cryptozoology the science of the unknown

New logo !

2012-01-28T13:33:00.000-08:00

Cryptozoology Science of the Unknown has a new logo!

St. George and the Dragon Pictures

2012-01-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here are 50 Photos of St. George and the Dragon! If you're interested in learning more about St. George and the Dragon, Wikipedia has a great article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._George_and_the_Dragon

Cryptozoology the Science of the Unknown now on Google+

2012-01-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

Cryptozoology The Science of the Unknown is now on Google+ Check out our new page and see our post about a Sea Monster that washed up on Delrey Beach! https://plus.google.com/b/105197362164425625931/105197362164425625931/posts

The Resurrection of Cryptozoology the Science of the Unknown

2012-01-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Alright, so Cryptozoology the Science of the Unknown is long overdue for a post... Starting today, the postings will be less on the sporatic side, and heaver in quantity. To commerate this, we will be posting a plethora of Cryptozoology pictures, old, new, known, and unknown. We encourage you to join in by either emailing your pictures to: cryptozoologythescienceoftheunknown@gmail.com or commenting with your picture. Please feel free to leave your name/how you found (or where you took) the picture, so that we can give credit where credit is due. If you would like to remain annoymous, we understand that as well.

Two new Nessie sightings recounted

2011-08-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

Here is an article I found on two of the newest Nessie sightings, enjoy! (taken from http://ringsidereport.com/?p=13611)

By Mike Plunkett

After a colder than average winter things have really begun to heat up in and around Scotland’s Loch Ness. There have been two high profile sightings of Nessie over the last few months, one of which was caught on film, leaving both doubters and believers much to ponder.
Foyers shop and café owners Simon and Jan Hargreaves are convinced they saw Nessie on Wednesday June 23rd at approximately 2 to 3pm from the front deck of their café, a vantage point that overlooks the loch. Taking a moment to themselves on break, Mrs. Hargreaves and kitchen worker Graham Baine glimpsed a strange and unusually large figure cutting a swath through the water. “We were standing looking out and saw something that looked bizarre. I said to my husband to come and have a look. We stand here all the time and look out and we see boats and kayaks but it didn’t look like anything we have seen here before. It went under the water and disappeared for probably 30 to 40 seconds and then came back up again. It was around for a good four to five minutes. It was just so strange.”
Their vantage point overlooking the loch, despite being quite a distance from the creature, afforded them enough detail to make out an unusually long neck, too long to belong to that of a seal, attached to a large black body. Longtime Nessie hunter Steve Feltham, who lives in a former mobile library turned research centre on Dores beach, heard about the sighting when he paid a visit to the store recently. He attributes more credibility to the claim given it was made by actual residents of the loch as opposed to tourists. “I’m excited by the fact it was locals who had seen it. It’s quite a distance from the shop to the water and they watch everything that goes on there. For them to be impressed then there is a possibility it could have been Nessie.” What particularly excited Feltham was that it was from the exact same vantage point where Tim Dinsdale shot the best footage of the legendary creature to date back in 1960.
On May 24th at approximately 11am in the morning, William Jobes, 62, believes that he may have captured Nessie on camera after 45 years of hoping for the perfect opportunity to capture the elusive legend on film.
Walking along a footpath in Fort Augustus with his wife Joan, he spotted what appeared to be a head bobbing above the water 200 to 300 yards from the shoreline. “I had a wonderful shock. I have actually been coming up to Inverness for the past 45 years and I have never seen anything like this before”, said Jobes. Quickly making good use of his camera, he managed to snap a picture before the head submerged under the surface of the water. But as soon as that moment passed another quickly began. A dark hump-like shape broke the waves, providing an additional opportunity to take more pictures before it finally submerged into the murky depths. Jobes is convinced that what he saw and photographed was not a seal or a piece of drifting timber. He believes he caught the legendary Loch Ness Monster in all of its glory. “To be honest I know the difference between a piece of wood or a particular animal. I immediately did think it was a seal but its head was like a sheep.” After viewing Jobes’ pictures, veteran Nessie hunter Steve Feltham was guarded in his assessment on what he believes was caught on camera, despite admitting the hump photograph cannot be immediately explained. Feltham believes the matter is worth further investigation. “The River Ness comes out there and something large could have come down the river and flowed out there,” he suggested.
For this writer the evidence continues to mount that something very unexplainable resides in Loch Ness. If I personally saw the Loch Ness Monster, I’d be inclined to say nothing. If I snapped a picture of Nessie I’d also be inclined to sit on my hands and say nothing. Why? Quite simply because of all of the doubt and dissent that would be cast upon me. The ridicule alone would make such a claim virtually a losing proposition, a complete deal breaker. The fact is we in society today talk ourselves into doubt, shooting holes into every possible avenue of explanation that veers beyond convention, to the point we are certain we have formulated the answer and have exposed a fake, an optical illusion or hoax. But in the same breath history is full of those that have tried to pull one over on us. Add to that arrogance, the arrogance of science and so often of those that subscribe to its demand for hard evidence, all too often open-ended theories and conclusions, and what you end up with is a process that demands doubt from all of us, under the threat of ridicule.
Going back to my original thoughts on the matter, I have to wonder why somebody would report a sighting to the media or submit a chance photograph given the doubt and dispersion surely to follow. Even more to the point, why somebody in this day and age of photographic skullduggery would volunteer personal information, further opening themselves to ridicule on all fronts. But a sense of strong personal conviction can be a powerful inducement to those blessed enough or cursed enough to experience an amazing moment that mainstream science and the world around us tell us cannot possibly happen. Are we to believe that the media reporting these alleged events was 100% professional and not given to any degree of sarcasm? Are we to assume there were mitigating factors at play, such as an agenda, drink or perhaps just the simple desire to see something fantastic and elusive? Or did the camera lie?
I’ll close it with this; the shot looks damned compelling and given the centuries old legend surrounding Loch Ness, the fact that if it could fool a few it would fool many, why didn’t other sighting reports or similar pictures in this day and age of portable cameras record something amazing on May 24th and make their way to the light of day? I mean, if it was just a log, wouldn’t it have been carried by the current downstream for miles for others to see in a similar, compelling state? Hard to believe that such a log would merely surface and pose for a single compelling shot, in a way Nessie has been reported multiple times by folk from different strata of society over the years, then suddenly sink to the bottom again, as if somebody were playing a cruel prank on our senses. Maybe there’s something more to Loch Ness than what we can fathom at this point in time. Maybe it’s something that defies science and our arrogance to control perception, something that exceeds probability and calculation, and those that see it are damned by the rest of us, picture and willingness to fess up notwithstanding.

