June 5, 2025 • 49 mins
Welcome To The Oddity Shop, Where The Bizarre is Always on Sale. This week, your Curator Zach is Krack-in' open the Lore of Sea Monsters.
The Kraken has haunted sailors' dreams for centuries – a colossal tentacled beast capable of dragging entire ships beneath the waves. From its origins in 13th century Norse sagas to scientific discoveries in our modern era, we track the evolution of this legendary sea monster and uncover some startling truths.
Join us as we separate fact from fiction and discover how sometimes, the most incredible legends contain more truth than we ever imagined.
What other legendary creatures might actually exist? Share your thoughts with us – we'd love to hear your favorite cryptid theories!
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_corvette_Alecton
- https://www.gathertales.com/en/story/the-legend-of-the-kraken/sid-276
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken
- https://liboatingworld.com/beware-of-the-krake
- https://www.scielo.br/j/hcsm/a/3f7pGvQSBQNC4kkC8MXsbQQ/#:~:text=This%20was%20the%20point%20at,Canary%20Islands%20(Figure%203).
- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kraken-sea-monster-antarctica_n_57675220e4b015db1bc9b731
- https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/giant-squid
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/130107-giant-squid-video-japan-science
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
I want to dance with the mothman At the IA shop,
bathed in the moonlight At theIA shop.
Creep through the graveyard Tothe IA shop.
The door's always open At theIA shop.
(00:29):
Welcome back to the Oddity Shop, you oddballs.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
This is the podcast where we tell you creepy, odd,
weird, strange and bizarrestories, sometimes with cryptids
and monsters, sometimes with abunch of other stuff that you
know we just really like fromaround the globe.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm your curator, Kara.
This is your curator, Zachary.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And obviously curator Kara has no patience for my
shenanigans today.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
No, you were going too long.
How are you?
I thought you were going totake my line.
I'm good.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh no, I took your line.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Oh no, you took my line.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm doing good.
I feel like I've had a reallyproductive week and I've been
waking up early every day andI've been having a lot of
caffeine because I finallyfigured out how to use Julia's
bean grinder, so I no longerhave to wait for her for coffee.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Wow, it only took you how long.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Long enough.
Let's just say that Two years.
Well, it took me a long time toeven figure out that she was
grinding beans.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So All right, so good job.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Thank you, thank you you did something.
What's new in your life?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
My back hurts so bad, I have blisters all over my
hands and every muscle in mybody aches because I did so much
yard work because I had off.
Because I did so much yard work, because I had off, I haven't
even really talked to you.
I had off Monday, tuesday.
Why are we the same person?
We had those two 80.
Oh yeah, we have blisterseverywhere we had blisters in
the same spot from the raking.
Two days that were like 80degrees, so all day what I did
(01:57):
was like yard work and plantingflowers and mulch.
If anyone has mulch you knowthat, like every year, you have
to turn the mulch and I have avery big yard with a lot of
mulch and I did all by myselfwhat color mulch do you do?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
black, I do the same and I hate that, even if, like
you, had a year where a lot ofit retained, it loses so much
color like you have to redo, nomatter what color you have to do
every year.
It's so stupid.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I almost bought the rubber mulch this year, but you,
I think, should have, becauseyou don't have a lot.
So it's nice, we priced it out.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh, I couldn't even imagine.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I couldn't afford it, for how much mulch I have.
So anyway, that's that.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
That's honestly the first thing on my list to talk
about, too, is my back hurts andeverything from yard work but
this weather is just bringing meback to life Like I'm through
the worst of the allergy part ofit now.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, me too.
Me too, I don't feel as foggy.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh my God, two weeks ago was so bad Like I got like a
legit head cold and I know it'sfrom everything blooming.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, it's crazy.
You and I were like down for acouple of days.
This is the first time we'rerecording since our event.
Technically, we had an event.
It was great.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
It was great.
It was really fun, real quick.
Before we go into the event,though, in the yard work, your
husband will be so proud of me.
Okay, I on that front area thathas been needing grass redone
for years, I turned over, addedsoil, aerated, overseeded and
fertilized, and I've been wakingup early every morning watering
it's watered.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Good job, that's awesome it makes such a
difference.
It's gonna look.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I know I feel bad for the pollinators though I know,
I know okay, but the event soyeah, guys, um we had an event
it was so much fun hanging outwith everyone, like we met a
bunch of new people we got tohang out with a bunch of friends
already but yeah, no, we andeveryone had the same consensus,
which I think you and I couldagree we need to do more oh, and
(03:44):
I finally got to meet danny.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
yay, I was very, very excited about that part.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, it only took like three years.
I still can't believe that'sthe first time you guys met.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I know you forgot I know, Like even when I was like,
wait, I need to hug Danny.
I've never met Danny.
You're like, oh my God, Iforgot, you always forget.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, now you don't have to, because we did you met,
so we'll go back to meforgetting and it'll be
justified, okay.
Speaking of the event, and bythe time this episode comes out,
you probably have already heardthe new ad that's coming, but
I've got to talk about.
So there's an event that youand I are considering going to
because we found the coolestfucking paranormal group of all
(04:20):
time.
It is called haunters againsthate, which is a super pro lgbt
paranormal group and they'retrying to give like voices to
the lgbt community within andoutside of paranormal and I just
think it's like it's so coolare they more paranormal or
horror?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I think they're kind of both.
Yeah, it's a little bit ofeverything, because I was
reading it and they do a lot ofhorror stuff, um, like with a
lot of like shows, movies andthings like that.
Their merch is very, very cute.
There's a shirt that I thinkI'm going to order actually
pretty soon.
It's very cute.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I know whoever is doing their merch is really
freaking good.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
But basically, when Zach says we're thinking about
going, we're actually reallywe're probably going.
We just have to make sure thatwe can like with our work and
our schedules, but we'reprobably going.
It's like a five hour drivefrom us like a road trip baby.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Let's do it.
But just in case you guys areinterested, we're going to have
that ad running about the event.
But they also are a nonprofit.
They run mostly by donation.
So check out their website,donate if you want to, if it
calls you, but you know, I thinkit's a great thing.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I think it's a really great thing and it also I have
goosebumps because I just lovestuff like this.
I think it always speaksvolumes to when you reach out to
companies or foundations orthings like this.
The email that we got back wasjust so wonderful and it's
really nice when you want towork with somebody that it's
just like a really great personand you can tell even through
(05:43):
email that they're just soamazing.
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I am too Okay, so we'll have to be there, you guys
, you, like I said, you'vealready heard that it's been
running a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, come with us All of our Kentucky.
Is it Kentucky?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Kentucky.
What Kentucky, kentucky,kentucky?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
sounds weird, but I like it.
Okay, do you have a questionfor me, hold?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
on.
I'm not done what?
Because I got my custom spiritboard finally.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Oh, you did.
Where did you get that?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
My mystical.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
My is M-I.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
My mystical forest, but it is a local to us.
Woodworker PS.
My dad, who also makes the mostamazing.
Just he's my dad too, dad toocreepy metaphysical wood.
Good yeah, no carrot claims him.
Okay, that's all I've got.
What else do you have?
Speaker 1 (06:33):
oh, that just.
I have one last thing, becausethis just made me um think of it
.
At the event our parents werethere, so they got to meet like
my mom got to meet your mom anddad.
And your mom is so cute.
She's like she tells my mom Icould actually cry.
It was so precious she goes.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Thank you so much for sharing your daughter and I was
like oh my god, like I actuallycould cry.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It was so cute, I totally missed that whole.
Thing because y'all that eventwas so much fun.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But Zach and I had no brains, we were listen.
It was our first time okay, butoh no, that was so sweet and I
just loved it and I had nobrains.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
We were Listen, it was our first time, ok but no,
that was so sweet and I justloved it.
And I was like, oh my God,they'll go get all teary eyed.
I said I'm like, you guys,don't do this to me.
It's our first event.
We're already emotional aboutit, and then y'all are going to
get up.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Before you get teary eyed, then let's open the.
I'll ask you a question At anypoint in your life, did you?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
ever want to be a pirate or Viking and take out to
the open seas.
So I've always wanted to be apirate.
My brother wants to be a Vikingand when he dies I have to give
him a Viking funeral, and Ihave a disease that I just found
out that's called Vikingdisease.
So I could either go either way, baby.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Okay, so you're hold on.
You're going to give him aViking funeral, but when I
wanted the my gay death at 30,nobody would give me a viking
funeral.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
No matter how much I begged bullshit, why would I do
what ignorant?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
continue on whatever, okay, so I do.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I have to pick one no , no, no, no, that's good, I
want to be a pirate.
I've always wanted to be apirate.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
What would be your biggest fear?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
If I was a Viking or a pirate or just in general.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
If you were a bike Viking?
If you were a Viking or apirate, what would be your
biggest fear about that life?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Is this a shipwreck?
No, oh, okay, um, I don't know.
Should this be obvious to me?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
No, that's okay.
I'm actually kind of glad it isshipwrecks technically, but
specific types Okay.
So ready to go.
Are we talking about Blackbeard?
Nope.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Stop guessing.
Okay, are you ready?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, okay.
Long before air travel waspossible and we had the
seafaring tech we do now, thefirst navigators took out to the
seas, which was known to betreacherous, unstable, dangerous
, even cara, okay.
However, for those brave enoughto set sail, there was the
promise of new lands, wealth andtrade.
Okay, but stories started tocome up, cara, time and time
(08:59):
again, the story of a monster inthe waters this is not where I
thought we were going whoparticularly like to latch on to
ships and their crew, draggingthem down to the murky depths.
Okay, often described as acolossal creature with massive
thrashing tentacles, sailorsthroughout history claimed it
(09:19):
would drag entire ships beneaththe waves, leaving behind only
splintered wood, terrifiedwhispers.
Its body so vast it wassometimes mistaken for an island
rising from the sea.
What the fuck are we talkingabout, kara?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Well, isn't it just called the Kraken?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
The Kraken.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Okay, I was like oh God, I didn't want to be wrong.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Okay, I'm so excited.
I am too, I will say, though itmight be a shorter episode, so
there's a little less on theKraken out there than I
anticipated, but we also mighttalk about how this one is
rooted in reality a little bit.
So let's start off with a story19th century France.
Well, in the waters near Franceat least.
(10:00):
OK 1861, the French Corvette,which is actually a type of ship
I learned.
Okay, so a Corvette is a ship,not a car, Named the Electon is
on its way to Cayenne, which isalso more than just a spice it's
an island.
I learned so much already.
Three sentences, oh my god, sonear the Tenerife Islands.
(10:22):
The ship itself is about 150feet long, it's made of wood and
it carries a crew of 62,captained by Frédéric Boyer oh,
I like that name.
I know French names are just sofun, frédéric.
