Selma is a legendary sea serpent said to live in the 13-kilometre-long (8-mile) Lake Seljord (Seljordsvatnet) in Seljord, Vestfold og Telemark, Norway
The sea serpent Selma has been depicted in the coat of arms of
Seljord since 1989.
Designed by sculpturer, Trygve Magnus Barstad, the
arms show Selma in a gold-color on a red background.
The oldest written account of the creature dates from 1750, when it was said to have rounded a rowboat belonging to a man from Bø rowing across from Ulvenes to Nes.
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One early documented sighting of Selma dates back to
1880 when a man named Bjorn Bjorge, and his mother Gunhild, were superpose to
have cut an attacking serpent in half.
According to this report the lower
portion of the creature squirmed back into the lake while the front half
was left to rot on the shore.
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Early one morning in the summer of 1918, Karl Karlsson walked down to the
bridge at Sandnes to do a little fishing . Suddenly he saw a strange
animal in the water closing in fast. It came so close and Karl was so scared that he threw down his fishing rod and ran. He described
the animals head as that of a horse. It was held about three feet out of
the water. When the animal came within 150 feet of the bridge it
stopped, sank straight down and disappeared.
That summer Torgil Bjorge found large meat-like chunks, like from
a serpent like creature, floating on Lake Seljordsvatnet close to
Sandnes. On another occasion he saw an animal on the beach resembling a
crocodile, which quickly vanished into a pile of stones. Two years
later, Eivind Fjodstuft went out on Sinnesodden to fish. It was an
unusually warm, calm day with an unbroken surface. When he came to the
point he saw a strange animal on its way out of the lake and onto the
cliffs. It turned back when Eivind came towards it and slipped down into
the water.
He described the animal as 15-20 meters long, narrowing and with a
head resembling the head of a crocodile.
The animal was black in color
and had finlike feet at the front part, right below its neck. He saw no
eyes or mouth, but the animal turned its head from side to side and
seemed to scout and listen. When it discovered Eivind it quickly went
back into the water again.
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In 1996, two men were fishing around dusk on
Lake Seljordsvatnet when the silence was broken by a sudden commotion in
the water. A horse like head attached to a ten foot long neck rose from
the water, the creature starred at the two fisherman from about 8
inches away before slowly submerging back into the water.
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Early one morning in July, 2001, a father and son from Oslo, who
wished to remain nameless, decided to take a quick walk down to the lake
for a refreshing swim. When they were about 100 yards away they noticed
something strange on the beach but assumed that it was either a fallen
log or pile of old car tires that had washed ashore over night. The two
stopped about 30 feet from the beach as they witnessed what they could
only describe as a giant snake just at the waters edge.
Its head towards the water unaware of their
presence but as they watched the son stumbled, making a noise, and the
beast turned its long neck around and stared at directly at them .
According to these two witnesses, who are reported to be respected
members of their communities, the creature's head was as large as a
calves. The encounter lasted roughly 10 seconds before the beast swung
its head back towards the lake and glided into the lake. The two
described it as having an enormous body, which was at least 30 feet
long, and was as thick as a car tire.
Since 1977, Jan Ove Sundberg, president and founder of GUST, the
Global Underwater Search Team, has been on the front lines of the search
for Selma and many of Norway's other so called Lake Monsters.
Collecting first hand accounts of the creature as well as leading his
team to the lake in attempts to located Selma using sonar and
hydrophones.
In August of 2000, Sundberg led a team comprised of international
researchers, along with two Norwegian molecular biologists, on a
mission to capture a live specimen of the creature known as Selma. The
team planned to use the COMET, Co-Operative Monster Eel Trap, a
specially designed monster trap professionally made by InnFsik AS at
Homnes outside Kristiansand on the coast of southern Norway. The trap
was named as such to get around the fact that Selma, and creatures like
her, are protected and illegal to catch, or so the Norwegian authorities
claim.
The COMET was 18 feet long, 15 feet in circumference and has a
cone like opening where the designers expected the catch to enter,
attracted by the live fish that were used as bait. The creature would
never actually reach the fish however, as they are sectioned by
themselves and when any creature who enters tries to escape the trap its
construction would not allow it to. The idea to use such a trap
originally came from limnologist Dr. Atle Hindar at The Norwegian
Institute of Water Research.
The plan was to use COMET to capture a juvenile serpent, between 3
and 15 feet in length, take DNA and other samples, then tag the
creature and release it back into the wild. Molecular biologists at a
Norwegian university, who where standing by, would then analyze the data
in order to categorize the creature and determine its genus.
Unfortunately the team and their trap came up empty, but they did get
some interesting sonar readings during this trip.
Speculations as to what the creature really is have ranged from
giant catfish, giant eels, prehistoric relics and giant anacondas.
Although reptiles are not thought to be capable of surviving in waters
as cold as Lake Seljordsvatnet, some have suggested that a form of
reptile may have evolved to survive in such a harsh environment. With
GUST leading expeditions to the lake almost every year, and their team
of experts growing larger every day, it is only a matter of time before
this prestigious crew of explorers brings the identity of Selma to light
in an international spotlight, proving the existence of the Lake
Monsters to the world.
Have fun in teh lake but swim with caution, you never know whats lurking just below the waves.