The Royal Navy's sea monsters

Here's a good article recapping some reports of weird sea creatures from logs kept in Britain's National Archives. As cryptozoologists know, there were a surprising number of instances, mainly in the age of sail but some in the 20th century, where Royal Navy or merchant captains logged detailed accounts of strange, elongated marine animals. That a captain vouches for a given report doesn't rule out observational error (for example, the famous encounter involving HMS Daedalus may have been a giant squid), but it's significant nonetheless. People in positions of great responsibility have put their reputations on the line to insist "there be monsters" on the high seas. Marine biologists have never been able to confirm these acocunts, but they should not dismiss them either.