This work, after being started by Turner in the town of Margate, England, was left unfinished for undetermined reasons. The main feature of the piece is the eponymous "sea monster(s)" supposedly represented by the dark swirls to the bottom-left; whether there is one creature or more is also a topic of debate. Other interpretations include the following: there is nothing at all there; the scene represents a space as pure feeling; certain shapes could be interpreted as a marine float; there are icebergs in the distance; and that the work resulted from Turner's possession of a morphine-esque drug.