Ever since Noah was a middie man has understood that the sea is the repository of awe, mystery, and you shouldn't turn your back on it for a second.  Two thirds of the Earth's surface is covered by water and what lies beneath is as great a mystery as what's in the Thursday Special at Joe's House of Ptomaine.  Small wonder that the oceans of the world are often looked upon as potential sources of apocalyptic disaster.  One episode of getting stuck in a boat with a load of stinky animals and not a square inch of land in sight  leaves an impression. 

Usually, the menace from the sea is one of good old climactic disaster of the Universal Deluge variety.  A massive earthquake, or the collapse of the Antarctic ice pack, or the odd passing heavenly body tears the seas from their beds, great cities vanish beneath the waves, coastlines are forever altered,  and the next thing you know your flat in Bradford is ocean front property.

Then there's the threat of unknown life that we've carelessly overlooked crawling out of the depths to reek havoc on an unprepared world.  Sea serpents crush ships, giant squid devour sailors like pop corn, and monster prawns with 70mm guns on their backs creep ashore while onlookers go "Waaahhhhh?????"

In 1953, John Wyndham's novel The Kraken Wakes told the story of a complacent world unable to come to grips with the growing threat from an intelligent race taking up residence in the deepest parts of the oceans.  At first the humans lose a few diving bells and remote cameras, then ships begin to sink, then man is driven from the sea entirely, and finally huge tank-like things start rolling ashore and squirt out sticky tentacles that they use to snare people for some unknown reason. 

A sort of turnabout sushi is suspected.

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