Island of ghosts and dinosaurs

 The Isle of Wight, which is a small island off the south coast of England, has been called the "dinosaur capital" because of the vast amount of dinosaur bones found there. More dinosaur bones have been found on the Isle of Wight than on mainland Britain! New species of dinosaur have been uncovered often. Last year, they found the bones of a new dinosaur called Vectaerovenator inopinatus, that lived during the Cretaceous era. It is a European relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex!

As a kid I visited the island and spent Summer holidays over there, seeing places such as the Victorian theme park called Blackgang Chine. It's attractions vary from dinosaurs to pirates and nursery rhymes. Over the past two hundred years, a lot of the region has fallen into the sea due to unstable ground that keeps eroding. This is just sad when that happens. So the park has to keep changing and moving.

If that isn't all, the island is also nicknamed "Ghost island." There are many haunted locations, and one is a lighthouse called St Catherine's that is shaped like a tower chess piece. There is also a haunted ruin and an appearing manor house that no longer exists. People have witnessed ghosts of Roman soldiers, pirates, phantom ships, ghost trains, and much more. There are many haunted buildings and haunted locations outside and along the beach. Things couldn't be stranger, when sightings of a Loch Ness type of monster has been seen in the waters around the island.  

More on the Isle of Wight's magic and history:

Ghost Island

Dinosaur Isle

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Sazae-Oni

 

These pretty sea creatures, gastropods, or turbo snails, are also the stuff of Japanese nightmares! Called Sazae-Oni, these innocent animals may be hidden shape-shifters who transform into beautiful maidens, and lure men at sea. The Sazae-Oni are a type of Yokai (spirits) found in Japanese folklore and mythology. Sazae-Oni are large sea snails, that turn into women, so that they can entice seamen, pirates and fishermen to their graves. 

Often nocturnal, the Sazae-Oni have been seen dancing in the waters on moonlit nights. One of the creepiest stories about the Sazae-Oni happened on the Kii Peninsula. It describes a bunch of pirates finding a woman, and then raping her, but little did they know she was a Sazae-Oni, so while they slept, she had her revenge. She crept into their cabin and bit off their testicles.  

Eek!

      

Marine knights

 

Let us go to the sea. In Flemish mythology, probably from the Medieval time period, is a curious species of merfolk called Zitiron. They had the tails of fish, but human upper bodies, heavily armoured and wearing helmets. Those helmets look like those worn by knights. The zitiron's have physical functions of gills, baleen traits, and metallic scales on their bodies. Such creatures are often in groups called Tables. What else is interesting is the codes of chivalry among the Zitiron kind. These marine knights are tough and have a strong defence. Existing descriptions of the Zitiron are found in Der Naturen Bloeme by Jacob van Maerlant, published in 1350. 

What seems also incredible is that, many people today assume that everyone who lived centuries ago were thick! Modern people guess that the Zitiron were really turtles. While the myth sounds weird enough, people who lived during the Middle Ages were not that stupid to mistake turtles for knights! It's more likely that they were telling stories and hallucinating. 

Now onto a slightly different topic but keeping with marine knights. The heikegani are a species of crab from Japan, with shells that look like human faces. It was believed that souls of angry Samurai warriors who were killed at sea in the 12th century appear on Heike crab shells. Fishermen refuse to keep the shells with human faces out of respect for the dead warriors and toss them back into the sea.  

More: Heike crab

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