep, and are at a loss to determine what it is.
It is undoubtedly of the turtle species, with a head similar to that of a cow, with white spots on the top. The body is black in color, and from the nose to the tip of the tail six feet long. It has four flukes or flippers, and is five feet seven inches in breadth. The diameter of the body is two feet and a half. It is estimated that the weight of the creature is about seven hundred pounds. The monster had been seen in the neighborhood for two or three weeks past, and numerous fishermen had at different times pursued it with darts and spears, endeavoring to capture it.
On Friday last, about 5:30 o’clock, Captain Dan Champion and the crew of the boat named above cast a large seine off Brigantine shoals, about five miles out at sea, and were successful in getting the animal entwined in the meshes of the net. A rope and tackle was slipped under its body, and it was raised into the sloop and deposited in the hold, where it was kept until Saturday afternoon, when
