Sea Lion Lake Monsters (Part 2)

If we accept that in Europe and the UK, some errant sea lions are responsible for some lake monster accounts, how far back could this have been happening?

Interest in these animals from the scientific community and general public seems to have gathered momentum from 1867 onwards in the UK, when many began to be imported as attractions. However some otariid species such as the Cape fur seal were recognised and subsequently exploited as a food source by sailors and explorers since the late 16^th century.

So it is not altogether impossible that such species could have been captured by these adventurers, who saw an entrepreneurial opportunity to make some money from exhibiting them in their native countries, quite early on. But there would have been some problems on their return; firstly sea lions need a lot of food to sustain them and secondly at a time when there were no purpose built aquarium’s to accommodate them, they would have to have some access to the sea or other bodies of water presumably making them difficult to manage without the possibility, of potential escape.

This possibility is something which would be impossible to quantify as obviously no one was keeping records. The fact that in the last 100 years this has happened fairly regularly is only really quantifiable by searching historical newspaper articles and these instances, are likely to only be the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

One of the earliest, most publicised accounts originates from 1919 and involves a sea lion by the name of Billiken, one of several that were trained in the First World War to track enemy submarines (as detailed in our book). Following demobilisation Billiken escaped his trainer and disappeared into the North Sea, off the coast of Kent around July 10^th, 1919. Despite subsequent searches and apparent sightings he eluded capture.

 

 Mackintosh Bells Creature

Diver and juvenile sea lions (Clark/Anderson/Aquaimages, cropped)

Funnily enough over 3 weeks later on the 5^th August, off the coast of Orkney (over 500 miles away) a famous sea serpent account was reported by J. Mackintosh Bell (future post), which describes a very sea lion like creature. Then in September 1919 (depending on various sources), a group of children at Loch Ness (160 miles away), apparently witnessed a large amphibious animal, moving from some trees onto the loch in a manner that is also reminiscent of an otariid (future post).

California Sea lions at Scripps Park La Jolla (Rhododendrites) Wikimedia

If Billiken or a similarly escaped animal had found their way into Loch Ness around 1919, then there is a good chance they may have returned to the area during the 1920s and possibly 1930s, especially if they were able to exploit fish stocks fairly easily in this way.