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Description
The third of Heuvelmans’ sea serpents, the Many-Humped is an elongated species of whale with a series of humps on its back - either a pronounced ridge like the kind seen in sperm whales (ok) or inflatable air sacks for stability and buoyancy (oh jeez), giving an appearance of a string of humps on the surface. Some reports mention a dorsal fin and white markings on the neck and head. His chosen identity was an evolved basilosaurid, a family of elongated primitive whales that are now extinct. The namesake of the group, Basilosaurus, could grow to 60 feet in length, and was mistaken for a sea serpent when it was discovered.

Unfortunately, aside from the basic size and shape, the features of the Many-Humped aren’t consistent with a basilosaurid. On top of that, they’ve been extinct for approximately 30 million years, which would require a very long ghost lineage. In truth, the look of multiple jumps can be easily caused by wave effects caused by any object moving at speed. Some reports referring to a “string of buoys” may be just that - buoys and other fishing gear being drug by marine animals that have become tangled in them. Reports mentioning dorsal fins and white markings are a probably misidentified orcas.

Description
The third of Heuvelmans’ sea serpents, the Many-Humped is an elongated species of whale with a series of humps on its back - either a pronounced ridge like the kind seen in sperm whales (ok) or inflatable air sacks for stability and buoyancy (oh jeez), giving an appearance of a string of humps on the surface. Some reports mention a dorsal fin and white markings on the neck and head. His chosen identity was an evolved basilosaurid, a family of elongated primitive whales that are now extinct. The namesake of the group, Basilosaurus, could grow to 60 feet in length, and was mistaken for a sea serpent when it was discovered.

Unfortunately, aside from the basic size and shape, the features of the Many-Humped aren’t consistent with a basilosaurid. On top of that, they’ve been extinct for approximately 30 million years, which would require a very long ghost lineage. In truth, the look of multiple jumps can be easily caused by wave effects caused by any object moving at speed. Some reports referring to a “string of buoys” may be just that - buoys and other fishing gear being drug by marine animals that have become tangled in them. Reports mentioning dorsal fins and white markings are a probably misidentified orcas.