On November 30th, the ship isnearing the island when the crew
member on lookout begins toshout a large body partly
(10:43):
submerged on the surface.
So the captain, having heardthe legend of the kraken, he
looks down and sees what appearsto be a massive creature, squid
like in nature.
He had heard of it and he alsoknew that nobody was able to
prove the existence of thekraken.
So he wanted to capture it toprove it to the world.
(11:03):
Oh, god, right, so, uh, he wasfearful at first, knowing that
they might be dragged below, butthe body never moved.
Oh, so he signals to the crew tofire muskets, large harpoons
and nets to ensnare the creature.
The bullets just kind ofbounced off its rubbery body.
That's so amazing, I know Iwish.
(11:26):
But what they were able to dowas kind of like get a net
around it and lasso and pull thething up onto the ship.
But as they pulled it it kindof pulled apart.
Oh, because it was so massiveand had so much weight to it and
was obviously unalive.
It kind of split as they werepulling it from the water, and
(11:46):
only the tip of the tailremained on board, and the rest
of the monster went rightbeneath the surface.
So this is, though, the firsttime the creature had actually
been snagged and became not justa creature of legend, but they
had a piece of it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Okay, are we 100% sure slash certain that it was
dead, or does it like regenerate, like once things get cut off
it?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
was dead.
Okay, because that's the wholething.
They were able to lasso it andshoot it and all that stuff,
because it was just not moving.
Okay, though the question getsasked is this a Kraken or
something else?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
They just got the tail.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Just the tail.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Okay, do we?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
have pictures?
Or are the kraken and somethingelse one of the same?
No, this was 1861, homie.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh yeah, no pictures.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Okay, I'll tell you.
You can ponder it.
We're going to talk about itlater.
Oh, okay, all right, let's kindof get into the origin of where
the legend came from, becauseeven in 1861 it was already like
legend, legend, okay.
So it goes all the way back tonorse mythology, and the oldest
references to kraken likecreatures appear in.
(12:54):
By the way, I am not easterneuropean, I'm gonna do my best.
Orvar order saga o rr-v-a-r,dash, o-d-e-o-d-d-r.
Okay, what are our odor?
That's what we're going with,because sounds better than odor
adore, yeah, okay, okay so thisis a book that came out in like
(13:14):
the 13th century.
It's a saga that describes twosea monsters one is the half
gufa, or sea mist, and the otheris the lingbacker, or the
leatherback.
Okay, so the half gufa iswidely considered to be like the
earliest version of a kraken,and they describe a beast so big
(13:36):
that, like sailors, wouldregularly mistake it for an
island.
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Wild.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Now remember a lot of these people sailors, fishermen
.
We know stories get exaggerated, but Well, they'd be drinking.
Right.
These sagas do say I mean, Iwould be too if I had to live on
the seas at that time.
But the sagas do say that thecreatures lived off of Norway,
Greenland and Iceland.
Okay, and they only surfacedrarely, but when they did they
(14:03):
brought about destructivewhirlpools and doom for any ship
that got too close.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Okay, Then we get the term Kraken right.
So this is thought to haveevolved from the word Krake,
which is referred to as anunhealthy animal or something
twisted and curled.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I like that.
It kind of makes me think oflike, like a, a witchy hand for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, but it kind of makes sense, though, if it's
saying it has tentacles, youknow those kind of curl.
They kind of like do weirdthings.
So that's like a very what.
What was the original word?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
basically kraken without an n krake krake.
So that would be, now like theGreek nomenclature, part of it,
right.
So we have the Norse, we havethe Greek and it kind of starts
to come together later in Norsemythology where tales of the
Kraken really start to emerge,as their stories include, like a
(14:58):
myriad of sea creatures thathaunted the minds of the
seafaring Vikings, that hauntedthe minds of the seafaring
Vikings.
So this is when it starts to.
They pull from the island, partof it, or looking as big as an
island, they pull from thewhirlpools, they kind of pull
from the Greek twisted creatureand that's where the stories of
(15:20):
this colossal squid-likecreature comes from that has the
ability to just pull entireships down under the water with
its tentacles, has the abilityto just pull entire ships down
under the water with itstentacles, okay.
So over time the legends ofthese beasts start to spread to
other Scandinavian countries andfishermen of all sorts are on
the watch for the beast.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The beast.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So how do we know about the Kraken?
Because a lot of this wasn'twritten histories, except for
these like really early books.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
This we kind of have to credit to Bishop Eric
Pantopidan Pidan.
Listen, I'm doing the best withthese names, okay.
P-o-n-t-o-p-i-d-d-a-n.
Pantopidan, pantopidan,pantopidan.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Nobody come for us.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
No, sorry, bishop, we're just going to refer to him
as Bishop.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Bishop.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
All right, so 1752.
This is when, like, the legendwent from being kind of like
passed down stories to moreformal records.
When Bishop Eric writes aboutthe creature in his work the
Natural History of Norway, sonow it's like legitimately in
history books.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Is anybody else picturing Bishop Eric like
Prince Eric?
Is anybody else picturingBishop Eric like Prince Eric?
Because I feel like it makessense, because then Ursula took
down the ship with her octopusstuff and he's Prince Eric.
It's like Bishop Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I see where you're going with this.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
That's how I'm going to envision my Bishop Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Okay, okay, as long as he's not peeing on anything.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
You're right.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay.
So he writes, though the Krakenwas round, flat and full of
arms, about a mile and a halfwide.
It continues.
When it descends it creates amassive whirlpool that could
suck down ships, but fishermensupposedly benefited from its
presence because all theseschools of fish would gather
near it.
It kind of drew in thefishermen to their death, not on
(17:02):
purpose, it was just they werechasing the fish, the fish were
chasing the Kraken.
Boom Circle of life, baby Right.
So he actually treats this aslike a legitimate, though really
seen like part of the marineecosystem.
Like he thinks this is not acreature of legend, like, hey,
this is real shit we have todeal with.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Which is smart, right ?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
no-transcript, you know, not many people survive it
and nobody was able to captureit, right.
So what I kind of want to dowas touch on some of, like, the
more famous sightings of it.
Okay, now, there's a lot, andmost of them were just like
super boring.
Oh my God, we saw this Krakenand they explain it.
So I tried to find some thatwere a little bit more in depth.
(18:01):
We saw this Kraken, right, butlike it's just like the stories
over the years are like oh yeah,we saw it.
Oh yeah, we saw it too.
A couple tentacles, right, whoaI.
I think it really like, trulyat its core, is sort of a
fisherman story that just getsembellished upon and embellished
upon at least through some ofthe people who tell it, but I'll
(18:23):
let you know my thought whenyou say I can perfect we're
gonna start, though, with one ofthe ones who tell it, but I'll
let you know my thought when yousay I can.
Perfect, we're going to start,though, with one of the ones
that showed up.
The story is in the Orvar Order, the saga from the 13th century
.
Ok, so the location of thesesightings like we said earlier,
a little bit off the coast ofNorway, iceland, greenland, so
what happened is the Håfgófa.
Basically, this is that thingthat's described as, the thing
(18:53):
that's as big as an island,right, and a lot of sailors
would start to catch fish nearthese random islands, and more
and more fishermen would gothere.
So sailors would mistakenly tryto dock on this island or near
it, and then the island wouldstart to shudder and move, and
then a foul smell would emitfrom it.
Oh, Then next, the sailorswould say that the entire school
of fish would disappear, as ifthey were just gulped by the
(19:17):
island.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So these are accounts of people that have survived.
Then when do we get thesestories?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
This story is in that saga, the orvar order.
Oh right, okay, so it was likea collection of stories.
This is where the legend wasreally born this is like how it
came about so it was.
People would be fishing nearthe island.
The island would start to move.
Oh shit, it just swallowed thefish.
Oh shit, now it's trying to uhswallow us and they'd come back
or they'd watch their buddyships get destroyed or eaten or
(19:48):
sucked down below okay so nottoo many like terrible, like
great details of this, but thesignificance of this story is
that it's really the foundationof the legend.
The interesting thing here,though, compared to some of the
other stories, is that itdoesn't really treat the beast
as like the aggressor right, butit's more that something that's
(20:09):
just like massive and lurkingand deadly if disturbed, which
is kind of contradictory to like, I feel, like the pop culture
things we see of like you'rejust merrily going along in your
boat and that's how.
That's how I live my life whatrandomly attacking people who
walk by you?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That disturbed me.
Don't disturb me.
I don't randomly attack you.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Especially before your caffeine in the morning.
Right.
Quick side note the last time Isaw you early in the morning,
you appeared at my door and saidI have things to do.
I'm going to lock myself in myroom.
Don't even come near me.
I'm like, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
No, first off, give more context, that was we were
getting ready for the event.
I had very bad anxiety and Isaid I need to do my hair and
makeup.
It's going to take me a whilebecause I'm going to be
self-conscious.
I just can't be bothered.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I just love it.
It was like so stern and I hadalready planned to just leave
you alone.
I know this.
I'm like doing my own thingalready.
I just had to let you know,because if I wouldn't have let
you know, I would have hadanxiety that you're just going
to come and interrupt me.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Okay, fair, all right , kraken.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
We're ready for story number two.
Kraken, kara, kara, kraken nomore, kurator Kara.
All right, so now this one ismore what you're looking for.
So this is a French navalencounter from the 1800s.
Our source is sail sailortestimony, but it is not
officially reported with a name.
Okay, the location this time isthe north atlantic ocean, and
(21:35):
this french naval vessel wasreportedly attacked by a giant
tentacled creature that was solarge that it, like, started to
grab the underside of its ship,and it was able to wrap its
tentacles all the way around tothe top of the ship's mast which
I feel like those are thepictures that you see.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Is that absolutely?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
this is like your typical.
This is in the 1800s.
Okay, a lot of this.
I don't have significant datesfor it and I was just curious so
I picked this story from thelike 1700s to the 1900s.
This story happens over and overand over again.
So the sailors claimed thatthey were trying to like hack at
the tentacles with their axes.
(22:14):
They were trying to freethemselves as the ends of it
were wrapping around theirankles.
But the reason we actually havethis story physically reported
is because they were able to doenough damage to him that all of
a sudden all the tentaclesreleased, pulled back under the
water and went beneath the wavesand just left them.
Now the crew was obviouslyshaken, but one of them ran to
(22:40):
the belly of the boat I can'tthink of what the underdecks are
called and was able to lookthrough a porthole and see the
beast as it was coming away, andhe kind of gave it that
squid-like description, morethan the island we've had from
the older legends.
Okay, he was able to get areally good look at the
tentacles and said that thethinnest of its arms were
(23:03):
thicker than any man's legs he'dever seen.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So, but that's the thinnest, so we know it's like.
