I imagined a pterodactyl (pterosaur)

There is a ghost yacht floating off the coast of Australia; floating with one of its sails badly shredded. The table is set for dinner. The life-jackets are stowed away. The crew is missing.

Why isn’t the BBC asking the tough questions? What if they were snatched off the boat by hungry, flying reptiles? Or else, serenaded to their doom by lusty sirens?

Is the colossal squid to blame?

I don’t want to make light of this – I can’t imagine what the crew’s families are going through right now – but these stories always dredge up the most primeval, animal terrors in me. Terros mixed with a sense of wonder that inspires the hapless heroes of folk tales and horror films to explore the strange sounds in the attic, the glittering lights in the highest tower of Castle Dracula, the growl of the Leviathan at the bottom of the sea…