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.