Yeah so if you start to thinkabout that, let's say the
biggest legs you've ever seen.
Let's just use ArnoldSchwarzenegger, for example.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Right Like probably close to a dinner plate, but are
we talking about the thighs orthe?
What are these things called?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Your calves, your upper legs and lower.
That is a reference.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
If you know, if you know you know actually, if you
know comment yes, please, uh,because I will never not laugh
at that.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Okay, so the significance of this story
though.
Oh, that also so, as he wentdown below the deck and he saw
this right, some of them arestill wrapped on.
So, as the thing is pullingaway, it starts to pull the ship
pretty hard and just pulls itabsolutely sideways across the
water.
Ok, so significance here Whileofficially undocumented because
we don't know the names, this islike the story that becomes the
(24:02):
sailor legend.
This one's often kind ofreferred to as like one of the
clearest Kraken attack stories.
Now, some have argued that itsounds like an actual creature,
but we're going to, we're goingto touch base on that again
later.
OK, so I did try really, reallyhard to find a good Reddit story
(24:25):
.
There's almost none.
Like most people don't haverecent run-ins.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I was just scouring Reddit, literally right now, as
you were telling me you werelooking for Kraken encounters.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Like you cannot find modern day Kraken ones.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
No, it's all like how do you hunt one?
What do you do if you encounterone?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
There were so much less like encounter stories than
I thought, but in 2003, okay,the antarctic kraken no internet
legend story was born, so thiscomes from internet forums and
conspiracy websites,unfortunately, but I think it's
worth noting.
Okay, so it's near antarcticaand this viral story starts to
(25:07):
go around, along with a grainyvideo that claimed to show that
during a deep sea expedition,this enormous, unidentified
creature was found swimmingbeneath the ice, and the video
showed what looked like immensearms behind it.
People were going on and onlike okay, this is like actually
a kraken video.
That's where it gets us in theantarctic kraken, right?
(25:29):
Okay, a lot of people don'tthink this was a hoax, and then,
of course, anytime we'regetting to conspiracy, well it's
, it's.
They want you to think it's ahoax because it's actually a
cover-up by the oceanicresearchers.
So this one's just like hotlydebated.
So, anyways, though, a lot ofpeople were saying that this one
in the video, like if they wereable to describe how big it was
(25:50):
your favorite thing, that itwould be over 75 feet across,
not long across, and about threetimes as long, oh, and then it
would cause disturbances in thewater that were several hundred
feet wide.
Wow, it's a suspect story, butits significance and the reason
(26:10):
why we're talking about this oneis because it was, like like we
said earlier, the only modernreally like cryptid phenomena
sighting of this.
But because it's Antarctica,people also try to say it was
either a megalodon or deep seaalien.
So take that one with a grainof salt as you will.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Okay, I'm just looking up how big the biggest
whale is, because you, um, okay,so the blue whale is the
largest animal on earth, capableof reaching lengths up to 100
feet and weighing 200 tons, andyou said this was 75 feet 225
(26:50):
feet long.
What was that?
Oh, what did I just say?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
75 feet wide and I said three times as long.
I was doing the head math foryou.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Okay, so, so it's pretty massive.
Yeah, the biggest whale islengthwise 100 feet.
I can't even comprehend that.
Yeah, no, but then double that.
That's crazy.
Now the thing is.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
This one has a high chance of being a fake, but I
still think it's cool to havelike the modern sighting now.
So we had a lot of like 1800sand before ones we had a more
recent one.
Here's one from the 1930s thatI thought was pretty, pretty
decent.
This story comes off of thecoast of Newfoundland, canada,
which would be about directlyacross the ocean from, like
(27:31):
Norway, greenland, where thestory originated, and this group
of fishermen described beingfollowed by a massive tentacled
creature.
Oh, some of the boats wereactually reported to have been
violently rocked or pulled.
At first they couldn't see fromwhat, and then they would start
to see the tentacles likecreeping up their boat, oh, and
(27:52):
then they noticed these likelarge shadows just beneath the
surface of the water.
Oh, that's creepy.
Few said that they saw somelong, snake-like arms reach
above the water trying to grabthe boats.
Okay, reach above the watertrying to grab the boats.
Okay.
Now, these stories aresignificant because one it's
(28:13):
actually like, written.
It's not handed down, it's not,oh, this one-off, but we're not
giving our names.
These were actually pretty wellrespected fishermen and they
got away and they, they got awayokay.
plus, it emerged during a timewhen certain carcasses were
washing ashore.
Hmm, so this is kind of thestory that started to fuel the
(28:36):
Kraken fears into the 20thcentury, because those carcasses
that were coming up on theshore actually looked like very,
very large squids.
Yeah were coming up on the shoreactually looked like very, very
large squids, yeah.
So the mention of the giantsquid really kind of leads us
into the next bit, where I wantto.
I've teased the fact that therethere might be some rooted in
reality portions to the krakenstory.
(28:58):
But before we do that, whereare you at?
What are your thoughts?
I have a question, feels on thecrack.
Oh, you have a question, foryou're supposed to do that on
your episode that you've beenfailing at okay, so we said
1930s, right?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
was this last?
Do we know?
Based off of not, and if youdidn't look into this is fine,
not based off the crack and allthat.
Do we know why they think allof these carcasses were being
washed up?
Speaker 2 (29:23):
yeah, um, not so much the why, but we're, we're gonna
get into that a bit okay, whatdid you ask me, though, what my
thoughts were on this.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, just what your thoughts are on kraken's sofa
here's the thing there are somany, I was gonna say,
undiagnosed.
There are so many undiscoveredthings, creatures lurking in the
deep blue sea, deep dark, it'snot even blue down there no, no,
there's just no light there'sjust no way for me to, matter of
(29:54):
factly, be like yeah, no, thisdidn't exist.
Here's the thing.
If we're saying like a krakenis a cryptid which I think they
technically would land in, likethey could fall into cryptid
territory, but also, I thinkmost people think that they're a
cryptid.
Yeah, and I know that there'sdebates versus it being a
cryptid or an animal.
I, first off, don't really givea shit.
(30:15):
If it's a cryptid or an animal,what the fuck does it matter?
Because, to be completelyhonest, cryptids really could be
animals, depending on whichcryptid I think most cryptids
right.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
If any of the cryptids that we talked about do
exist, they are real animals.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
We just haven't found them exactly, and I think you
and I have talked about that acouple times for different
things, so I don't really carewhich one it lands into.
But I do know that there'sheavily, heavily debated things
on, like whether it's this orthat, and people go back and
forth on that.
I don't really care about thatmuch.
I definitely it's real, do Ithink it's the extent of maybe
some of these stories large wise, I don't know.
(30:50):
But then again, maybe becausewhy not look at dinosaur bones
and how big they were way backin the day.
So is it?
Is it that it was that large?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Perfect, I'm going to stop you because you you're
getting where you just said.
I'm not going to get into thedebate, I really don't care.
I'm going to make you careabout it because we're going to
talk about that whole debate,but we're going exactly where
you're stating.
So I don't mean to cut you off,but it was perfectly done.
Obviously, I think we can allsee where this is going.
Right, we mentioned the giantsquid, but actual science have
(31:23):
found and identified some realcreatures that could be the
culprits here, both being thegiant squid and its larger
brother, the colossal squid.
Just like you had literallyasked this, this is perfect.
About the same time as theFrench vessel story that we were
talking about, those washed upcarcasses started showing on
beaches.
(31:43):
So that story was 1930.
They started really about 1860and all of a sudden, these like
large, large squids now not asbig as the story start to show.
Now is it that they showed upon beaches or we just started
looking for them?
I don't know, but one of thefirst ones to really dig their
(32:04):
hands into it was a Danishzoologist named Jefeth
Steenstrup these names who namedit the Architeethis d'Or, or
the giant squid.
So parts of seemingly hugesquids, never the full thing,
but the tentacles and the tailsare falling onto beaches,
(32:25):
particularly in Newfoundland andIceland and Scandinavian
countries where the legend ofthe Kraken started.
Late 1800s to the 1900s, westart to get more and more kind
of evidence of these thingsbeing real, because then a full
specimen actually does wash upon a beach.
They're able to see the entirething.
(32:47):
Okay, it's not half eaten, it'snot just the tail, and this is
now 1873.
And scientists are like, okay,we got to take this a little bit
more seriously.
So the full specimen comes upin Newfoundland and local
Reverend Movis Harvey kept itdraped in his bathtub and kept
(33:07):
it moist so that scientistscould study it, which I think
that's so funny.
It's like a preacher is likeyeah, I'm going to take it home
and put it in my bathtub.
And you know, here's the thingthis can't quite be the creature
of our legend if it can fit ina preacher's bathtub Right,
bathtub right.
But what it does prove is thatin the ocean there are squid
(33:27):
much larger than we previouslythought them, capable of growing
.
Studies go on about these guysfor over 100 years in the 2000s
actually, we start to get way,way, way more answers.
So some marine researchers weredoing a deep sea expedition.
They were using cameras to try,were using cameras and bait to
(33:49):
try to pull out these largersquid, and they tried for
decades.
They had no luck.
But in 2004, japanesescientists Tsunami Kubadera and
Kyoichi Imori captured the firstphotos of a live giant squid in
the wild at 3 000 feet deep.
Okay, in 2006 they captured thefirst video of one because it
(34:13):
was wounded and had come up tothe surface.
So then they start to get morephotos and videos as they learn,
kind of like how they live andwhere they live, and it turns
out like the ocean is actuallyreally really full of these
things.
They're just really deep andright which makes sense now
giant squid, however, can onlyget up to about 43 feet long and
(34:35):
600 pounds yeah, I was justgonna say.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I just looked up colossal squid and it said like
23 feet.
That doesn't make sense to methat's a.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
You have to be looking at giant squid because
colossals get even bigger.
Uh, so colossal squid, forgiant is 43 feet, but then
you're getting ahead of it,right?
So the next discovery was madein 2007.
Colossal squid enters the chat.
Um, and this thing is heavierand larger.
This one, the first bits of it,were actually found in 1925,
(35:04):
where they found two tentacleclubs in a sperm whale's stomach
.
Oh, then in 2007, the firstfull adult specialman was
captured alive and frozen by aNew Zealand fishing crew.
Again, same origin of ourlegend.
Now, this one was and here'swhere I think you might be
looking at stats differently.
And here's where I think youmight be looking at stats
(35:26):
differently Its body was 10 feetlong, but with all of its arms
and tentacles it was well over50 feet, and this one weighs
1,000 pounds.
So now we have at least a43-foot, really skinny, kind of
tiny one at 600 pounds, and thenone just over 50 feet at right,
about twice the weight.
These are literally the largestinvertebrate that were ever
(35:48):
discovered.
