The Scottish Maritime Museum will host an afternoon of talks on maritime folklore, myths and monsters on Saturday, August 20 as part of the award-winning attraction’s summer blockbuster exhibition ‘Sea Monsters!’.

During the ‘Voices from the Deep’ event, researchers Shelby Judge and Adam Flynn will introduce guests to some of the weird, wonderful and eerie sea monsters ‘spotted’ in Scotland, Denmark, Greece and Japan since the Middle Ages.

Talking at the Museum on Irvine Harbourside, Shelby will discuss selkies, kelpies and the Loch Ness Monster of Scottish folklore before journeying afield to the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis of Greek myth and the Umibōzu of Japanese myth. Pondering what these sea monsters symbolise, Shelby will look at the cultures and anxieties of the people who told these myths.

Adam will step back in time to 1546 when the half-human, half-fish ‘Sea Monk’ ‘raised its head’ off the coast of Denmark.

Bearing a humanoid head, scaled body in the shape of a monastic habit and a large pair of tentacles in place of arms, the ‘Sea Monk’ featured across naturalist books, medical treatises and popular ‘broadsides’ or posters. Adam will end with some tentative answers to the complex question of what reality – if any – lay behind this strange being.

The talks will each run for 20 minutes followed by a Q&A.

Bilyana Palankasova, Exhibition and Events Officer at the Scottish Maritime Museum, said: “We’re thrilled to offer visitors this really thought-provoking afternoon with Shelby and Adam.

“We look forward to hearing them share their fascinating and informed understanding of sea monsters and discuss some intriguing ideas about what these mysteries of the deep say about different cultures and our human anxieties.

“With Voices of the Deep, our new film season and exhibition and all our related ‘Come and Sea Us’ children’s activities, visitors can take a fabulous deep dive into the amazing world of sea monsters this summer with lots of fun and learning along the way!”

The Scottish Maritime Museum’s ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition celebrates the fantastical and mythical sea creatures of Scottish legend and maritime mythology across the world.

The Museum’s first ever movie season will give visitors the chance to experience the magic of some of the best loved sea and sea monster movies within the stunning setting of the vast and atmospheric Victorian Linthouse.

The six movie screenings -which will feature ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘20,000 Leagues under the Sea’, ‘Splash!’, ‘Deep Blue Sea’, ‘The Shape of Water’ and ‘Luca’ - will run every second Sunday until the end of the ‘Sea Monsters!’ exhibition on October 31.