An underwater creature that could take down a boat

Imagine that when Christopher Columbus sailed West in his Carrack to travel around the world to reach India, he had never made it to land, because halfway across the Atlantic Ocean between Europe and America his ship was attacked. It was a creature that no one had ever seen before, and no one lived to tell the tale of its existence.

So what kind of a creature could have done this?

There isn't any restrictions to the design of this creature, as long as it can realistically live on this planet in the ocean. It can live in whatever population, social dynamic, or area required, and must be able to take down a boat similar to a 15th century merchant ship (of around 30-45 meters long). It can also be any type of animal (fish, mammal etc.), whatever is needed for the design.

However, so as not to be too broad, I'll offer some reasonable assumptions that can be followed, although they are not required to be.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a huge creature to sink a ship, it could be a group of smaller creatures that worked together in order to take down the vessel. Whether it was a solitary monster or a pack of hunters, they likely only reside in the deep ocean far away from land.

Now, obviously as this is the first boat to have ventured into their territory, in order to survive that long, they must have regular prey that they can eat to survive. So let's say they usually eat whales, and have mistaken this ship for a new breed of particularly large whale they have never seen before.

To bring the ship down, they would be limited to doing it in the way that they are used to getting their prey. For example, if attacking a whale, the creature would likely need to tear chunks out of it until it dies of its wounds, or turning it upside down until it drowns. Either of these techniques could be used to sink a boat.

It can also win by either ferocity and relentless attacks, or intelligence and teamwork, like killer whales can do to knock seals into the water.

posted about 9 years ago

Mike.C.Ford‭

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