Morgawr
If you’re familiar with sea creatures, you’ve probably heard of Nessie, Champ, and maybe even the Lake Seljordsvatnet Monster. It seems that almost every corner of the world with enough water lays claim to some sort of sea creature. While Nessie gets the lion’s share (or should we say the sea lion’s share) of attention in the UK, another monster is waiting beneath the swells: the Morgawr.
The bay is in the town of Falmouth, which has long been a harbor and was founded in the early 1600s. For a time, it was the nearest large harbor to the entrance of the English Channel, so needless to say, it saw quite a bit of action. However, it is also the third deepest natural harbor in the world and the deepest in Western Europe, which makes it an excellent place for a sea monster to call home.
Morgawr is a compound word in Welsh that combines water (mor) and giant (kowr), which means “water giant.” It is also sometimes referred to as the Falmouth Bay Sea Serpent. In the over century of sightings, it is often described as having a long neck and several dorsal humps.
While it remained a local story for quite some time in the 1970s, that would all change. On March 5th, the Falmouth Packet newspaper published an article that included two alleged photographs of the Morgawr. The paper didn’t take these themselves, they were sent in by a woman who was only identified as ‘Mary F’ who attached the photos with a handwritten note. She claimed she had taken the photos at Trefusis, Falmouth, about three weeks earlier. The creature appears to have a long, curved neck, a small head, and a large body in the photos. It was black or otherwise very dark in color and had three humps on the back. Unfortunately, there were no distinct environmental features that could confirm the location. This also meant the exact size of the creature was unknown, although she claimed the visible parts of the beast were at least 15 feet long.
With no idea how to recreate the photo or where to start, the newspaper shared the photos, and interest began to swell. Of course, some folks immediately dismissed it as a hoax. The true identity of Mary F has never been discovered, and no family members or friends have come forward to take credit.
However, reports of the Morgawr began to trickle in. Another one I find compelling takes place almost a decade later. A writer, Sheila Bird, and her brother, a scientist, Dr. Eric Bird, reported seeing the Morgawr at 8 pm on July 10th, 1985. The pair were relaxing, and Dr. Bird was using binoculars to look off the clifftop they were on into the water. He reported the same long-necked, small-headed, and jumpred creature that appeared in Mary F’s pictures. The Birds estimated the creature to be bigger than Mary F's original estimation by a few feet. As they watched, the Morgawr swam around for a few minutes before abducting and diving deep into the water. It did not reappear.
Unsurprisingly, for years following, sightings continued to pop up here and there. It became so common that some people started calling the area around the bay and other sightings the "morgawr mile" since you'd often run into someone searching for the monster.
Some believe these creatures are not sea monsters but rather a highly specialized or yet undiscovered species of seal. Others wonder if it is a yet undiscovered relative. to the plesiosaur of the dinosaur era. Others claim that perhaps it was a strange (but scientifically acknowledged) creature - such as an oarfish or rarely sighted giant squid. Some even claim it may have been a giant leatherback turtle.
The creature was also featured on the show Strange but True, which aired on ITV in 1996 (and you can watch here to hear more directly from eyewitnesses not mentioned in this blog).
The featured blog image depicts a path overlooking Falmouth beach. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Attribution: Path by Beach, Falmouth, Cornwall by Christine Matthews.