Twitter!

2011-08-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Cryptozoology the Science of the Unknown is now up and running on Twitter!!

Our URL is: http://twitter.com/#!/cryptidnews follow us for Cryptozoology news! -- Suzanne Markoya

Sasquatch (Bigfoot)

2010-10-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Sasquatch (Bigfoot)

Sasquatch (Bigfoot) is one of Cryptozoology's most famous cryptids (but, I'm sure you already know this) I definitely have serious doubts as to the credibility of Sasquatch and even doing a cryptid this well known is difficult because of the sheer volume of information that is out there. But, I feel the need to do this post, because after all... I do live in Big Foot territory.
First off, here is a map of where Big Foot is sighted most. (according to the link to the site below there are more sightings than listed in this map, but it is better to have more than one source)

Description

" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigfoot (although Wikipedia is normally a great source of information, aside from the description the article on Sasquatch was less informative than many Bigfoot websites)

Bigfoot is described in reports as a large hairy ape-like creature, ranging between 6–10 feet (2–3 m) tall, weighing in excess of 500 pounds (230 kg), and covered in dark brown or dark reddish hair.^[4]^[8] Alleged witnesses have described large eyes, a pronounced brow ridge, and a large, low-set forehead; the top of the head has been described as rounded and crested, similar to the sagittal crest of the male gorilla. Bigfoot is commonly reported to have a strong, unpleasant smell by those who claim to have encountered it.^[9] The enormous footprints for which it is named have been as large as 24 inches (60 cm) long and 8 inches (20 cm) wide.^[8] While most casts have five toes—like all known apes—some casts of alleged Bigfoot tracks have had numbers ranging from two to six.^[10] Some have also contained claw marks, making it likely that a portion came from known animals such as bears, which have five toes and claws.^[11]^[12] Some proponents have also claimed that Bigfoot is omnivorous and mainly nocturnal.^{[13] "}

I personally spend the greater part of my time in Oregon and California and have lived in several of the places where Bigfoot has been sighted. One being the Mendocino Coast, in California. Although I have not been lucky enough to sight a Sasquatch myself I can attest to the possibility of such an animal being able to reside in the area without being sighted often, or at all. Some of the area is densely covered in woods and has a sparse population. Here is a eyewitness account from the Mendocino/Fort Bragg area.

Fort Bragg/Mendocino County , California - 1977...
Woodlands along Little Lake Road
Submitted: Thursday, December 10, 1998 10:05 AM

I was squatting in the woods out Little Lake Road of Mendocino, California. I've spent most of my life in the woods of California or Maine, even had resident pet black bears that would come to the open dump at the back of the property. One night, I'm laying in my tent...It was late (2 am) and I woke up and heard something through the woods about fifty yards away is my guess. There was stomping and crashing of smaller trees started going on. It was loud. I was surprised at first and a little afraid because I was squatting illegally on state property. With my familiarity of the noises of the night in the woods, I listened carefully to try to determine or identify what was making the noise. My first assessment was that it was bipedal...not a bear or a deer. Realizing this scared me the most. Understanding the force necessary to cause the destructive sounds I was listening to scared me even further...

