A classic Scottish sea serpent on the radio

On Sunday night’s Morton Through Midnight show the regular cryptozoology feature Morton’s Mystery Creatures focused on a classic Scottish sea serpent report.

It was a clear, fine evening in 1882 when the captain and crew of the German steamer Kätie, en route from New York to Newcastle, sailing about eight miles off the Butt of Lewis, sighted something ahead in the water.

Captain Weisz recorded that there was a dark object lying on the surface of the water about 2 miles from the ship. At first it was thought to be an abandoned wreck, the highest part being the bow, the rest resembling the jumbled waterlogged remains of a ship. As the Kätie got nearer the crew could see the water eddying round it as though moving over something large beneath the surface. 

On getting nearer however, it became clear it wasn't an abandoned vessel they were seeing. Now the dark, hilly mass resembled dangerous rocks and cliffs. The captain, being familiar with the area, knew there were no such dangers in the vicinity, and so the mystery deepened.

The object lay quite still for some time; then out of the water rose a fin about ten feet in height, reckoned to be about 80 feet from the visible end. This fin moved a few times while the body gradually sank below the surface of the water; the highest end then rose up and was seen to be a tail of enormous dimensions.

The visible part of the creature was estimated to measure about 150 feet in length; the hills or humps, which were from three to four feet in height, and about six or seven feet apart, were smaller towards the tail. No head was observed before the creature disappeared from sight.

You can listen to this show on the following link morton through midnight  it is an hour and seven minutes into the show