They're horrifying yeahabsolutely, absolutely
horrifying.
So their suckers are just thesegiant teeth, like razor sharp
suckers.
They have a giant beak insteadof a mouth that can just like
crush its prey.
They're basically, like youknow how strong octopus are
(36:11):
Octopi, octopi, like it's thatsame level of strength, and
these things are huge.
The weird thing is where youwere talking about whales
earlier.
Whales actually helped usdiscover them, because that's
how we found where to video andshoot them, because sperm whales
that were coming to the surface.
They were trailing whale ships,and people were trailing the
(36:34):
whales, trailing ships, toprotect them from being whaled
and hunted.
They would start to tag thewhales, but they would notice
that they'd have these massivecircular scars up to 18 inches
in diameter.
Okay, that were consistent thatwe'd see on smaller wildlife
that had been attacked by squid.
(36:55):
So now we know like these squidare attacking things way larger
than them, right, right, sothese whales, and some of them,
succumb to their injuries fromit.
So I couldn't even imagine howthe squid with his beak would
eat a whale, but we do know thatthey attack things larger than
themselves.
Right now.
We have, though, is proof thatat least two types of squid
(37:17):
exist that are way bigger thanwe ever thought.
They attack things much largerthan themselves and is like the
ocean's apex predator.
So with that and I think thisis sort of where you were going
earlier is the kraken legend,lore, not existent?
Is it cryptid or is it ananimal we haven't discovered yet
(37:40):
?
I kind of tend to think like ifwe know a couple larger squid
exist and we just startedfinding them within the last 20
years and we've only explored somuch of the ocean, who is to
say that this giant kraken oflore didn't exist and maybe has
died off or still exists andit's just way down deep in there
?
Speaker 1 (38:01):
right.
But I guess in my head, itdoesn't matter if we categorize
it as real or a cryptid, becauseto me cryptids are real.
They're technicallyundiscovered, right?
Animals?
Yeah, so that's why I'm saying,that's why I say I don't care
which way, because it's likewhatever.
I believe that, yeah, it'sdefinitely deep, deep down there
.
Maybe it ain't as big as itused to be, but it's definitely
(38:22):
down there and it's large.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Other thing I kind of think too is maybe they were
just talking about these kind ofsquid and it's like the typical
fisherman story where it's justlike as the hand on the lure
grows and grows.
Because I don't I don'thonestly think I personally
believe in the original story ofit like this thing that's big
enough to be a mile wide island.
I just don't see the worldbeing able to support something
(38:46):
that large.
What is so funny about that?
I just don't see the world beingable to support something that
large, no, like literally, froman ecological standpoint, if
there's multiple of these thingsover a mile large there
probably isn't schools of fishin the ocean like that.
Our planet can't sustain those.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Right, but there probably isn't that many of them
.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I don't know.
I feel like by now though, likeif they still existed, we would
hedge.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
I just don't think that something that well, that's
what I'm saying it probablycould have existed, but just
like dinosaurs, they don't existno more.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
They could have existed that largely, and then
evolution they've Okay, let mesay this I don't think something
existed that big in the 13thcentury alongside human beings.
That's more where I'm goingwith it, of it being exaggerated
.
So I don't know when are you atwith it?
Like I, I kind of think thatthe Kraken was just a bigger
(39:45):
squid than we've been able torecord yet.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Yeah, no, I 100% agree that it's definitely was
real and it was obviously justfabricated to the length or the
size of it.
Or, yeah, it just it was thatlarge and there just wasn't that
many.
And now they're not.
But, like, even if you look ata squid now next to a human,
(40:08):
like these giant squids, next tolike a human size, it's very
easy for your brain to see it inreal life and exaggerate it.
Yeah, because even if you, ifyou and I were to see a whale,
like a real huge ass, fuckingwhale, the biggest whale you
would, your brain wouldn't evenknow how to compute the size of
(40:28):
it.
So it would be so easy for usto say that it was 300 feet long
or whatever.
And it's really only what did Isay?
100 or something.
So it's like, yeah, it wasprobably we're just bad,
exaggerated, and we've gone overthis over and over again in all
these episodes when people sizethings and it's like, how do
you know how big that was?
By looking at you just.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
I do tend to think, though, with as many stories as
we have, like there had to besomething at least big enough to
attack these ships whoa right?
Speaker 1 (40:56):
no, no, I'm not saying that, I'm not
discrediting that.
Oh no, large as hell.
But again, if you're in a panicmode and you're seeing a
creature that is five timeslarger than you are and it's
attacking your ship down, likeyeah, in your brain, I just feel
like you calculate it bigger.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Okay, total side note , but talking about, like,
calculating things bigger thanthey are, have you been
following your dick?
Yeah, have you been followingmy dick?
No, first of all, fuck you uh.
Second, though, the the storyof the angler fish that recently
came to the surface no, but Ikind of know about it because
everyone's talking about anglerfishes did you see how small it?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
actually is.
Oh yeah, no, I'm sorry I didn'tI, but I knew that they were
that small well, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I always assumed I, I think I like got stuck on like
the finding nemo where, like aclown fish could just swim right
inside the anglerfish's mouth.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
This thing is like palm sized yeah, everybody
thought that they were so large.
You know everyone's obsessedwith little anglerfishes.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
They are, so I think they're cute I mean, I wouldn't
be mad if I had one in anaquarium.
Okay, so end of the side note.
I kind of lied to you earlier.
I do have a little bit of areddit story now.
I had to dig through posts andposts and posts.
I don't know if it's totallycracking, but it is still
(42:14):
fucking weird.
So okay let's hear it.
This is a story from winderpotts and he says you know how
long ago um, it was a coupleyears ago and that it was posted
well, oh that it was posted.
So it starts off with.
This incident happened in march1962.
Oh, thank you.
(42:35):
Very clear for you, goodquestion.
Uh, four boys were visiting asunken ship and only one, named
Brian McCleary, survived.
The bodies of one of the otherboys, brad Rice, washed ashore,
but there was never any sign ofthe other two teenagers.
Mccleary was almost dead whenhe was found and it was
(42:56):
hallucinating.
He claimed something resemblinga sea serpent with many arms
had eaten his friends oh he wasprobably mistaken.
No, but in that location, bodiesalways wash ashore and it's
strange that there was never anysigns of his two companions, so
like people who what that'ssaying is people who died like
(43:17):
drowning or whatever theirbodies wash up, so something had
to have taken them.
Did we try to look up thisstory?
Is it legit?
I didn't look it up more thanthat, honestly, but that was
literally the only Reddit storyI could find that may have been
a first-hand Kraken encounter.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
What was his name?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Brian McCleary.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
He's a rugby player in new zealand.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I I feel like brian mccleary is a pretty common
freaking name.
Uh, so yeah, I mean, that'sreally it.
The stories I went over are themost documented ones.
Not many details, but I thinkit's a mixture of legend being
handed down fishermen's storyand real creatures that possibly
we just haven't discovered yet.
So I don't know.
(44:07):
I think the kraken isabsolutely real and I think it's
not like she real so manycryptids have like a mystical
thing about them, right like thechupacabra sucks out all the
blood and the mothman has theglowing eyes, and this is just
like the exact description ofcreatures we know exist, just
way freaking bigger.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Yeah, that's true too , but also it's just like leave
it be and it'll leave you be,and it's kind of like a lot of
things.
Just stop fucking with them.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
So on that note I ask you again would you still be a
pirate or a viking?
Yeah, what if you get crackened, though?
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Here's the thing I think I could befriend the
cracken.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
You can't just befriend every cryptid, kara.
Well, I can.
I can't wait to one day be theperson who has to tell them what
to put on your tombstone.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Oh yeah, if you can stop a burglary in that shirt, I
can befriend whatever cryptid Iwant.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Okay, you know what the funny thing is is only our
patrons are going to get thatouttake from this episode, so
they get in on the joke.
But I almost stopped crimetoday until Kara shamed me out
of it.
The blinking light has stopped,though, so the robbery already
happened.
The robbery is done and that'sthe story of the Kraken.
There we go.
Oh, I bet it was a Krakenbreaking in next door.
(45:23):
Okay, I'll just tell her.
For right before we startedrecording I don't know what it
was, but this blinking light wasgoing on next door and I was
telling Kara we couldn't recordyet because I had to go stop
robbery because it looks like analarm.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
And she shamed me and told me I couldn't stop.
No, you asked me.
You said do you think I couldstop a robbery?
And I said no.
And then he got upset and Isaid how do you think you're
gonna stop a robbery?
And then he just I said in thatshirt how you gonna stop a
robbery?
Speaker 2 (45:49):
it's a fun shirt they'd be like those of you if
you didn't see the clips.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
It's a very loud alien it definitely gives me
like Cartoon Network, oldCartoon Network.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Hanna-Barbera.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
No, what's the Rocky Rocko's Modern Life?
Something like that?
Oh yeah, yeah, Vibes likesomething All right.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Let's get out of here .
Okay, emoji for this episode aboat and an octopus or a squid I
think there's a squid.
I think there's a squid, oneSquid and a boat.
That's what I want, okay, okay.
So, like we asked you, uh, ifyou get the upper legs reference
, write in and let us know.
But also, if you have stories,write in or call in.
(46:28):
All the information for that isbelow in the show notes.
We've got almost enough foranother bonus episode for y'all.
Uh, what else do these finefolks need to do while we kick
them out and close up the shop?
Speaker 1 (46:38):
I had something in my head and then you said the
upper legs thing and it took meout again.
Oh shit, I don't know, It'llcome to me way too late.
Oh, what I was going to say isyeah, we do have a Patreon.
If you don't know that, we havea Patreon.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Hey, get some Monday motivation.
You get some behind the scenesepisodes a whole day early.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
You don't have to.
You can be on the free tier toget Zach's Monday motivation.
You don't have to pay any of us, you just have to go and follow
us on Patreon.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Absolutely.
Just want to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Okay, that's really all I need from you guys is love
and support, always, always.
Thank you, tell Kara she'spretty support, always, always.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Thank you, tell Kara, she's pretty we haven't said
that one in a minute.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
Oh, my cop says hello gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Oh okay, she told herself she's pretty, she
doesn't need you anymore.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Shout out to.
I cannot remember who it is,but I don't know who it is, but
I don't remember your name.
I'm sorry, but you commented onsomething like a week ago that
said, Kara, you're so pretty,and I was like I'm like yo, Some
people listen.
That's somebody that is likeprobably backlogged because I
haven't said that in a long timeit's been a hot minute.
Thanks, girl.
Okay, anyway, we appreciate you, Love you.
(47:46):
The most important thing youcan do for us is to creep a real
yard balls.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Goodbye, bye, we'll be right back.
(48:25):
Outro Music.
