Ancient mariners brought back strange and frightening stories of having sighted monsters during their voyages in the open seas.
To perpetuate the sea-monster myths, postal officials in Palau, a U.S.-administered trust territory in the western Pacific, have issued a sheetlet of 25 different 29-cent stamps forming a unified design image titled "Prehistoric and Legendary Monsters of the Pacific."The top row features the pterosaur and the plesiosaur. The pterosaur bears a striking resemblance to Scotland's Loch Less Monster. The plesiosaur was a giant flying creature coming from the oceans during the same period.
The second row depicts the giant crab and the lake serpent, which have been described in the Pacific waters by sailors of yesteryear.
The third row illustrates the kraken of Greek and Chinese mythology and is said to be the predecessor of the giant squid.
The fourth row shows the giant nautilus, a multitentacled deep-sea mollusk whose ancestry dates back to the Paleozoic age.
The bottom row displays the giant kronosaur (more than 60 feet long), whose fossilized remains have been found in waters near Australia.
For further information on the Palau sheetlets, write to: Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corp., 450 W. 34th St., New York, NY 10001.
- Syd Kronish