I don't know if profanity is allowed or acceptable, but I was more effin afraid than I could ever remember, praying that what I was listening to wouldn't start moving towards my tent. The noise sounded like a two-legged monster crashing through the woods hastily as if trying to make quick time CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH !!! It was then I realized that I heard a dog or maybe more than one dog barking in pursuit. Gratefully the noise was not coming towards me and I suspected that whatever was moving so quickly and violently through the woods was trying to elude the dog(s). I think this whole event lasted about 30 seconds and then the crashing stopped. It was then the next scariest thing happened. The dog barked a few more times and then it made that sound dogs make when they are brutally injured. After that...I did not hear a single damned thing except the fear white noise inside my head.

You know I worked I worked as a split maker for a year on LP land in Mendocino County and as a timber operator for about five years east of the Fort Bragg and Mendocino area. I worked alone very often. I was surprised to read a post on this website wherein the person who wrote it also said they often felt (and somehow knew) they were not alone when in the woods. I would turn off my chainsaw now and then and I could "feel" something watching me.

The last strange thing I would share with you about the last 22 years of my life, 2 -12 miles East of Fort Bragg, California in the woods is the frequent discovery of disemboweled animals, simply that......disemboweled...the rest of the animal in tact. What an eclectic mix we are in the wonderful County of Mendocino. Please keep me as anonymous as possible and do not publish my telephone number

...Thank you,
JS - fke

Here is a very interesting account from Crescent City, CA (which is several hours North of sight where the above account takes place) I have also stayed in

Crescent City, California

It was late August 1995. My wife and I went on what we thought would be our dream vacation. We flew into Portland, Oregon, and rented a car at the airport. Our plan was to sight see around Portland a few days before continuing with the rest of the vacation. Then we drove Hwy 99 west to Hwy 18 over to I-101 south we were going to take a few days to drive down to San Francisco.

So far everything was going perfect. We put lots of miles behind us before stopping in Crescent City, California that night. We stayed in a hotel just across the street from the marina.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant while we talked about the day's adventures and what we were planning for tomorrow. Then we went back to the room to get some sleep before getting up early and starting on our way. I'm a truck driver by trade and I like to get started early before the mourning traffic starts. We jumped in the car and south on 101.

It took only one minute and Mary was asleep but she told me to wake her if I saw something for her to look at. It wasn't too long after that when I spotted a beach with black sand so I pulled over and put the car in park and shut it off. I was going to wake Mary up and see if she wanted to take a walk on the beach. I just started to turn around when I saw something moving out the corner of my eye. I turned to see this big thing standing right in front of my car at first I thought it was a bear until our eyes met. I couldn't move or speak, we just locked eyes for what seemed to be forever. It stood about 6½ to 7 ft, dark brown matted hair, and was holding what looked to be sea weed which it used both hands to carry.

It didn't seem startled in fact I felt it was looking at me with anger in its eyes. It let go a snort and a glob of snot hit the windshield right in front of my face. It then took 3 or 4 steps and completely crossed the highway while it was still looking at me. It was then when I heard the squeal of tires and the beeping of a horn. The thing disappeared into the woods and I knew I wasn't the only one to see it that day. I was back on the road in a flash not even going to ask the other driver if he or she was ok. About a mile down the road a 4 wheel drive pulled up behind me with flashers on so I pulled over to the side thinking I was getting a ticket. But it was the other driver I walked to his jeep and we started to talk about the event, then my wife started to get out of the car and I told him not to say anything. I just told her I was asking questions about places to see along the way. I never told anyone about that day which I still lose sleep over. And I wish I got that guy's name and number because now I would like to talk about it. Maybe by putting the story on your web page at www.bigfootencounters.com I will find the other driver. Hope you can help.

SLEEPLESS in Pennysylvannia

The two above account was taken from http://www.bigfootencounters.com/, the most complete site I've found on Bigfoot sightings, if you are interested please click the link above, and then the sightings button on the left hand side of the screen.

The Skunk Ape (which is found in southern United States) closely resembles the Sasquatch in that they are both possibly hominid in form and both are reported to have a strong odor that can be smelled from quite a ways off.

Some short info on the skunk ape, it's diet, habitat, a fact file, baiting, and some other information (I would've posted pictures and information from this and one other sight but both had requests that their information and photo's not be shared on other websites)

Skunk ape sightings in past years http://www.skunkapefiles.com/sighting.html

Sightings in 2010 http://www.skunkapefiles.com/sightingsreported2010.html

Skunk ape

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Skunk Ape

One of the two alleged Myakka Skunk Ape photographs taken in 2000
Creature
Grouping	cryptid
Sub grouping	hominid
Data
Country	United States
Region	Southeastern States
Habitat	Swamps

The Skunk Ape is a hominid cryptid said to inhabit the Southern United States,[1] from places such as North Carolina and Arkansas, although reports from Florida are most common. It is named for its appearance and for the unpleasant odor that is said to accompany it. Some reports say the skunk ape is so stinky because it rolls itself in animal carcasses to get people to leave it alone^[citation needed^]. According to the United States National Park Service, the skunk ape exists only as a local myth.[2] Reports of the Skunk ape were particularly common in the 1960s and 1970s. In the fall of 1974, numerous sightings were reported in suburban neighborhoods of Dade County, Florida, of a large, foul-smelling, hairy, ape-like creature, which ran upright on two legs