I want to dance with the mothman At the IA shop,
bathed in the moonlight At theIA shop.
Creep through the graveyard Tothe IA shop.
The door's always open At theIA shop.
(00:29):
Welcome back to the Oddity Shop, you oddballs.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
This is the podcast where we tell you creepy, odd,
weird, strange and bizarrestories, sometimes with cryptids
and monsters, sometimes with abunch of other stuff that you
know we just really like fromaround the globe.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
I'm your curator, Kara.
This is your curator, Zachary.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
And obviously curator Kara has no patience for my
shenanigans today.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
No, you were going too long.
How are you?
I thought you were going totake my line.
I'm good.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Oh no, I took your line.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Oh no, you took my line.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I'm doing good.
I feel like I've had a reallyproductive week and I've been
waking up early every day andI've been having a lot of
caffeine because I finallyfigured out how to use Julia's
bean grinder, so I no longerhave to wait for her for coffee.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Wow, it only took you how long.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Long enough.
Let's just say that Two years.
Well, it took me a long time toeven figure out that she was
grinding beans.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
So All right, so good job.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Thank you, thank you you did something.
What's new in your life?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
My back hurts so bad, I have blisters all over my
hands and every muscle in mybody aches because I did so much
yard work because I had off.
Because I did so much yard work, because I had off, I haven't
even really talked to you.
I had off Monday, tuesday.
Why are we the same person?
We had those two 80.
Oh yeah, we have blisterseverywhere we had blisters in
the same spot from the raking.
Two days that were like 80degrees, so all day what I did
(01:57):
was like yard work and plantingflowers and mulch.
If anyone has mulch you knowthat, like every year, you have
to turn the mulch and I have avery big yard with a lot of
mulch and I did all by myselfwhat color mulch do you do?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
black, I do the same and I hate that, even if, like
you, had a year where a lot ofit retained, it loses so much
color like you have to redo, nomatter what color you have to do
every year.
It's so stupid.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I almost bought the rubber mulch this year, but you,
I think, should have, becauseyou don't have a lot.
So it's nice, we priced it out.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Oh, I couldn't even imagine.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
I couldn't afford it, for how much mulch I have.
So anyway, that's that.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
That's honestly the first thing on my list to talk
about, too, is my back hurts andeverything from yard work but
this weather is just bringing meback to life Like I'm through
the worst of the allergy part ofit now.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yeah, me too.
Me too, I don't feel as foggy.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh my God, two weeks ago was so bad Like I got like a
legit head cold and I know it'sfrom everything blooming.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, it's crazy.
You and I were like down for acouple of days.
This is the first time we'rerecording since our event.
Technically, we had an event.
It was great.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
It was great.
It was really fun, real quick.
Before we go into the event,though, in the yard work, your
husband will be so proud of me.
Okay, I on that front area thathas been needing grass redone
for years, I turned over, addedsoil, aerated, overseeded and
fertilized, and I've been wakingup early every morning watering
it's watered.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Good job, that's awesome it makes such a
difference.
It's gonna look.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I know I feel bad for the pollinators though I know,
I know okay, but the event soyeah, guys, um we had an event
it was so much fun hanging outwith everyone, like we met a
bunch of new people we got tohang out with a bunch of friends
already but yeah, no, we andeveryone had the same consensus,
which I think you and I couldagree we need to do more oh, and
(03:44):
I finally got to meet danny.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
yay, I was very, very excited about that part.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, it only took like three years.
I still can't believe that'sthe first time you guys met.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I know you forgot I know, Like even when I was like,
wait, I need to hug Danny.
I've never met Danny.
You're like, oh my God, Iforgot, you always forget.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Well, now you don't have to, because we did you met,
so we'll go back to meforgetting and it'll be
justified, okay.
Speaking of the event, and bythe time this episode comes out,
you probably have already heardthe new ad that's coming, but
I've got to talk about.
So there's an event that youand I are considering going to
because we found the coolestfucking paranormal group of all
(04:20):
time.
It is called haunters againsthate, which is a super pro lgbt
paranormal group and they'retrying to give like voices to
the lgbt community within andoutside of paranormal and I just
think it's like it's so coolare they more paranormal or
horror?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
I think they're kind of both.
Yeah, it's a little bit ofeverything, because I was
reading it and they do a lot ofhorror stuff, um, like with a
lot of like shows, movies andthings like that.
Their merch is very, very cute.
There's a shirt that I thinkI'm going to order actually
pretty soon.
It's very cute.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
I know whoever is doing their merch is really
freaking good.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
But basically, when Zach says we're thinking about
going, we're actually reallywe're probably going.
We just have to make sure thatwe can like with our work and
our schedules, but we'reprobably going.
It's like a five hour drivefrom us like a road trip baby.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Let's do it.
But just in case you guys areinterested, we're going to have
that ad running about the event.
But they also are a nonprofit.
They run mostly by donation.
So check out their website,donate if you want to, if it
calls you, but you know, I thinkit's a great thing.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I think it's a really great thing and it also I have
goosebumps because I just lovestuff like this.
I think it always speaksvolumes to when you reach out to
companies or foundations orthings like this.
The email that we got back wasjust so wonderful and it's
really nice when you want towork with somebody that it's
just like a really great personand you can tell even through
(05:43):
email that they're just soamazing.
I'm very excited.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I am too Okay, so we'll have to be there, you guys
, you, like I said, you'vealready heard that it's been
running a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Yes, come with us All of our Kentucky.
Is it Kentucky?
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Kentucky.
What Kentucky, kentucky,kentucky?
Speaker 1 (05:59):
sounds weird, but I like it.
Okay, do you have a questionfor me, hold?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
on.
I'm not done what?
Because I got my custom spiritboard finally.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
Oh, you did.
Where did you get that?
Speaker 2 (06:11):
My mystical.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
My is M-I.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
My mystical forest, but it is a local to us.
Woodworker PS.
My dad, who also makes the mostamazing.
Just he's my dad too, dad toocreepy metaphysical wood.
Good yeah, no carrot claims him.
Okay, that's all I've got.
What else do you have?
Speaker 1 (06:33):
oh, that just.
I have one last thing, becausethis just made me um think of it
.
At the event our parents werethere, so they got to meet like
my mom got to meet your mom anddad.
And your mom is so cute.
She's like she tells my mom Icould actually cry.
It was so precious she goes.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Thank you so much for sharing your daughter and I was
like oh my god, like I actuallycould cry.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
It was so cute, I totally missed that whole.
Thing because y'all that eventwas so much fun.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
But Zach and I had no brains, we were listen.
It was our first time okay, butoh no, that was so sweet and I
just loved it and I had nobrains.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
We were Listen, it was our first time, ok but no,
that was so sweet and I justloved it.
And I was like, oh my God,they'll go get all teary eyed.
I said I'm like, you guys,don't do this to me.
It's our first event.
We're already emotional aboutit, and then y'all are going to
get up.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Before you get teary eyed, then let's open the.
I'll ask you a question At anypoint in your life, did you?
Speaker 1 (07:29):
ever want to be a pirate or Viking and take out to
the open seas.
So I've always wanted to be apirate.
My brother wants to be a Vikingand when he dies I have to give
him a Viking funeral, and Ihave a disease that I just found
out that's called Vikingdisease.
So I could either go either way, baby.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Okay, so you're hold on.
You're going to give him aViking funeral, but when I
wanted the my gay death at 30,nobody would give me a viking
funeral.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
No matter how much I begged bullshit, why would I do
what ignorant?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
continue on whatever, okay, so I do.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
I have to pick one no , no, no, no, that's good, I
want to be a pirate.
I've always wanted to be apirate.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
What would be your biggest fear?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
If I was a Viking or a pirate or just in general.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
If you were a bike Viking?
If you were a Viking or apirate, what would be your
biggest fear about that life?
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Is this a shipwreck?
No, oh, okay, um, I don't know.
Should this be obvious to me?
Speaker 2 (08:21):
No, that's okay.
I'm actually kind of glad it isshipwrecks technically, but
specific types Okay.
So ready to go.
Are we talking about Blackbeard?
Nope.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Stop guessing.
Okay, are you ready?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, okay.
Long before air travel waspossible and we had the
seafaring tech we do now, thefirst navigators took out to the
seas, which was known to betreacherous, unstable, dangerous
, even cara, okay.
However, for those brave enoughto set sail, there was the
promise of new lands, wealth andtrade.
Okay, but stories started tocome up, cara, time and time
(08:59):
again, the story of a monster inthe waters this is not where I
thought we were going whoparticularly like to latch on to
ships and their crew, draggingthem down to the murky depths.
Okay, often described as acolossal creature with massive
thrashing tentacles, sailorsthroughout history claimed it
(09:19):
would drag entire ships beneaththe waves, leaving behind only
splintered wood, terrifiedwhispers.
Its body so vast it wassometimes mistaken for an island
rising from the sea.
What the fuck are we talkingabout, kara?
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Well, isn't it just called the Kraken?
Speaker 2 (09:34):
The Kraken.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Okay, I was like oh God, I didn't want to be wrong.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Okay, I'm so excited.
I am too, I will say, though itmight be a shorter episode, so
there's a little less on theKraken out there than I
anticipated, but we also mighttalk about how this one is
rooted in reality a little bit.
So let's start off with a story19th century France.
Well, in the waters near Franceat least.
(10:00):
OK 1861, the French Corvette,which is actually a type of ship
I learned.
Okay, so a Corvette is a ship,not a car, Named the Electon is
on its way to Cayenne, which isalso more than just a spice it's
an island.
I learned so much already.
Three sentences, oh my god, sonear the Tenerife Islands.
(10:22):
The ship itself is about 150feet long, it's made of wood and
it carries a crew of 62,captained by Frédéric Boyer oh,
I like that name.
I know French names are just sofun, frédéric.
On November 30th, the ship isnearing the island when the crew
member on lookout begins toshout a large body partly
(10:43):
submerged on the surface.
So the captain, having heardthe legend of the kraken, he
looks down and sees what appearsto be a massive creature, squid
like in nature.
He had heard of it and he alsoknew that nobody was able to
prove the existence of thekraken.
So he wanted to capture it toprove it to the world.
(11:03):
Oh, god, right, so, uh, he wasfearful at first, knowing that
they might be dragged below, butthe body never moved.
Oh, so he signals to the crew tofire muskets, large harpoons
and nets to ensnare the creature.
The bullets just kind ofbounced off its rubbery body.
That's so amazing, I know Iwish.
(11:26):
But what they were able to dowas kind of like get a net
around it and lasso and pull thething up onto the ship.
But as they pulled it it kindof pulled apart.
Oh, because it was so massiveand had so much weight to it and
was obviously unalive.
It kind of split as they werepulling it from the water, and
(11:46):
only the tip of the tailremained on board, and the rest
of the monster went rightbeneath the surface.
