ltwilliammowett: The Ziphius after Magnus. Gessner, Conrad. Historia Animalium. 2nd Ed, 1604The Ziph
ltwilliammowett: The Ziphius after Magnus. Gessner, Conrad. Historia Animalium. 2nd Ed, 1604The Ziphius, or the water owl as it was also called, is a huge sea monster with the body of a fish, usually striped, the head of an owl with huge eyes and a beak. The name itself comes from Latin and means sword-like, which refers to another feature of this monster, the razor-sharp tail fin with which it could cut ships in half. It is said that it roamed the North Sea and northern waters. In reality, the Ziphius is probably the Cuvier’s beaked whale, the most widespread species of beaked whale. Also known as the goose-beaked whale, this creature is found from the Shetland Islands to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. And since it is known that whales can also sink ships, even if not necessarily consciously, a whale is more likely to be the model, even if some believe it could be a shark. However, the Cuvier whale is the only member of the genus Ziphius, which bears the name of its legendary identity. -- source link