### q3 sharks might explain sea serpent myths > [Basking sharks](http://eol.org/pages/225080/overview), measuring up to 40 feet in length, have also been mistaken for sea serpents. In 1808, a badly decomposed carcass washed up on Stronsay. At a meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society in Edinburgh, it was asserted that this carcass was the same creature described in accounts of sea serpents, and it was given the name *Halsydrus* (“sea water snake”). Later analysis of the skin and cartilage revealed that the “monster” was in fact a basking shark, and hardly a monster. These gentle giants are passive feeders with a diet of zooplankton and small fish and invertebrates. - [View Highlight](https://smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/five-real-sea-monsters-brought-life-early-naturalists-180953155?__readwiseLocation=0%2F0%2F11%2F3%2F1%2F45%2F1%2F3%2F15%3A0%2C3%2F11%2F3%2F1%2F45%2F1%2F3%2F15%3A242#:~:text=Basking%20sharks%2C%20measuring%20up%20to%2Cand%20small%20fish%20and%20invertebrates.) - [[Five Real Sea Monsters Brought to Life by Early Naturalists by Grace Costantino#q3 sharks might explain sea serpent myths|View in Vault]]