Myakka

In 2000, two photographs [The first of the two is farther above] of an alleged ape, said to be the Skunk Ape, were taken anonymously and mailed to the Sarasota Sheriff's Department in Florida. They were accompanied by a letter[3] from a woman claiming to have photographed it on the edge of her backyard. The photographer claimed that on three different nights the ape had entered her yard to take apples from a bushel basket on her porch. She was convinced it was an escaped orangutan. The police were dispatched to the house numerous times but when they arrived the Skunk Ape, also known as the stink ape was gone. The pictures have become known to Bigfoot enthusiasts as the "skunk ape photos".[4]

Loren Coleman is the primary researcher on the Myakka photographs, having helped track down the two photographs to an "Eckerd photo lab at the intersection of Fruitville and Tuttle Roads" in Sarasota County, Florida.[5]

Florida account of possible skunk ape

Taken from http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/glen-fl-ape/

Near the northern border of Florida, one county over from the east coast of the state, is the small community of Glen St. Mary. It is a town in Baker County, Florida, with a population of 473 in the 2000 census, and 489, as of 2004. The people in Glen St. Mary live in 181 households in 131 families.

Myakka Skunk Ape

First Coast News for November 13, 2007:

Folks who live there say nothing much happens in Glen St. Mary. But some excitement came to the little North Florida town — in the form of an escaped ape. Or did it?

Downtown Glen St. Mary has all you’d expect from a small North Florida town: one traffic signal, one gas station and one big mystery.

Screeches in the night. A creature in the trees.

Stories of sightings echo on every corner. The local newspaper even ran a story about it. Eric Lawson’s heard the tales.

“There is kinda that ‘I’ve seen a Bigfoot’ type of feel to it,” he said. “They said it made a nest in that tree, so it’s probably somewhere here in the area.”

What’s got Glen St. Mary howling? It’s a monkey.

Well, actually — an ape. Specifically, an orangutan.

A handful of folks say they’ve heard the call of an escaped ape.

One family even found the grand prize: what looked to be an orange ape, nesting high in a tree.

We talked on the phone with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission investigator who actually answered the original complaint call.

He said there was definitely something up in the top of the tree, but he really couldn’t be sure what it was.

So, he took a pack of jelly donuts and left it right at the bottom of the tree, hoping to lure the creature to the ground.

He hasn’t heard anything since.

Well, orangutans really love fruit. So, hungry for answers, we went to “Ed” — a neighbor who hears all the gossip from his produce stand.

But Ed had boarded up his stand and beat it out of town. Why did he decide to split? It’s not clear, but the sign he left behind prominently features a bunch of bananas as one of his top-selling products.

Ed took off, and so did the mystery creature.

“The next morning, the people came out and it was — it was gone,” Lawson remembered from the story he’d heard from his father.

If it is an ape, where did it come from? The state says no one in Baker County is even licensed to own an orangutan. It seems like that’s part of the mystery.

In the end, the evidence of any, umm, monkey business — is still up in the air.“Great Ape Mystery is Talk of First Coast Town,” November 13, 2007, First Coast News, Florida.

There's tons more information out there, but I hope the little I have put together will be helpful.

Lycanthropy

2010-06-30T14:07:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting article I found on Lycanthropy on Skptic's Dictionary, I wonder if I lot of myths actually came about from this?

lycanthropy

The delusional belief that one has turned into an animal, especially a werewolf. In Europe during the Middle Ages, lycanthropy was commonly believed to occur due to witchcraft or magic. One modern theory is that the rye bread of the poor was often contaminated with the fungus ergot, which caused hallucinations and delusions about werewolves.

Stories of humans turning into animals such as tigers, swans, monkeys, etc., are widespread and seem to occur in all cultures, indicating shared human fears (e.g., fear of the wildest local beast) or desires (e.g., wishing for powers such as great strength or the power of flight), or common brain disorders.

Here's what Wikipedia had to say on the subject (it rerouted me directly to werewolves when I typed in lycanthorpy)

Werewolf

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clinical lycanthropy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can or has transformed into an animal or that he or she is an animal.^[1] Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in which people are said to physically shapeshift into wolves. The terms zoanthropy and therianthropy are also sometimes used for the delusion that one has turned into an animal in general and not specifically a wolf.^"

I'm not a big big believer in "werewolves" but, I still find this interesting, especially the Wikipedia article (the first one) I wonder how many of these werewolf story's were just the result of hallucinations, I had before thought that it was just wolves and people who wanted to scare their children into not going outside after dark or to behave, I hadn't imagined that maybe there was actually something behind it. I'm sure there were a lot of others things going on too, it can't be explained by this one disease, still it's fascinating.

Notes on the Origin of Species

2010-05-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Notes on the Origin of Species

Charles Darwin starts out his book "The Origin of Species" with his chapter called "Variation Under Domestication" Here is a quote and my thoughts.

