The Two-Headed Sea Serpent

Right-hand head of Aztec double-headed
serpent, British Museum

In February 1899, a cargo ship brought to Sydney, Australia, the skeletal remains of a huge “two-headed sea serpent” – said originally to weigh seventy tons and extend sixty feet in length – that was found on a beach on Rakahanga island in the Solomons. The find was significant enough to reach the newspapers in the United States. On April 5 of that year, the Los Angeles Herald described the discovery as follows:

The steamship Warrimoo, from Australia, brings an authenticated story from Sydney of a tidal wave which washed ashore an immense two-headed sea serpent on Rakahanga island of the Solomon group. The creature’s weight is given as seventy tons and its length is sixty feet. The skeleton was brought to Sydney by the steamer Emu and presented to the New South Wales museum.

It’s not clear which museum received the sea serpent bones. Today there are many museums in Sydney and New South Wales. A search of the website of Sydney’s Australian Museum – a likely home for natural science finds – turned up no “sea serpent” bones from Rakahanga (or from anywhere).

We managed to dig up more details on the find from Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald(Feb. 23, 1899). The Morning Herald account is more detailed and varies slightly from the Los Angeles Herald report. The story is recounted in part by A.G. Bell, identified as the supercargo on the steamer Emu. Bell said that while the tidal wave devastated Rakahanga Island, the sea serpent was actually found washed up on a beach on Suwarrow Island, 422 km southwest of Rakahanga:

“It was at Manihiki that we were informed of a tidal wave. We had had a very high sea, though no wind to cause it, and the supposition is that on or about the 17th of last month a tremendous submarine eruption occurred. In the Solomons, you have heard, they experienced it, and the natives of Manihiki were in great dread of it, seeing its approach for miles, like a great black wall, as if it would demolish the whole island. Manihiki came out of it with little damage, but one of the most beautiful isles of Oceania was all but swept off the face of the waters. This was Rakahanga. Villages were washed away, the natives taking to the bush, having been forewarned by the roar of the approaching wave. It is counted as one of the high islands in that part of the Pacific, but from all that we heard the mountain of waters swept it like a sea-level shore, and it was miraculous how the people escaped, if indeed they did so…. "Now we come to the most remarkable incident in our voyage," went on the supercargo, and the brightening of his eyes easily foretold that something most unusual was about to be narrated. "After we left Manihiki we returned to Suwarraw [sic] on our way back to Sydney, and while there the natives carelessly remarked that 'one big devil devil' from the sea had washed ashore a little way off two months ago. They did not know its name, only that it had two heads. We went along the beach to where the gigantic animal lay, and long before we reached the scene of the stranding the stench was so horrible we were on the point of abandoning the 'catch.' On getting within sight of it, however, its extraordinary appearance determined us upon acquiring possession of it, and after perils by sea, and worse dangers from the poisoned air, we secured the first sea serpent ever brought to Australia – perhaps to any other place."

Asked by the newspaper’s reporter where the sea serpent was now, Bell replied: "Down in the hold of the steamer, and it will not be unloaded for a day or two – when the vessel comes in to discharge at Parbury's Wharf."

At that point, someone from the shipping company that owned the Emuentered the picture:

At this juncture the representative of the Pacific Islands Company came in to see the supercargo, and remarked that he intended to present the skeleton to the Sydney Museum. It was a pity he said that only the two heads, the two backbones, and part of the ribs had been secured, but as the supercargo observed, "To stay longer collecting the remains would have nauseated the collectors, perhaps beyond recovery," From Captain Oliver's (the master of the steamer) account there was but one body, which had a double spine, and two distinct heads. It is the two heads and the other portions just mentioned that they were so careful to secure. In their descriptions both the supercargo and the captain agree. They say that its hide or skin was a brownish colour, and covered with hair; that the heads somewhat resemble horses' heads. The approximate weight of the great sea serpent, whence the remains aboard the Emu were taken, is given at not less than 70 tons, its length fully 60 ft.

  

The Morning Herald mentioned several other accounts of sea serpents in the South Pacific, and then concluded its article with a quote from the manager of the Pacific Islands Company:

"Sensational sea serpent stories have been repeated scores of times, but there is no getting away from the actual heads and parts of the frame of this animal secured at Suwarrow by our steamer, and now on board. Whatever naturalists may think of the existence or non-existence of this denizen of the sea depths, here are the proofs, the most interesting proofs from a zoological point of view probably on record."

What ultimately happened to the mysterious two-headed skeleton, we’re unable to say at this point. But we’ll keep searching….