So this is, though, the firsttime the creature had actually
been snagged and became not justa creature of legend, but they
had a piece of it.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Okay, are we 100% sure slash certain that it was
dead, or does it like regenerate, like once things get cut off
it?
Speaker 2 (12:11):
was dead.
Okay, because that's the wholething.
They were able to lasso it andshoot it and all that stuff,
because it was just not moving.
Okay, though the question getsasked is this a Kraken or
something else?
Speaker 1 (12:22):
They just got the tail.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
Just the tail.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Okay, do we?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
have pictures?
Or are the kraken and somethingelse one of the same?
No, this was 1861, homie.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Oh yeah, no pictures.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
Okay, I'll tell you.
You can ponder it.
We're going to talk about itlater.
Oh, okay, all right, let's kindof get into the origin of where
the legend came from, becauseeven in 1861 it was already like
legend, legend, okay.
So it goes all the way back tonorse mythology, and the oldest
references to kraken likecreatures appear in.
(12:54):
By the way, I am not easterneuropean, I'm gonna do my best.
Orvar order saga o rr-v-a-r,dash, o-d-e-o-d-d-r.
Okay, what are our odor?
That's what we're going with,because sounds better than odor
adore, yeah, okay, okay so thisis a book that came out in like
(13:14):
the 13th century.
It's a saga that describes twosea monsters one is the half
gufa, or sea mist, and the otheris the lingbacker, or the
leatherback.
Okay, so the half gufa iswidely considered to be like the
earliest version of a kraken,and they describe a beast so big
(13:36):
that, like sailors, wouldregularly mistake it for an
island.
That's wild.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Wild.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Now remember a lot of these people sailors, fishermen
.
We know stories get exaggerated, but Well, they'd be drinking.
Right.
These sagas do say I mean, Iwould be too if I had to live on
the seas at that time.
But the sagas do say that thecreatures lived off of Norway,
Greenland and Iceland.
Okay, and they only surfacedrarely, but when they did they
(14:03):
brought about destructivewhirlpools and doom for any ship
that got too close.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Okay, Then we get the term Kraken right.
So this is thought to haveevolved from the word Krake,
which is referred to as anunhealthy animal or something
twisted and curled.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
I like that.
It kind of makes me think oflike, like a, a witchy hand for
some reason.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
Yeah, but it kind of makes sense, though, if it's
saying it has tentacles, youknow those kind of curl.
They kind of like do weirdthings.
So that's like a very what.
What was the original word?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
basically kraken without an n krake krake.
So that would be, now like theGreek nomenclature, part of it,
right.
So we have the Norse, we havethe Greek and it kind of starts
to come together later in Norsemythology where tales of the
Kraken really start to emerge,as their stories include, like a
(14:58):
myriad of sea creatures thathaunted the minds of the
seafaring Vikings, that hauntedthe minds of the seafaring
Vikings.
So this is when it starts to.
They pull from the island, partof it, or looking as big as an
island, they pull from thewhirlpools, they kind of pull
from the Greek twisted creatureand that's where the stories of
(15:20):
this colossal squid-likecreature comes from that has the
ability to just pull entireships down under the water with
its tentacles, has the abilityto just pull entire ships down
under the water with itstentacles, okay.
So over time the legends ofthese beasts start to spread to
other Scandinavian countries andfishermen of all sorts are on
the watch for the beast.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
The beast.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
So how do we know about the Kraken?
Because a lot of this wasn'twritten histories, except for
these like really early books.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
This we kind of have to credit to Bishop Eric
Pantopidan Pidan.
Listen, I'm doing the best withthese names, okay.
P-o-n-t-o-p-i-d-d-a-n.
Pantopidan, pantopidan,pantopidan.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Nobody come for us.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
No, sorry, bishop, we're just going to refer to him
as Bishop.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Bishop.
Speaker 2 (16:05):
All right, so 1752.
This is when, like, the legendwent from being kind of like
passed down stories to moreformal records.
When Bishop Eric writes aboutthe creature in his work the
Natural History of Norway, sonow it's like legitimately in
history books.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Is anybody else picturing Bishop Eric like
Prince Eric?
Is anybody else picturingBishop Eric like Prince Eric?
Because I feel like it makessense, because then Ursula took
down the ship with her octopusstuff and he's Prince Eric.
It's like Bishop Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:31):
I see where you're going with this.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
That's how I'm going to envision my Bishop Eric.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Okay, okay, as long as he's not peeing on anything.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
You're right.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
Okay.
So he writes, though the Krakenwas round, flat and full of
arms, about a mile and a halfwide.
It continues.
When it descends it creates amassive whirlpool that could
suck down ships, but fishermensupposedly benefited from its
presence because all theseschools of fish would gather
near it.
It kind of drew in thefishermen to their death, not on
(17:02):
purpose, it was just they werechasing the fish, the fish were
chasing the Kraken.
Boom Circle of life, baby Right.
So he actually treats this aslike a legitimate, though really
seen like part of the marineecosystem.
Like he thinks this is not acreature of legend, like, hey,
this is real shit we have todeal with.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Which is smart, right ?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
no-transcript, you know, not many people survive it
and nobody was able to captureit, right.
So what I kind of want to dowas touch on some of, like, the
more famous sightings of it.
Okay, now, there's a lot, andmost of them were just like
super boring.
Oh my God, we saw this Krakenand they explain it.
So I tried to find some thatwere a little bit more in depth.
(18:01):
We saw this Kraken, right, butlike it's just like the stories
over the years are like oh yeah,we saw it.
Oh yeah, we saw it too.
A couple tentacles, right, whoaI.
I think it really like, trulyat its core, is sort of a
fisherman story that just getsembellished upon and embellished
upon at least through some ofthe people who tell it, but I'll
(18:23):
let you know my thought whenyou say I can perfect we're
gonna start, though, with one ofthe ones who tell it, but I'll
let you know my thought when yousay I can.
Perfect, we're going to start,though, with one of the ones
that showed up.
The story is in the Orvar Order, the saga from the 13th century
.
Ok, so the location of thesesightings like we said earlier,
a little bit off the coast ofNorway, iceland, greenland, so
what happened is the Håfgófa.
Basically, this is that thingthat's described as, the thing
(18:53):
that's as big as an island,right, and a lot of sailors
would start to catch fish nearthese random islands, and more
and more fishermen would gothere.
So sailors would mistakenly tryto dock on this island or near
it, and then the island wouldstart to shudder and move, and
then a foul smell would emitfrom it.
Oh, Then next, the sailorswould say that the entire school
of fish would disappear, as ifthey were just gulped by the
(19:17):
island.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
So these are accounts of people that have survived.
Then when do we get thesestories?
Speaker 2 (19:24):
This story is in that saga, the orvar order.
Oh right, okay, so it was likea collection of stories.
This is where the legend wasreally born this is like how it
came about so it was.
People would be fishing nearthe island.
The island would start to move.
Oh shit, it just swallowed thefish.
Oh shit, now it's trying to uhswallow us and they'd come back
or they'd watch their buddyships get destroyed or eaten or
(19:48):
sucked down below okay so nottoo many like terrible, like
great details of this, but thesignificance of this story is
that it's really the foundationof the legend.
The interesting thing here,though, compared to some of the
other stories, is that itdoesn't really treat the beast
as like the aggressor right, butit's more that something that's
(20:09):
just like massive and lurkingand deadly if disturbed, which
is kind of contradictory to like, I feel, like the pop culture
things we see of like you'rejust merrily going along in your
boat and that's how.
That's how I live my life whatrandomly attacking people who
walk by you?
Speaker 1 (20:24):
That disturbed me.
Don't disturb me.
I don't randomly attack you.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Especially before your caffeine in the morning.
Right.
Quick side note the last time Isaw you early in the morning,
you appeared at my door and saidI have things to do.
I'm going to lock myself in myroom.
Don't even come near me.
I'm like, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
No, first off, give more context, that was we were
getting ready for the event.
I had very bad anxiety and Isaid I need to do my hair and
makeup.
It's going to take me a whilebecause I'm going to be
self-conscious.
I just can't be bothered.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I just love it.
It was like so stern and I hadalready planned to just leave
you alone.
I know this.
I'm like doing my own thingalready.
I just had to let you know,because if I wouldn't have let
you know, I would have hadanxiety that you're just going
to come and interrupt me.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Okay, fair, all right , kraken.
Speaker 2 (21:14):
We're ready for story number two.
Kraken, kara, kara, kraken nomore, kurator Kara.
All right, so now this one ismore what you're looking for.
So this is a French navalencounter from the 1800s.
Our source is sail sailortestimony, but it is not
officially reported with a name.
Okay, the location this time isthe north atlantic ocean, and
(21:35):
this french naval vessel wasreportedly attacked by a giant
tentacled creature that was solarge that it, like, started to
grab the underside of its ship,and it was able to wrap its
tentacles all the way around tothe top of the ship's mast which
I feel like those are thepictures that you see.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Is that absolutely?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
this is like your typical.
This is in the 1800s.
Okay, a lot of this.
I don't have significant datesfor it and I was just curious so
I picked this story from thelike 1700s to the 1900s.
This story happens over and overand over again.
So the sailors claimed thatthey were trying to like hack at
the tentacles with their axes.
(22:14):
They were trying to freethemselves as the ends of it
were wrapping around theirankles.
But the reason we actually havethis story physically reported
is because they were able to doenough damage to him that all of
a sudden all the tentaclesreleased, pulled back under the
water and went beneath the wavesand just left them.
Now the crew was obviouslyshaken, but one of them ran to
(22:40):
the belly of the boat I can'tthink of what the underdecks are
called and was able to lookthrough a porthole and see the
beast as it was coming away, andhe kind of gave it that
squid-like description, morethan the island we've had from
the older legends.
Okay, he was able to get areally good look at the
tentacles and said that thethinnest of its arms were
(23:03):
thicker than any man's legs he'dever seen.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So, but that's the thinnest, so we know it's like.
Yeah so if you start to thinkabout that, let's say the
biggest legs you've ever seen.
Let's just use ArnoldSchwarzenegger, for example.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Right Like probably close to a dinner plate, but are
we talking about the thighs orthe?
What are these things called?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Your calves, your upper legs and lower.
That is a reference.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
If you know, if you know you know actually, if you
know comment yes, please, uh,because I will never not laugh
at that.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Okay, so the significance of this story
though.
Oh, that also so, as he wentdown below the deck and he saw
this right, some of them arestill wrapped on.
So, as the thing is pullingaway, it starts to pull the ship
pretty hard and just pulls itabsolutely sideways across the
water.
Ok, so significance here Whileofficially undocumented because
we don't know the names, this islike the story that becomes the
(24:02):
sailor legend.
