Legends 84: Dead in the Water
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The vast oceans of our planet are more mysterious to us than the surface of Mars. And because of that, they have become the place where dark legends dwell beneath the surface.
Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with writing by Molly Quinlan Artwick, and research by Samuel Alberty.
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©2026 Aaron Mahnke. All rights reserved.
This episode is sponsored by Wildwood. From Leica, the studio behind Coraline, comes a new epic fantasy adventure. And at the heart of Wildwood is a simple question. How far would you go for someone you love? Wildwood is a handcrafted epic fantasy adventure that transports audiences into a secret magical and dangerously alive world just beyond their doorstep. At its heart is the story of a courageous girl, Prue McKeel, on a desperate mission to rescue her baby brother from a forbidden forest filled with enchanted creatures, endearing allies, and formidable adversaries. Her journey unfolds in a spectacular high-stakes adventure where the fate of an entire hidden world hangs in the balance. The film features vocal performances from Carrie Mulligan, Mahershala Ali, and Angela Bassett. And I have to tell you folks, I have seen the trailer for this film so many times, and I cannot wait to park my button to seat and experience this adventure. Wildwood is now playing in theaters everywhere, so grab your tickets today. If you're listening to this, there's a good chance you're a small business owner. And like every small business owner, you started with a dream to do what you love and watch it grow. What you probably didn't dream about, keeping up with cyber threats. That's where MasterCard can help, with access to tools that help identify cyber threats to better protect your business. Building your dream business, priceless. For cyber security in a changing world, there's MasterCard. Learn more at MasterCard.com/smallbusiness. As long as humans have been sailing, we've had a challenging relationship with the sea. On the one hand, the currents of the ocean have been the lifeblood of human connection, the highway for trade, for travel, and in some cases, for takeover. On the other, riding the wrong waves can quickly land you in a watery grave. And while we've gotten better at predicting marine disasters, ships still suffer at the hands of storms, icebergs, tsunamis, and rogue waves. The sea is an unstoppable force, after all. And a ship? Not exactly an immovable object. And so it's only natural that, historically, those who sail the seas were a superstitious lot. To avoid misfortune, there were rules to follow. You must never launch a journey on a Friday. You should avoid carrying passengers that are clergy, redheads, or women. And unless you want a storm to start brewing, you must never whistle on a ship. Some of these rules might sound a little ridiculous to us today. Others are undoubtedly a product of their time. But many sailors treated them as law. As odd as they seem, though, it's only human to want to control things in the face of danger. But when you're at the mercy of the sea, the only thing you can really control is yourself. In seeking to make sense of the sea, people the world over have come up with a shockingly similar hypothesis. Boats didn't just disappear because of weather or wind or bad timing. These weren't tragic accidents or terrible mistakes. Instead, something stalked these ships with a deadly purpose. They weren't simply lost at sea. They were hunted. And they're hunter? A monster from the deep. I'm Aaron Mankey, and this is Lore Legends. ♪♪ As long as we've been crossing oceans, we've been worried about what lurks underneath the waves. For example, Inuit people along the Bering Sea have long told tales of the Aclut, a ferocious creature the same size and shape as a killer whale. A fisherman being chased by one of these predators might think reaching shore would keep them safe. But sometimes as they pull their boat up onto the ice, they'll discover that this is no normal orca. The killer whale's limbs would grow long and dark fur would sprout from its skin. And then finally, a wolf would emerge from the surf, and the hunt would be on again. In Japan, people feared the Akugio, a mermaid-like creature with the head and arms of a woman, the body of a fish, and twin white horns. The Akugio was an opportunity killer. It laid in weight just under the surface waiting for a boat to sail too close. Hidden in the water, its back would act like a sandbar causing the boat to get stuck. And then, with a flick of its tail, the Akugio would capsize the boat and eat everyone on board. But I'm guessing that there was a particular image that appeared in your mind when I first said the word sea monster. A giant gelatinous head, long tentacles covered in suckers, and of course, a wicked sharp beak. I'm speaking, of course, of a kraken. Now, the idea of a giant squid-like creature can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece, where Aristotle wrote of a beast he called toothos back in 350 BC. But the classic version that we picture today and the word kraken itself both come from medieval Scandinavia. Around the 1200s, Scandinavian sailors returned to shore with fantastical tales. They claimed they saw a creature with long, muscular tentacles strong enough to completely destroy a ship. Around the same time, a Norwegian manuscript called the King's Mirror told of an indescribably large fish in the sea near Iceland. The beast was the size of an island, and its mouth was as large as a fjord.
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