A molecular ecology professor has supplied a captivating clarification for the legendary tales of sea monster sightings in sailors' lore.

Professor Michael Candy, who teaches on the College of Derby in Derby, England, shared his concept in a viral Twitterthread on April 8. "Again within the day, vacationers/explorers would draw what they noticed," he defined in a publish with over 95,000 likes. "That is the place many sea monster tales come from."

Candy went on to elucidate that sailors glimpsed "tentacled and alienesque appendages rising from the water" that led them to think about a sinister creature lurking beneath the floor.

"...nevertheless, many instances it was simply whale dicks," he wrote.

Alongside the publish, the professor shared images of erect blue whale penises and a famed alleged picture of the Loch Ness Monster from 1934.

Sea Monsters Were Most Likely Whale Penises
A molecular ecology professor has defined that many sightings of "sea monsters" in sailors' lore have been almost definitely sightings of whale penises. Right here, a1934 picture that was believed to seize the Loch Ness Monster. The picture was later uncovered as a hoax.Keystone / Stringer/Hulton Archive

"Whales usually mate in teams so whereas one male is busy with the feminine the opposite male simply pops his dick out of the water whereas swimming round ready his flip," Candy added in a follow-up tweet. "Everybody's gotta have a little bit of enjoyable, proper?"

Blue whales have the biggest penis within the animal kingdom, starting from eight to 10 ft in size with a foot diameter, in response to the Smithsonian Journal. Every of the blue whale's testes alone can weigh as much as 150 kilos.

Candy clarified to Reside Science final week that the picture of the Loch Ness Monster merely supplied an instance to show how sailors traditionally described sea monsters. Since there are not any whales in Loch Ness, the 1934 picture supposedly portraying the creature of Scottish legend can't be attributed to whale genitalia.

Nonetheless, the existence of the monster affectionately referred to as "Nessie" has been broadly debunked by the scientific neighborhood and the 1934 picture has been uncovered as an elaborate hoax. In 1994, one of many males behind the picture confessed to his half in staging it, in response to the Museum of Hoaxes web site.

Though a whale penis was not behind Nessie's picture, Candy informed Reside Science that his concept nonetheless stood for different claimed sea monster sightings by "drained and half-starved sailors" touring the world.

Candy's thread entertained 1000's of readers.

"So these krakens that sailors drew have been simply 15 male whales ready their flip?" requested a person who glided by @JesseKenya.

"There was a hidden message in Moby Dick's title," quipped one other with the username @sofistaserfista.

Newsweek reached out to Professor Candy for remark.