Nowadays, when massive sea beasts wash ashore, humane policy is to bury the poor brutes in the sand after the marine biologists and cetologists check things out. Occasionally, of course, we’ll pack the beached Krakens with TNT and blow blubber to the moon.
But when something strange, something off-putting and cryptozoological, drifts up from the depths, we tend to hang onto the unsightly specimens, in whole or in part. Globsters, as these putrid, pretzled, oftentimes boneless hunks of organic goo are unscientifically known in the otherwise scientific literature, have been washing up throughout history to the occasional bafflement of experts. Here’s a criminally brief catalog of just some of these mysterious organic blobs
The Canal Harbor, with a view of ships and grain elevators 1910
Boat Building, Nova Scotia, Canada 1936
see also a – see also b
Anatomy of a Sailor – notrealthing
New Trailer For Aardman’s Pirates! Hilarity on the high seas
Depending on whether you live in the UK or US, Aardman’s salty new sea comedy The Pirates! Is either subtitled In An Adventure With Scientists (Blighty) or Band Of Misfits (America-land). But either way, all signs point to it being the comedy equivalent of a treasure chest loaded with shiny booty. We brought you an exclusive look at the UK promo last month, and now the new US trailer has arrived for your watching pleasure.
Matrosen beim Segelsetzen auf dem schwedischen Viermastschoner ‘Pederson’, 1930
Holidaymakers in a fishing boat Grisslehamn, Sweden 1951
map showing stanley’s discoveries in africa – fuckyeahcartography
Misty Anchorage in Ha Long Bay – Tourist boats at anchor in the morning fog at Ha Long Bay, Vietnam. Photo by: Tom Blachford – via sailorgil
Bangkok, Thailand. Photograph: Altaf Qadri/AP – The Guardian
left: Ethel SPOWERS, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; The green lantern c.1927 (yama-bato)
right: André Kertész, Paris, 1982 (liquidnight)
LCT-202 off the coast of England, 1944 – via thegildedcentury
Hamburger Hafen – H.M. Yacht Britannia – vintage ship photos (Set: 113)
Shipping, St. John Harbour, NB, 1870 — Esquimault Dry Dock near Victoria, BC, 1887
Whaleback S. S. John Ericsson in locks, Sault St. Marie, ON, about 1890
Imperialist Chic – Puck magazine, 6 April 1901. “Columbia’s Easter Bonnet” – feastingonroadkill
The Confessions of a Dime Novelist by Gelett Burgess, The Bookman 15 (NY) Aug 1902 – from Yesterday’s Papers, via mudwerks
part of south australia 1851- large http://96.125.172.21/~tumblr1/part_south_australia_1851.jpg
— via fuckyeahcartography
“More than 100 years after it was last seen, the giant Neptune’s cup sponge (Cliona patera) has been rediscovered off the coast of southern Singapore.
“First discovered in 1822, the sponges grew so large—a meter or more in both height and diameter—that their cup-like structures were sometimes used as tubs for babies. But their size made them valuable to collectors around the world and they were overharvested until they disappeared from Singapore in the 1870s. The last time living sponges were seen was 1908, when collectors found some in West Java, Indonesia. The species was then thought to be extinct. In the 1990s, a few dead Neptune’s cup sponges turned near Australia, giving researchers hope that they might find these massive Porifera again in the oceans around Singapore…
coolchicksfromhistory: Woman working in the shipyards in Mobile, Alabama during World War II.
Sink or Swim piece I did for an upcoming project. dereknobbs Not yet in the store, but if interested contact me
Ministry of Agriculture’s new “Dig for Victory” campaign launched: grow more food in UK to reduce German U-boat threat
- RealTimeWWII; WW2 Tweets from 1939 — Livetweeting the Second World War, as it happens on this date and time in 1939, and for 6 years to come.
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Giant clipper ships at hangars, Pan-American Airways terminal, Miami, Florida, U. S. Coast Guard Air Base in background – Special Collections Division. University of Miami Libraries.
Life magazine, June 19, 1944 – TheGuildedCentury
Porcelain crab by a.j.mck on Flickr. (via bigwaves)
Baiae was an ancient Roman town overlooking the Bay of Naples, where rich Romans and emperors whiled away their time in their villas. It was also connected to the Roman Empire’s biggest naval base, Portus Julius. However, the town and port were built on a tract of volcanic land, the activity of which is said to have caused the structure to collapse into the ocean…
Wu Guanzhong – here (via yama-bato) – see also: link
Hokusai, detail; artdetails
toysailboats: Victorian Silver and Enamel Pocket Knife – London, c.1890 (via bluewaterblackheart)
Pearl Frush: Pin Up and Cartoon Girls – via theticketthatexploded
theticketthatexploded: Cosmopolitan, “Special To The Navy” (1942) – (via Jon Whitcomb)
Jon Whitcomb (1906-1988) – American illustrator. He was well-known for his pictures of glamorous young women. During World War II, a series of illustrations for advertisements he created on the theme, “Back Home for Keeps,” became a pin-up fad for women deprived of their husbands or sweethearts.
Short Stories, February 1951 – Pulp of the Day (theticketthatexploded)
(via Motor Boating – Pulp Covers)
The Book of Dogs; Washington, D. C.,The National Geographic Society (c1919) – via scientificillustration
Zoe Boekbinder – Salt water — WARNING: Contains probably-work-safe naked people. and boats.
via dirtyriver
Monkey FistMonkey Fist is a smack-talking, potty mouthed, Yankee hating, Red Sox fan in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition to compiling Maritime Monday, she blogs about nautical art, history, and marine science on Adventures of the Blackgang. Submit story ideas, news links, photographs, or items of interest to her at [email protected]. She can also out-belch any man.
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