"Having alluded to the subject of reversion, I may here refer to a statement often made by naturalists-- namely, that our domestic varieties, when run wild, gradually but invariably vary in character to their aboriginal stocks. Hence it has been argued that no deductions can be drawn from domestic races to species in a state of nature. I have in vain endeavored to discover on what decisive facts the above statement has so often and so boldly been made. There would be great difficulty in providing its truth: we may safely conclude that very many of the most strongly marked domestic varieties could not possibly live in a wild state. In many cases, we do not know what the aboriginal stock was, and so could not tell whether or not nearly perfect reversion had ensued. It would be necessary, in order to prevent the effects of intercrossing, that only a single variety should have been turned loose in its new home. Nevertheless, as our varieties certainly do occasionally revert in some of their characters to ancestral forms, it seems to me not improbable that if we could succeed in naturalizing, or were to cultivate, during many generations, the several races, for instance, of the cabbage, in very poor soil (in which case, however, some effect would have to be attributed to the definite action of the poor soil), that they would, to a large extent, or even wholly, revert to the wild aboriginal stock. Whether or not the experiment would succeed, is not of great importance for our line of argument; for by the experiment itself the conditions of life are changed. If it could be shown that our domestic varieties manifested a strong tendency to reversion, that it, to lose their acquired characters, whilst kept under the same conditions, and whilst kept in a considerable body, so that free intercrossing might check, by blending together, ant slight deviations in their structure, in such case, I grant that we could deduce nothing from domestic varieties in regard to species. But there is not a shadow of evidence in favor of this view to assert that we could not breed our cart and race-horses, long and short-horned cattle, and poultry of various breeds, would be opposed to all experience. "

I find it interesting that what he says about the cabbage is that to change the circumstances and to place a cultivated cabbage in different soil for several generations to see whether or not said cabbage goes back to its pre-cultivated state would be void because the circumstances had been changed. But, when you think about it, what need is there for adaption if the circumstances don't change? And aren't changes in circumstances an enormous part of the darwinian theory? He seems to only want to allow for changes that he deems to be progressive and to completely blot out changes that are "regressive". Really it seems to me that a cabbage will change for the better if the soil is better and worse if it is not but what, it's still a cabbage no matter what. These are my notes on just the first few pages of The Origin of Species, I need to do more research on the book (and finish it... haha) but, these are just my thoughts as of now.

Cadborosaurus Willsi (Caddy)

2009-12-19T12:37:00.000-08:00

Cadborosaurus Willsi (Caddy)

Name: Cadborosaurus gets its name from Cadboro Bay in Victoria, British Columbia and the Greek root word "sauros" meaning lizard or reptile. I have also seen other names used these include Caddy, Pal-Rai-Yuk, Klematosaurus, Sarah the Sea Hag, Saya-Ustih, Hiyitlik, Tzarta-saurus, Sisiutl, Penda, Amy, Kaegyhil-Depgu'esk (try saying THAT three times fast) and Say Noth-Kai.

Description: Caddy falls under the category of sea serpent or sea monster, with features and habits similar to the Loch Ness Monster, and Ogopogo (from Okangagan Lake, British Columbia) Most eye witnesses say that it has a long body between 5-15 meters (16-49 feet) in length, humps, and a neck between one and four meters (3-12 feet) long. It's head has been compared to those of a camel, horse, and giraffe. I've heard it suggested that Caddy is not one creature but, that there are several different sub-species, although, I wonder about that opinion because as with most cryptids reports vary widely. People see different angles of the same thing and have different ways of explaining what they see. If however, there were two distinct types of descriptions being given then you can begin to consider multiple creatures. I have not (so far in my research) found this to be the case. These animals could look very different throughout the stages of their development, and male and female would most likely have differences in sizes and features (like with chickens and roosters)

Territory: It's territory is the Pacific Ocean with sightings centering in the Northern Part of the U.S and Southern Canada. But, it has been seen as far north as Alaska and as far south as San Francisco Bay. Sightings have been taking place for over 1,000 years, and "he" has been sighted over 300 times over the last 200 years. Caddy sightings are most apparent from October to April.

Diet: Caddy has been spotted hunting schools of fish along with eating waterfowl (swallowing them whole) other than that I haven't been able to find very much about "his" eating habits.

Sightings: One of the most interesting sightings (and capture) I've found was in 1937 when a wailing ship (the Naden Harbour whaling station in the Queen Charlotte Islands) found a strange animal in the stomach of a sperm whale. The creature was around 10 feet long with a camel-like head and oddly shaped fins.

