Little information could be found on the topic of the Australian Enigma, which in its self is not a cryptid, but rather a name given to an unknown beast with only one known encounter. As the tale of the Australian Enigma goes, in 1808 an Australian three masted bark was allegedly attacked by this creature, which according to reports, had climbed across the bow of the ship and had bitten, or chewed, one of the deck hands.
The only real physical description of the creature which can be gathered from this report is that of its eyes which were reported to be the size of a warrior’s shield. The Australian Enigma’s vicious attack only ended after the captain of the ship returned from below deck with two firearms, aiming carefully the captain reportedly fired two shots, one into each of the creature’s large eyes. The captain hit his marks and with a bullet lodged in each eye the creature slipped back into the depths.
Some investigators have suggested that this could be an example of an early encounter with the now scientifically accepted giant squid or possibly an example of giant octopus. In the 1800’s ships often reported being attacked by large unknown creatures from below, only to dry dock and find strange circular marks on the ships hull. These incidences where later thought to be the work of giant squids, attaching, from below, what they thought to be a whale.
Others have suggested that this encounter details the appearance of a creature not yet known to science. With so little information it is almost certain we will never known exactly what was seen that day.
Although in recent years the existence of the Giant Squid has been proven, there is no way to tell if the Australian Enigma is an example of this creature attacking a sea faring vessel, hence there is no physical evidence to suggest what this creature was.
There has only been one sighting of the Australian Enigma to date, the limited details of that sighting is outlined above.
The Stats– (Where applicable)
• Classification: Sea Monster
• Size: Unknown
• Weight: Unknown
• Diet: Unknown, most likely carnivorous
• Location: Unknown
• Movement: Unknown, presumably swimming
• Environment: Ocean