The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-05-15

strange specimens of marine life all
of which were personally collected by
Captain Thompson while on his many.
cruises in the Florida Straits and adj
jacent waters.
Captain Thompsons palatial yacht,
for such 1t is, as it was built at a
cost in excess of $4,000 will tie up
mundson's wharf where the huge mon
ster will be on exhibition.
The people of Pensacola now have
the great privilege for the first time
of seeing this truly wonderful marine
exhibit, including the huge monster
known as the Deep Sea Mystery,
which possibly has been the subject
of more speculation and controversy
than any other creature that ever
came out of the ocean.
What, then, is the great Deep Sea
Mystery?
No one knows. You must sect it
for yourself and your guess will be
as good as. anybody's.
You may think it is some kind of
whale. But 1t is not a whale Whales
are not classed as fish. but are warm
blooded mammals that suckle their
young like a COW.
Except for its huge size the Deep
Sea Mystery has not a single feature
in common with the whale. The crea-
ture is a true fish with all the we'll
known characteristics of a fish in
GLIDING the gills, whicfs are four feet
long and by means of which it
breathes. Yet IL does not resemble
any species of fish known to scien-
tific authorities
You may think 1t is a shark, but II
t. nNt 81 ALL IL
to be such a size as this. besides the
tell-tale characteristic of all sharks,
the slit-like mouth underneath the
head. making the animal turn over on
its side or back in order to seize its
prey, its absent.
Hugh Fish Only a Baby.
On the contrary. the mouth of the
Deep Sea Mystery is an enormous
cavity, 80 inches wide and 43 inches
deep situated right at the end of the
snout and resembles that of a mon
strous cat fish more than anything
else. Inside the mouth is a tongue
forty inches long and a gullet large
enough to swallow a giant octopus
weighing 1900 pounds which was
found alive in the creatures stomach
when it was dissected.
The Deep Sea Mystery captured by
Captain Thompson exhibits other
characteristics OF true fish that are
as A. B, C. to the scientific investi-
gator. There are no ribs and in place
of a backbone its spinal column con-
sisted of cartilagneous vertebrate,
some OF which were 10 IL inches
wide and showing signs of ossifica-
ton. This was proof beyond doubt
that the creature was still unde-
veloped-it was baby. in fact
Naturalists say that full grown
specimen OF the kind would be not
less than two and a half times as
large as the baby captured by Cap
tain Thompson. Had this creature
lived out its allotted span then it
proportions of lis feet in length and
20 or % feet broad
Baby though it was. II had assured
" cut its teeth. for the jaws were
lined with innumerable tiny teeth
that nobody has taken the trouble to
count. They are set with an inward
slant so as to prevent the escape OF
any prey seized by the creature in
looking for food and Jonah would
have had small chance of escape had
he fallen in its way.
The huge mouth of such a mon
ster as the Deep Sea Mystery would
not appear to invite repose. but as q
matter of fact two men did actually
sit side by side in the creatures
mouth without crowding each other
The tail of the Deep Sea Mystery
measures ten feet from tip to tip; the
pectoral fin is five feet long and three
feet wide. while the dorsaI fin is three
feet long and two feet nine inches
wide. With this huge muscular tail
as motive power the creature was