serpents are an easy mark I think, because people get short glimpses of sea critters in the water and they may be thinner in body or proportion like a whale, dolphin, shark, etc…and it may be the movements of the things that make people think serpent (though many of the accounts oceans/lakes talk of the undulation movements, but we’ll leave that for another discussion).

I am guessing we are dealing with something that has evolved beyond the dinosaur motif…after all, there are several hundred million years between them and us, and part of our classification problems may stem from the fact that people are seeing something that has characteristics of the old creatures, but had adapted and evolved into newer forms of reptiles/mammals, etc…not that I have any proof of such claims, but it is a theory I entertain…

however, i tend to go along with Huevelmanns, when he talked about several different varieties of critters roaming the oceans, and that too would muddle classification if we have long necked seals, actual serpents and what not…personally, I would love to see a kronosaur:)