Excerpt taken from http://www.bcscc.ca/cadborosaurus.htm (they have pretty detailed information on Cadborosaurus, I recommend taking a look at it for further reading on Caddy)
" The station manager, F. S. Huband, and G. V. Boorman, the acting medical officer, took photographs taken of the animal and despatched tissue samples taken from the remains to the Fisheries station in Nanaimo and to the Provincial Museum in Victoria for analysis. Tragically, the tissue samples sent to Nanaimo vanished and the samples sent to Victoria were wrongly identified by curator Francis Kermode as belonging to a fetal baleen whale and no one knows what happened to them after Kermode examined them. So the only tangible proof of the existence of heretofore previously legendary animals was lost forever. However two sets of the photographs were discovered by Captain William Hagelund, who published a selection in his book "Whalers No More", and also by Paul LeBlond who included them in his book "Cadborosaurus: Survivor of the Deep".
The samples and photographs which were sent to the Provincial Museum in Victoria and erroneously identified by Kermode bothered a living witness to the Naden Harbour creature still alive today. James Wakelen, has told the BCSCC that there is no way that the creature he and other removed from the flensed whale was a fetal baleen whale. He is adamant to this day that what he saw was an unknown creature the likes of which he has not seen before of since in any book or film." "

A second excerpt taken from the website afore mentioned

"Phyllis Harsh, a resident of John's Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington state, helped return a stranded baby "dinosaur" specimen to the water in the summer of 1991. The baby had become beached and using a tree branch, Mrs Harsh lifted the animal back into the sea where it was able to make its way back into deeper water. Mrs Harsh has also stated for the record that she found what appeared to be a "dinosaur" skeleton beneath an eagle's nest also on John's Island as well as having seen a full-size Caddy specimen in John's Island Passage in 1990.

In 1998, fishermen aboard a fishing vessel at anchor in Ganges Harbour, Saltspring Island, British Columbia came across a strange catch in their catch of the day. For fearing of contaminating the rest of the catch, the men quickly dispatched the creature over the side. However, the mystery animal simply would not leave the minds of the two fishermen and they made it their quest to find out just exactly what it was they had seen and discarded. They consulted volumes on the various types of marine creatures which inhabit British Columbia coastal waters, but none of the books depicted any animal remotely like the one they had seen. It was only when they discovered Capt. Hagelund’s drawing of the juvenile Cadborosaurus he had snagged in 1967, and also after they had seen photos of the Naden Harbour carcass of 1937 that they realized that a Cadborosaurus had actually been in their possession. "

Taken from Space Review, August/September 1963.
“I saw strangest sight” Is Cadborosaurus, the often seen but never photographed sea serpent, back in Southern Vancouver Island water after a prolonged absence?
Alleged Cadborosaurus carcass, photographed in October, 1937

Alleged Cadborosaurus carcass, photographed in October, 1937

Mrs. R. A. Stewart believes so. She is sure she saw ‘Caddy’ or one of his cousins last Sunday afternoon (1st February 1963), near Gabriola Island. Mrs Stwart in entering the ‘I believe in Caddy’ contest organised by Times Columnist Monte Roberts, writes in part : “I have been reading a lot about Caddy and this i sthe first time I ever thought there could be any truth in such an animal.
“Sunday after my husband, children and I went up to Gabriola Island to explore the beach and do some fishing. We went out fishing in a small rowboat on the Gulf side, off my parents’ waterfront cottage.

We caught a good-sized codfish and as my husband was untangling the hooks, I looked out at the glass-like calm waters.

Mrs. Stewart who has boated in the area for 15 years is convinced that what she saw was not kelp, porpoise, blackfish, sea lion or any other ‘normal’ marine phenomena.

“I only wish some responsible persons would go over to Gabriola Island and row a few yards offshore on the Gulf side towards Loche Bay and see if they too, don’t see what we saw.”

If you have any remarks or questions please feel free to comment, Suzanne.

Any questions or comments?

2009-12-17T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Are there any Cryptids you would like to have me research?? Do you have anything to add or any views that you would like to express? Maybe you have a local Cryptid that hasn't been documented yet?
A few months ago, someone posted there own account of having seen a Cryptid, are there any more accounts out there? Your input is appreciated, Suzanne.

What is cryptozoology?

2009-11-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

I realized today that I created this blog for people who already knew what cryptozoology was and wanted a source of information. I'm going to try explain cryptozoology IS, what it is NOT and where it came from (to the best of my ability that is).

