FIG. 2 in From folkloric belief to fishery bycatch: contrasting cryptozoological and euhemeristic interpretations of Australian sea serpents

FIG. 2. — Unidentified marine objects seen in waters around Australia in A, 1900 (anecdote 19, Wide World Magazine); B, 1913 (anecdote 28, Sunday Times); C, 1939 (anecdote 67, Cryptozoology); D, 1981 (Papua New Guinea waters; Smith 2020). Anecdote numbers correspond to those from Smith (2020). The illustration of the New Guinea UMO depicts the classic manyhumped, string-of-buoys "sea serpent" seen repeatedly around the world, which could, as has been suggested for other regions, be an actual string of entangled buoys from a fishing net. The 1913 Australian UMO was observed to sport a beard and dorsal crest, both traits which have been suggested to indicate presence of entangled fishing gear for other UMOs. Clearly the coils or loops elevated above the surface of the water that were observed for the 1900 and 1939 UMOs are biologically impossible and consequently represent a train of anthropogenic material.