Sea Monster Monday: Meet Jenny Haniver

Behold the terrifying spawn of the deep! Is it a mermaid? A merman? A freakishly cheerful alien? Nope, it’s just Jenny Haniver.

If Predator and the Flying Nun had a baby…

A Jenny Haniver is the dried carcass of a skate fish (a smaller version of a sting ray) that was carved to look like a sea monster and sold to gullible tourists as proof of sea monsters. These specimens are thought to have inspired stories about the Sea Monk, a supposed sea monster that looked like a man of the cloth — sort of an underwater priest, if you will.

Forgive me, Father, for I have finned. (I’ll show myself out…)

Here are some other versions of Jenny Hanniver that will haunt your dreams.

Oh. Dear. God.  

Worst Gremlins cosplay ever. 

It’s smiling because it knows where you live. 

Stay tuned for next Monday, when I review new footage of Frannie, the San Francisco Bay sea monster, sent to me by wonderful Friends of the Blog (FOB) Bill and Bob Clark of SF Sea Serpent fame.