The word cryptozoology literally means the study of hidden animals, it was coined by Ivan T. Sanderson, although it's often mistaken to be Bernard Heuvelmans who invented the word. Cryptozoology is often claimed to be a Pseudoscience (a methodology, belief, or practice that is claimed to be scientific, or that is made to appear to be scientific, but which does not adhere to an appropriate scientific methodology, lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, or otherwise lacks scientific status.) I believe that many people make it one, by going about it as if it were a monster hunt and without involving science, practicality or common sense. With shows on t.v. about monsters it seems to make cryptozoology seem like a myth or a fantasy when it should be science. The show "Lost Tapes" actually says in it's description that it "This first-person, immersive series blurs the line between fact and fiction as it explores deadly encounters with the mysterious creatures that science refuses to recognize." (here's the link to the page where I got this quote http://animal.discovery.com/tv/lost-tapes/about/ ) it actually says that it blurs the lines between fact and fiction! I think that shows like these are fine really, even enjoyable, I only wish that they didn't confuse people and make them believe that this is what cryptozoology is all about even putting it in the same category as paranormality! Also those shows that are a one time only event for instance when they go in and try to find the Loch Ness Monster... in most of the shows I have seen they only spend a little time looking, they promise so much and yet, in the end they find nothing. I should think that it that it would take years to find Nessie, not a two week stint.
A cryptid is a creature that has maybe been supposedly extinct but is still being sighted, or an animal that has been in folk lore. There isn't really a exact criteria for an animal to be a cryptid, save that it isn't believed by general science exist/still be around.
One of the cryptids that was found to exist is the giant squid, which was long believed to be legend was caught and video taped by Dr Steve O'Shea in 2001 (it was an adolescent) then, an adult was photographed on On September 30, 2004.
The stories of these animals began as far back as with "Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century B.C., already described a large squid, which he called teuthus, distinguishing it from the smaller squid, the teuthis. He mentions that "of the calamaries the so-called teuthus is much bigger than the teuthis; for teuthi [plural of teuthus] have been found as much as five ells long."" (more information about the first sightings of giant squids can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_squid) This squid can grow to be up to 43ft long! And can be found all over the world!
(map of giant squid sightings)
Then there is the colossal squid which has dinner-plate-size eyes, and has been known to the scientific community since 1925 but to the world only since 2003.
A cryptozoologist is someone who well, studies cryptozoology and cryptids! I don't think there is really all that much more to say that can be generalized. Cryptozoologists come in all types, there is no exact way to describe what a cryptozoologist is, it's such a general term. There is no degree you can get in cryptozoology. There are however classes you can take in order to aid you in your search for answers. Cryptomundo has a great article on the subject of how to "become" a cryptozoologist.
(http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/cz-career/) I highly suggest reading it.
I hope that this post has cleared at least a little confusion for you. Please, feel free to comment or state your own opinion. If you have a question I will look it up and try my best to find an answer for you.

A review of Kent Hovind's third seminar

2009-08-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

Kent Hovind is a creation scientist who does seminars and debates. His ministry is called Creation Scientist Evangelism he is currently in prison and I am not fully aware of the circumstances surrounding this. I highly recommend watching Kent Hovind's 7 videos on Creation science which I have seen several times. Even though his teachings are riddled with blonde jokes there is enough good content that it completely overrules the bad. His third seminar focuses on dinosaurs and cryptozoology. He talks about both ancient and modern sightings of dinosaurs.

Although I personally believe that the "Plesiosaur" carcass he discusses in this seminar that was found by Japanese fisherman most likely was a Basking shark please see this website for more information concerning this: http://paleo.cc/paluxy/plesios.htm .
Mr. Hovind covers an extremely wide range of cryptids in this seminar. This link will enable you to watch his videos http://freehovind.com/watch. His website it http://drdino.com/
I would like to state that I don't completely agree with all of Mr. Hovind's ideas but he has a lot of good information to offer and can aid in learning about Creation Science.

Leviathan in the Bible

2009-07-10T15:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some references to Leviathan in the Bible.

Isaiah 27:1 (New King James Version)

¹ In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.

Isaiah 27:1 (Amplified Bible)

¹IN THAT day [the Lord will deliver Israel from her enemies and also from the rebel powers of evil and darkness] His sharp and unrelenting, great, and strong sword will visit and punish Leviathan the swiftly fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting and winding serpent; and He will slay the monster that is in the sea.

Isaiah - Chapter 27:1 (Jerusalem Bible)

1 That day Yahweh will punish, with his unyielding sword, massive and strong, Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will kill that dragon that lives in the sea.

Psalm 104:25-26 (New King James Version)

25 This great and wide sea, In which are innumerable teeming things, Living things both small and great.

²⁶ There the ships sail about;
There is that Leviathan
Which You have made to play there.

Psalm 104:25-26 (Amplified Bible)

²⁵Yonder is the sea, great and wide, in which are swarms of innumerable creeping things, creatures both small and great.

²⁶There go the ships of the sea, and Leviathan (the sea monster), which You have formed to sport in it.

Psalm 74:13-14 (New King James Version)

13 You divided the sea by your strength; You broke the heads of the sea serpents in the waters.

14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Psalm 74:13-14 (Amplified Bible)

¹³You did divide the [Red] Sea by Your might; You broke the heads of the [Egyptian] dragons in the waters.

¹⁴You crushed the heads of Leviathan (Egypt); You did give him as food for the creatures inhabiting the wilderness.

Job 3:8 (New King James Version)

8 May those curse it who curse the day, Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.

Job 3:8 (Amplified Bible)

⁸Let those curse it who curse the day, who are skilled in rousing up Leviathan.

Job 41 (New King James Version)

¹ “Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,

Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?

² Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?

³ Will he make many supplications to you?
Will he speak softly to you?

⁴ Will he make a covenant with you?

Will you take him as a servant forever?

⁵ Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you leash him for your maidens?

⁶ Will your companions make a banquet of him?
Will they apportion him among the merchants?

⁷ Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸ Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle—Never do it again!