This one's often kind ofreferred to as like one of the
clearest Kraken attack stories.
Now, some have argued that itsounds like an actual creature,
but we're going to, we're goingto touch base on that again
later.
OK, so I did try really, reallyhard to find a good Reddit story
(24:25):
.
There's almost none.
Like most people don't haverecent run-ins.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I was just scouring Reddit, literally right now, as
you were telling me you werelooking for Kraken encounters.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Like you cannot find modern day Kraken ones.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
No, it's all like how do you hunt one?
What do you do if you encounterone?
Speaker 2 (24:44):
There were so much less like encounter stories than
I thought, but in 2003, okay,the antarctic kraken no internet
legend story was born, so thiscomes from internet forums and
conspiracy websites,unfortunately, but I think it's
worth noting.
Okay, so it's near antarcticaand this viral story starts to
(25:07):
go around, along with a grainyvideo that claimed to show that
during a deep sea expedition,this enormous, unidentified
creature was found swimmingbeneath the ice, and the video
showed what looked like immensearms behind it.
People were going on and onlike okay, this is like actually
a kraken video.
That's where it gets us in theantarctic kraken, right?
(25:29):
Okay, a lot of people don'tthink this was a hoax, and then,
of course, anytime we'regetting to conspiracy, well it's
, it's.
They want you to think it's ahoax because it's actually a
cover-up by the oceanicresearchers.
So this one's just like hotlydebated.
So, anyways, though, a lot ofpeople were saying that this one
in the video, like if they wereable to describe how big it was
(25:50):
your favorite thing, that itwould be over 75 feet across,
not long across, and about threetimes as long, oh, and then it
would cause disturbances in thewater that were several hundred
feet wide.
Wow, it's a suspect story, butits significance and the reason
(26:10):
why we're talking about this oneis because it was, like like we
said earlier, the only modernreally like cryptid phenomena
sighting of this.
But because it's Antarctica,people also try to say it was
either a megalodon or deep seaalien.
So take that one with a grainof salt as you will.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
Okay, I'm just looking up how big the biggest
whale is, because you, um, okay,so the blue whale is the
largest animal on earth, capableof reaching lengths up to 100
feet and weighing 200 tons, andyou said this was 75 feet 225
(26:50):
feet long.
What was that?
Oh, what did I just say?
Speaker 2 (26:53):
75 feet wide and I said three times as long.
I was doing the head math foryou.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Okay, so, so it's pretty massive.
Yeah, the biggest whale islengthwise 100 feet.
I can't even comprehend that.
Yeah, no, but then double that.
That's crazy.
Now the thing is.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
This one has a high chance of being a fake, but I
still think it's cool to havelike the modern sighting now.
So we had a lot of like 1800sand before ones we had a more
recent one.
Here's one from the 1930s thatI thought was pretty, pretty
decent.
This story comes off of thecoast of Newfoundland, canada,
which would be about directlyacross the ocean from, like
(27:31):
Norway, greenland, where thestory originated, and this group
of fishermen described beingfollowed by a massive tentacled
creature.
Oh, some of the boats wereactually reported to have been
violently rocked or pulled.
At first they couldn't see fromwhat, and then they would start
to see the tentacles likecreeping up their boat, oh, and
(27:52):
then they noticed these likelarge shadows just beneath the
surface of the water.
Oh, that's creepy.
Few said that they saw somelong, snake-like arms reach
above the water trying to grabthe boats.
Okay, reach above the watertrying to grab the boats.
Okay.
Now, these stories aresignificant because one it's
(28:13):
actually like, written.
It's not handed down, it's not,oh, this one-off, but we're not
giving our names.
These were actually pretty wellrespected fishermen and they
got away and they, they got awayokay.
plus, it emerged during a timewhen certain carcasses were
washing ashore.
Hmm, so this is kind of thestory that started to fuel the
(28:36):
Kraken fears into the 20thcentury, because those carcasses
that were coming up on theshore actually looked like very,
very large squids.
Yeah were coming up on the shoreactually looked like very, very
large squids, yeah.
So the mention of the giantsquid really kind of leads us
into the next bit, where I wantto.
I've teased the fact that therethere might be some rooted in
reality portions to the krakenstory.
(28:58):
But before we do that, whereare you at?
What are your thoughts?
I have a question, feels on thecrack.
Oh, you have a question, foryou're supposed to do that on
your episode that you've beenfailing at okay, so we said
1930s, right?
Speaker 1 (29:11):
was this last?
Do we know?
Based off of not, and if youdidn't look into this is fine,
not based off the crack and allthat.
Do we know why they think allof these carcasses were being
washed up?
Speaker 2 (29:23):
yeah, um, not so much the why, but we're, we're gonna
get into that a bit okay, whatdid you ask me, though, what my
thoughts were on this.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, just what your thoughts are on kraken's sofa
here's the thing there are somany, I was gonna say,
undiagnosed.
There are so many undiscoveredthings, creatures lurking in the
deep blue sea, deep dark, it'snot even blue down there no, no,
there's just no light there'sjust no way for me to, matter of
(29:54):
factly, be like yeah, no, thisdidn't exist.
Here's the thing.
If we're saying like a krakenis a cryptid which I think they
technically would land in, likethey could fall into cryptid
territory, but also, I thinkmost people think that they're a
cryptid.
Yeah, and I know that there'sdebates versus it being a
cryptid or an animal.
I, first off, don't really givea shit.
(30:15):
If it's a cryptid or an animal,what the fuck does it matter?
Because, to be completelyhonest, cryptids really could be
animals, depending on whichcryptid I think most cryptids
right.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
If any of the cryptids that we talked about do
exist, they are real animals.
Speaker 1 (30:28):
We just haven't found them exactly, and I think you
and I have talked about that acouple times for different
things, so I don't really carewhich one it lands into.
But I do know that there'sheavily, heavily debated things
on, like whether it's this orthat, and people go back and
forth on that.
I don't really care about thatmuch.
I definitely it's real, do Ithink it's the extent of maybe
some of these stories large wise, I don't know.
(30:50):
But then again, maybe becausewhy not look at dinosaur bones
and how big they were way backin the day.
So is it?
Is it that it was that large?
Speaker 2 (31:00):
Perfect, I'm going to stop you because you you're
getting where you just said.
I'm not going to get into thedebate, I really don't care.
I'm going to make you careabout it because we're going to
talk about that whole debate,but we're going exactly where
you're stating.
So I don't mean to cut you off,but it was perfectly done.
Obviously, I think we can allsee where this is going.
Right, we mentioned the giantsquid, but actual science have
(31:23):
found and identified some realcreatures that could be the
culprits here, both being thegiant squid and its larger
brother, the colossal squid.
Just like you had literallyasked this, this is perfect.
About the same time as theFrench vessel story that we were
talking about, those washed upcarcasses started showing on
beaches.
(31:43):
So that story was 1930.
They started really about 1860and all of a sudden, these like
large, large squids now not asbig as the story start to show.
Now is it that they showed upon beaches or we just started
looking for them?
I don't know, but one of thefirst ones to really dig their
(32:04):
hands into it was a Danishzoologist named Jefeth
Steenstrup these names who namedit the Architeethis d'Or, or
the giant squid.
So parts of seemingly hugesquids, never the full thing,
but the tentacles and the tailsare falling onto beaches,
(32:25):
particularly in Newfoundland andIceland and Scandinavian
countries where the legend ofthe Kraken started.
Late 1800s to the 1900s, westart to get more and more kind
of evidence of these thingsbeing real, because then a full
specimen actually does wash upon a beach.
They're able to see the entirething.
(32:47):
Okay, it's not half eaten, it'snot just the tail, and this is
now 1873.
And scientists are like, okay,we got to take this a little bit
more seriously.
So the full specimen comes upin Newfoundland and local
Reverend Movis Harvey kept itdraped in his bathtub and kept
(33:07):
it moist so that scientistscould study it, which I think
that's so funny.
It's like a preacher is likeyeah, I'm going to take it home
and put it in my bathtub.
And you know, here's the thingthis can't quite be the creature
of our legend if it can fit ina preacher's bathtub Right,
bathtub right.
But what it does prove is thatin the ocean there are squid
(33:27):
much larger than we previouslythought them, capable of growing
.
Studies go on about these guysfor over 100 years in the 2000s
actually, we start to get way,way, way more answers.
So some marine researchers weredoing a deep sea expedition.
They were using cameras to try,were using cameras and bait to
(33:49):
try to pull out these largersquid, and they tried for
decades.
They had no luck.
But in 2004, japanesescientists Tsunami Kubadera and
Kyoichi Imori captured the firstphotos of a live giant squid in
the wild at 3 000 feet deep.
Okay, in 2006 they captured thefirst video of one because it
(34:13):
was wounded and had come up tothe surface.
So then they start to get morephotos and videos as they learn,
kind of like how they live andwhere they live, and it turns
out like the ocean is actuallyreally really full of these
things.
They're just really deep andright which makes sense now
giant squid, however, can onlyget up to about 43 feet long and
(34:35):
600 pounds yeah, I was justgonna say.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I just looked up colossal squid and it said like
23 feet.
That doesn't make sense to methat's a.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
You have to be looking at giant squid because
colossals get even bigger.
Uh, so colossal squid, forgiant is 43 feet, but then
you're getting ahead of it,right?
So the next discovery was madein 2007.
Colossal squid enters the chat.
Um, and this thing is heavierand larger.
This one, the first bits of it,were actually found in 1925,
(35:04):
where they found two tentacleclubs in a sperm whale's stomach
.
Oh, then in 2007, the firstfull adult specialman was
captured alive and frozen by aNew Zealand fishing crew.
Again, same origin of ourlegend.
Now, this one was and here'swhere I think you might be
looking at stats differently.
And here's where I think youmight be looking at stats
(35:26):
differently Its body was 10 feetlong, but with all of its arms
and tentacles it was well over50 feet, and this one weighs
1,000 pounds.
So now we have at least a43-foot, really skinny, kind of
tiny one at 600 pounds, and thenone just over 50 feet at right,
about twice the weight.
These are literally the largestinvertebrate that were ever
(35:48):
discovered.
They're horrifying yeahabsolutely, absolutely
horrifying.
So their suckers are just thesegiant teeth, like razor sharp
suckers.
They have a giant beak insteadof a mouth that can just like
crush its prey.
They're basically, like youknow how strong octopus are
(36:11):
Octopi, octopi, like it's thatsame level of strength, and
these things are huge.
The weird thing is where youwere talking about whales
earlier.
Whales actually helped usdiscover them, because that's
how we found where to video andshoot them, because sperm whales
that were coming to the surface.
They were trailing whale ships,and people were trailing the
(36:34):
whales, trailing ships, toprotect them from being whaled
and hunted.
