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Unknown Cetacean of t he Sout h Pacific and 
Nor t h At lant ic Oceans.

Etymology: Aft er t he scient ific r esear ch ship 
Magenta.

Scientific name: Amphiptera pacifica, given by 
Enr ico Hillyer Giglioli in 1870.

Variant names: Mongitore’s Monstrous 
Fish, Rhinocer os whale.

Physical description: Lengt h, 60 feet . Gr aygr 
een back. Lower par t s ar e gr ayish-whit e. Muzzle 
is lar ge and blunt . Lower jaw is slight ly longer 
t han t he upper . Two dor sal fins, 6 feet apar t .

Distribution: Sout h Pacific and Nor t h At - 
lant ic Oceans; possibly t he Medit er r anean Sea.

Significant sightings: A t wo-finned baleen 
whale was observed Sept ember 4, 1867, by Enr 
ico Hillyer Giglioli on t he ship Magenta in t he 
Sout h Pacific Ocean, about 1,000 miles off t he 
coast of Chile. The dist ance between t he animal’s 
two fins was about 6.6 feet , and it was gr ayishgr 
een above and gr ayish-whit e below. It had no 
ridges on t he t op of it s head or on it s t hroat .

A sea monst er wit h two dor sal fins about 20 
feet apar t was seen by Alexander Taylor and t he 
cr ew of t he fishing boat Lily off t he coast of 
St onehaven, Aber deenshir e, Scot land, in Oct ober 
1898. It spout ed like a whale and was about 
68 feet long.

On July 17, 1983, a sailboat was followed by 
a large animal wit h two dor sal fins, a t r apezoidal 
head, and a whit e belly in t he Medit er r anean 
between Cor sica and Cavalair e-sur -Mer , Fr ance.

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