Sea Monsters Myth and Truth

In olden days, how did people learn about these strange creatures? Sometimes, a huge, partly decomposed body washed up on shore. Local people gathered around. A museum curator might be interested in displaying the corpse. That is if it didn't stink too badly. Newspapers ran stories. They would quote local scientists and feature drawings or cartoons of the monster. Sometimes, a ship set out for sea. It would never return. If no other ships were close by, there was no way of knowing what had happened. Did the ship sink in a storm? Was it swallowed by a kraken? Perhaps a polyp got it. Some seafarers did make it home. They told tall tales about the sea. The terrors that hid underwater were not for the faint of heart. Only the bravest, most foolhardy sailors or those shanghaied ventured out to sea. Book jacket.