Some more creature design I did a while ago which still holds up, and is still canon in terms of Wonderwit and that whole worldbuild haha.
It’s a fish, it’s a whale, no! It’s a sea serpent!
The big one, while still colloquially regarded as the same thing by some groups of people, is very much a different thing, in that it’s a separate manifestation of strong currents in the ocean which has taken the form of something resembling sea serpents. In various cultures it is a god, or at least a higher being, either worthy of worship or fear. It is a menace to boats and people alike, though not always intentionally, and it is rare. Incredibly rare to the point where some people, despite documented evidence of its existence, still call it a hoax.
Because what it is not, is made of flesh and bone, unlike the others.
Sea Serpents that are flesh and bone are a relatively new lineage, descants of semi-aquatic lizards that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, and went through rapid evolutionary changes as they were pushed further out to sea. But, because of sharks they were never able to get a decent foothold in any position of apex predators, and the when whales came onto the scene, Sea Serpents started to get outcompeted. Now, only a few species survive, clinging to small niches in remote locations.
All Sea Serpents still have specially adapted scales that almost resemble odd fins, which are used as a sort of sensory organ, detecting vibrations and electrical signals in the water.
The smaller three are all technically Sea Serpents, though only the long pink one is called a Sea Serpent due to its shape being more snakelike. It uses large “teeth” to crush through the shells of clams, turtles, and break the skulls of anything it can fit its jaws around. They live close to the shores in kelp forests and coral reefs, nearly an apex predator. Fortunately, it doesn’t really like the taste of humans, and they’ll usually only attack in self defense, though some man eaters have been reported before.
The largest one is called an Odd Whale, despite it not being a whale, or even a mammal. People thought it looked like a whale, and they thought it looked odd, and when people looked out into the water and said, “Hey, I think I see an odd lookin whale over there!” The name stuck. Odd Whales are very small compared to other whales, and generally like to stay in mangroves and shallow oceans. It is slow and mostly herbivorous, and no serious threat to humans. It’s more of the opposite, since many people would see it while fishing or hunting and simply shoot it to figure out what it is. Thankfully, it’s making a comeback.
The smallest Sea Serpents is the Surfice. They’re small, but very tenacious, very strong, and so fast it’s broken. They hunt like sharks, and their complete range is unknown. What is known is that humans have to make sure the Surfices continue to have a healthy fear of them, because when they don’t, they start frequenting beaches. Unfortunately, kids, people dragged away by rip currents, and surfers that stray too far from shore are very tasty looking targets. Sometimes even worth a fight.
Here’s some skeletal structures I sketched out while designing these guys!