ANNE CHRISTINE

These sea creatures, (nick-named 'Leviathans' after the introduction of hte King James Bible, original name was the big-ears or cluisean mhor) were brought close to the shor when young and provided a unique way of fishing for the local fishermen. Who knows how it was discovered but they found that a piece of cord round the 'neck' of the creatures constricted their oesophagus and enabled a fisherman to retrieve, if he was quick, fish from the mouth of the creatures. The forays of the crreatures were almost world wide, though they were often mistaken for kelpies, krakens or even in the deep waters and triple corded, thus elongating the body slightly, for sea serpents or the like.

The 'Leviathan' depicted in video here is clearly uncorded and therefore in the process of being tamed or has returned from a successful catch and is being played with by the man on his back. you can see the flaps of skin on its head which were often mistaken for ears; my guess is that they were used for signalling to each other in deep water. Perhaps related to the octopus and cuttle-fish they were said to pulse with colour at happiness, anger or excitement, although this film footage is in black and white you can just see it beginning to pulse at the very end.  It has obviously formed a bond with its owner.