They would start to tag thewhales, but they would notice
that they'd have these massivecircular scars up to 18 inches
in diameter.
Okay, that were consistent thatwe'd see on smaller wildlife
that had been attacked by squid.
(36:55):
So now we know like these squidare attacking things way larger
than them, right, right, sothese whales, and some of them,
succumb to their injuries fromit.
So I couldn't even imagine howthe squid with his beak would
eat a whale, but we do know thatthey attack things larger than
themselves.
Right now.
We have, though, is proof thatat least two types of squid
(37:17):
exist that are way bigger thanwe ever thought.
They attack things much largerthan themselves and is like the
ocean's apex predator.
So with that and I think thisis sort of where you were going
earlier is the kraken legend,lore, not existent?
Is it cryptid or is it ananimal we haven't discovered yet
(37:40):
?
I kind of tend to think like ifwe know a couple larger squid
exist and we just startedfinding them within the last 20
years and we've only explored somuch of the ocean, who is to
say that this giant kraken oflore didn't exist and maybe has
died off or still exists andit's just way down deep in there
?
Speaker 1 (38:01):
right.
But I guess in my head, itdoesn't matter if we categorize
it as real or a cryptid, becauseto me cryptids are real.
They're technicallyundiscovered, right?
Animals?
Yeah, so that's why I'm saying,that's why I say I don't care
which way, because it's likewhatever.
I believe that, yeah, it'sdefinitely deep, deep down there
.
Maybe it ain't as big as itused to be, but it's definitely
(38:22):
down there and it's large.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Other thing I kind of think too is maybe they were
just talking about these kind ofsquid and it's like the typical
fisherman story where it's justlike as the hand on the lure
grows and grows.
Because I don't I don'thonestly think I personally
believe in the original story ofit like this thing that's big
enough to be a mile wide island.
I just don't see the worldbeing able to support something
(38:46):
that large.
What is so funny about that?
I just don't see the world beingable to support something that
large, no, like literally, froman ecological standpoint, if
there's multiple of these thingsover a mile large there
probably isn't schools of fishin the ocean like that.
Our planet can't sustain those.
Speaker 1 (39:07):
Right, but there probably isn't that many of them
.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
I don't know.
I feel like by now though, likeif they still existed, we would
hedge.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
I just don't think that something that well, that's
what I'm saying it probablycould have existed, but just
like dinosaurs, they don't existno more.
Speaker 2 (39:24):
They could have existed that largely, and then
evolution they've Okay, let mesay this I don't think something
existed that big in the 13thcentury alongside human beings.
That's more where I'm goingwith it, of it being exaggerated
.
So I don't know when are you atwith it?
Like I, I kind of think thatthe Kraken was just a bigger
(39:45):
squid than we've been able torecord yet.
Speaker 1 (39:47):
Yeah, no, I 100% agree that it's definitely was
real and it was obviously justfabricated to the length or the
size of it.
Or, yeah, it just it was thatlarge and there just wasn't that
many.
And now they're not.
But, like, even if you look ata squid now next to a human,
(40:08):
like these giant squids, next tolike a human size, it's very
easy for your brain to see it inreal life and exaggerate it.
Yeah, because even if you, ifyou and I were to see a whale,
like a real huge ass, fuckingwhale, the biggest whale you
would, your brain wouldn't evenknow how to compute the size of
(40:28):
it.
So it would be so easy for usto say that it was 300 feet long
or whatever.
And it's really only what did Isay?
100 or something.
So it's like, yeah, it wasprobably we're just bad,
exaggerated, and we've gone overthis over and over again in all
these episodes when people sizethings and it's like, how do
you know how big that was?
By looking at you just.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
I do tend to think, though, with as many stories as
we have, like there had to besomething at least big enough to
attack these ships whoa right?
Speaker 1 (40:56):
no, no, I'm not saying that, I'm not
discrediting that.
Oh no, large as hell.
But again, if you're in a panicmode and you're seeing a
creature that is five timeslarger than you are and it's
attacking your ship down, likeyeah, in your brain, I just feel
like you calculate it bigger.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Okay, total side note , but talking about, like,
calculating things bigger thanthey are, have you been
following your dick?
Yeah, have you been followingmy dick?
No, first of all, fuck you uh.
Second, though, the the storyof the angler fish that recently
came to the surface no, but Ikind of know about it because
everyone's talking about anglerfishes did you see how small it?
Speaker 1 (41:35):
actually is.
Oh yeah, no, I'm sorry I didn'tI, but I knew that they were
that small well, I didn't.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
I always assumed I, I think I like got stuck on like
the finding nemo where, like aclown fish could just swim right
inside the anglerfish's mouth.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
This thing is like palm sized yeah, everybody
thought that they were so large.
You know everyone's obsessedwith little anglerfishes.
Speaker 2 (41:53):
They are, so I think they're cute I mean, I wouldn't
be mad if I had one in anaquarium.
Okay, so end of the side note.
I kind of lied to you earlier.
I do have a little bit of areddit story now.
I had to dig through posts andposts and posts.
I don't know if it's totallycracking, but it is still
(42:14):
fucking weird.
So okay let's hear it.
This is a story from winderpotts and he says you know how
long ago um, it was a coupleyears ago and that it was posted
well, oh that it was posted.
So it starts off with.
This incident happened in march1962.
Oh, thank you.
(42:35):
Very clear for you, goodquestion.
Uh, four boys were visiting asunken ship and only one, named
Brian McCleary, survived.
The bodies of one of the otherboys, brad Rice, washed ashore,
but there was never any sign ofthe other two teenagers.
Mccleary was almost dead whenhe was found and it was
(42:56):
hallucinating.
He claimed something resemblinga sea serpent with many arms
had eaten his friends oh he wasprobably mistaken.
No, but in that location, bodiesalways wash ashore and it's
strange that there was never anysigns of his two companions, so
like people who what that'ssaying is people who died like
(43:17):
drowning or whatever theirbodies wash up, so something had
to have taken them.
Did we try to look up thisstory?
Is it legit?
I didn't look it up more thanthat, honestly, but that was
literally the only Reddit storyI could find that may have been
a first-hand Kraken encounter.
Speaker 1 (43:35):
What was his name?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Brian McCleary.
Speaker 1 (43:44):
He's a rugby player in new zealand.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I I feel like brian mccleary is a pretty common
freaking name.
Uh, so yeah, I mean, that'sreally it.
The stories I went over are themost documented ones.
Not many details, but I thinkit's a mixture of legend being
handed down fishermen's storyand real creatures that possibly
we just haven't discovered yet.
So I don't know.
(44:07):
I think the kraken isabsolutely real and I think it's
not like she real so manycryptids have like a mystical
thing about them, right like thechupacabra sucks out all the
blood and the mothman has theglowing eyes, and this is just
like the exact description ofcreatures we know exist, just
way freaking bigger.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Yeah, that's true too , but also it's just like leave
it be and it'll leave you be,and it's kind of like a lot of
things.
Just stop fucking with them.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
So on that note I ask you again would you still be a
pirate or a viking?
Yeah, what if you get crackened, though?
Speaker 1 (44:42):
Here's the thing I think I could befriend the
cracken.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
You can't just befriend every cryptid, kara.
Well, I can.
I can't wait to one day be theperson who has to tell them what
to put on your tombstone.
Speaker 1 (44:56):
Oh yeah, if you can stop a burglary in that shirt, I
can befriend whatever cryptid Iwant.
Speaker 2 (45:01):
Okay, you know what the funny thing is is only our
patrons are going to get thatouttake from this episode, so
they get in on the joke.
But I almost stopped crimetoday until Kara shamed me out
of it.
The blinking light has stopped,though, so the robbery already
happened.
The robbery is done and that'sthe story of the Kraken.
There we go.
Oh, I bet it was a Krakenbreaking in next door.
(45:23):
Okay, I'll just tell her.
For right before we startedrecording I don't know what it
was, but this blinking light wasgoing on next door and I was
telling Kara we couldn't recordyet because I had to go stop
robbery because it looks like analarm.
Speaker 1 (45:43):
And she shamed me and told me I couldn't stop.
No, you asked me.
You said do you think I couldstop a robbery?
And I said no.
And then he got upset and Isaid how do you think you're
gonna stop a robbery?
And then he just I said in thatshirt how you gonna stop a
robbery?
Speaker 2 (45:49):
it's a fun shirt they'd be like those of you if
you didn't see the clips.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
It's a very loud alien it definitely gives me
like Cartoon Network, oldCartoon Network.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
Hanna-Barbera.
Speaker 1 (46:00):
No, what's the Rocky Rocko's Modern Life?
Something like that?
Oh yeah, yeah, Vibes likesomething All right.
Speaker 2 (46:07):
Let's get out of here .
Okay, emoji for this episode aboat and an octopus or a squid I
think there's a squid.
I think there's a squid, oneSquid and a boat.
That's what I want, okay, okay.
So, like we asked you, uh, ifyou get the upper legs reference
, write in and let us know.
But also, if you have stories,write in or call in.
(46:28):
All the information for that isbelow in the show notes.
We've got almost enough foranother bonus episode for y'all.
Uh, what else do these finefolks need to do while we kick
them out and close up the shop?
Speaker 1 (46:38):
I had something in my head and then you said the
upper legs thing and it took meout again.
Oh shit, I don't know, It'llcome to me way too late.
Oh, what I was going to say isyeah, we do have a Patreon.
If you don't know that, we havea Patreon.
Speaker 2 (46:54):
Hey, get some Monday motivation.
You get some behind the scenesepisodes a whole day early.
Speaker 1 (46:59):
You don't have to.
You can be on the free tier toget Zach's Monday motivation.
You don't have to pay any of us, you just have to go and follow
us on Patreon.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Absolutely.
Just want to put that out there.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Okay, that's really all I need from you guys is love
and support, always, always.
Thank you, tell Kara she'spretty support, always, always.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
Thank you, tell Kara, she's pretty we haven't said
that one in a minute.
Speaker 1 (47:20):
Oh, my cop says hello gorgeous.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
Oh okay, she told herself she's pretty, she
doesn't need you anymore.
Speaker 1 (47:25):
Shout out to.
I cannot remember who it is,but I don't know who it is, but
I don't remember your name.
I'm sorry, but you commented onsomething like a week ago that
said, Kara, you're so pretty,and I was like I'm like yo, Some
people listen.
That's somebody that is likeprobably backlogged because I
haven't said that in a long timeit's been a hot minute.
Thanks, girl.
Okay, anyway, we appreciate you, Love you.
(47:46):
The most important thing youcan do for us is to creep a real
yard balls.
Speaker 2 (47:50):
Goodbye, bye, we'll be right back.
(48:25):
Outro Music.
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