Travel by ship can be a notoriously dull affair, but tales of mysterious and unexplained events at sea abound. Whether related by an old salt in a dockside tavern or spread by a ship’s crew at the scuttlebutt, their veracity is always in question. Surely, though, there’s some element of truth within each that hides a pearl. Fair winds and following seas on your next venture across the waves, but be wary of the sea mysterious…

1. The ship travels into a vast swath of the sea that glows a pale, milky white. It is a natural phenomenon that covers miles upon miles but lends an eerie feeling to the nighttime and gives rise to tall tales spread by the superstitious crew.
2. The body of a recently deceased sailor is discovered on deck. He looks exactly like one of the current crewmembers, who is still alive and well aboard the ship, but is wearing attire from a bygone era.
3. As night approaches, a crew member spots a bloated and decomposing body floating by just beneath the surface of the water, arms feebly reaching up toward the ship. Its mouth slowly opens and closes as if gasping for breath.
4. An enormous vampire squid, normally a deep sea-dwelling creature, is startled near the surface by the ship’s passing late one night. It has doused one side of the ship below the waterline with its bioluminescent blue ink that glows brightly in the darkness for a brief time.
5. The ship comes across a region of the sea that is exceptionally calm and clear to depths of several hundred feet and dominated by an enormous forest of giant kelp. The top of a sunken ship’s mainmast can be spotted far below.
6. The tops of spires, walls, and buildings occasionally breach the ocean surface across a vast area as the vessel comes across a previously unknown sunken city. Shadowy ruins can be glimpsed in the depths below, but being so far from land, one must wonder about its origins.
7. An enormous nautilus shell easily twice the size of the ship comes into view on the near horizon, its pearly shell gleaming brightly in the midday sun. Upon approach, it sinks back into the depths, and sailors begin yarning about the heart of the ocean and its eternal protector to any passengers willing to listen.
8. A large, cork-stoppered bottle is discovered floating in the sea and is brought aboard. It contains a miniaturized version of the very ship that has found it, down to the last detail, but it is in a state that would indicate it has sunk or been shipwrecked.
9. Enormous bubbles begin rising from the depths and break against the hull, following the course of the ship for some time. Although harmless enough, each bubble gently rocks the ship and makes one wonder exactly what lies below sending them to the surface.
10. In the dead of night, the whispering voice of a young boy is heard at various times and places throughout the ship. His ghostly form is later spotted in the bow, pointing down into the sea. Shortly thereafter, he tumbles into the water and disappears, and his whispering is no longer heard.
11. Those below deck suddenly hear the sound of something scraping along the exterior hull of the ship. Later inspection reveals a long line of deep gouges running its entire length and a single large claw embedded deep in the keel near the stern.
12. The ship comes across large pieces of flotsam scattered over a large area. While bits and pieces of cargo can be salvaged, there are seemingly no bodies to recover. Further investigation indicates the ship was of unusual design and doesn’t appear to have spent any time in the water at all.

<<Previously