⁹ Indeed, any hope of overcoming him is false;
Shall one not be overwhelmed at the sight of him?

¹⁰ No one is so fierce that he would dare stir him up.
Who then is able to stand against Me?

¹¹ Who has preceded Me, that I should pay him?
Everything under heaven is Mine.

¹² “I will not conceal his limbs,
His mighty power, or his graceful proportions.

¹³ Who can remove his outer coat?
Who can approach him with a double bridle?

¹⁴ Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?

¹⁵ His rows of scales are his pride,
Shut up tightly as with a seal;

¹⁶ One is so near another
That no air can come between them;

¹⁷ They are joined one to another,
They stick together and cannot be parted.

¹⁸ His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

¹⁹ Out of his mouth go burning lights;
Sparks of fire shoot out.

²⁰ Smoke goes out of his nostrils,
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

²¹ His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes out of his mouth.

²² Strength dwells in his neck,
And sorrow dances before him.

²³ The folds of his flesh are joined together;
They are firm on him and cannot be moved.

²⁴ His heart is as hard as stone,
Even as hard as the lower millstone.

²⁵ When he raises himself up, the mighty are afraid;
Because of his crashings they are beside themselves.

²⁶ Though the sword reaches him, it cannot avail;
Nor does spear, dart, or javelin.

²⁷ He regards iron as straw,
And bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸ The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones become like stubble to him.

²⁹ Darts are regarded as straw;
He laughs at the threat of javelins.

³⁰ His undersides are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads pointed marks in the mire.

³¹ He makes the deep boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

³² He leaves a shining wake behind him;
One would think the deep had white hair.

³³ On earth there is nothing like him,
Which is made without fear.

³⁴ He beholds every high thing;

He is king over all the children of pride.”

Job 41 (Amplified Bible)

¹CAN YOU draw out the leviathan (the crocodile) with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?

²Can you put a rope into his nose? Or pierce his jaw through with a hook or a spike?

³Will he make many supplications to you [begging to be spared]? Will he speak soft words to you [to coax you to treat him kindly]?

⁴Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever?

⁵Will you play with [the crocodile] as with a bird? Or will you put him on a leash for your maidens?

⁶Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants?

⁷Can you fill his skin with harpoons? Or his head with fishing spears?

⁸Lay your hand upon him! Remember your battle with him; you will not do [such an ill-advised thing] again!

⁹Behold, the hope of [his assailant] is disappointed; one is cast down even at the sight of him!

¹⁰No one is so fierce [and foolhardy] that he dares to stir up [the crocodile]; who then is he who can stand before Me [the beast's Creator, or dares to contend with Me]?

¹¹ Who has first given to Me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heavens is Mine. [Therefore, who can have a claim against God, God Who made the unmastered crocodile?]

¹²I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, nor his mighty strength, nor h

is goodly frame.

¹³Who can strip off [the crocodile's] outer garment? [Who can penetrate his double coat of mail?] Who shall come within his jaws?

¹⁴Who can open the doors of his [lipless] mouth? His [extended jaws and bare] teeth are terrible round about.

¹⁵His scales are [the crocodile's] pride, [for his back is made of rows of shields] shut up together [as with] a tight seal;

¹⁶One is so near to another that no air can come between them.

¹⁷They are joined one to another; they stick together so that they cannot be separated.

¹⁸His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the [reddish] eyelids of the dawn.

¹⁹Out of his mouth go burning torches, [and] sparks of fire leap out.

²⁰Out of his nostrils goes forth smoke, as out of a seething pot over a fire of rushes.

²¹His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth.

²²In [the crocodile's] neck abides strength, and terror dances before him.

²³The folds of his flesh cleave together; they are firm upon him, and they cannot shake [when he moves].

²⁴His heart is as firm as a stone, indeed, as solid as a nether millstone.

²⁵When [the crocodile] raises himself up, the mighty are afraid; because of terror and the crashing they are beside themselves.

²⁶Even if one strikes at him with the sword, it cannot get a

ny hold, nor does the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

²⁷He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood.

²⁸The arrow cannot make [the crocodile] flee; slingstones are treated by him as stubble.

²⁹Clubs [also] are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rushing and the rattling of the javelin.

³⁰His underparts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery; he spreads [grooves like] a threshing sledge upon the mire.

³¹He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a

[foaming] pot of ointment.

³²[His swift darting] makes a shining track behind him; one would think the deep to be hoary [with foam].

³³Upon earth there is not [the crocodile's] equal, a creature made without fear and he behaves fearlessly.

³⁴ He looks all mighty [beasts of prey] in the face [without terror]; he is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who dares not arouse the unmastered crocodile, yet who dares resist Me, the beast's Creator, to My face? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]

I'm not actually sure how when translating this the got "crocodile" because I've never heard of a croc that this sort of thing was said about. "His breath kindles coals, and a flame goes forth from his mouth" But I thought it good to have multiple translations of it. - Suzanne Markoya.

Scripture references to flying dinosaurs

2009-05-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few Scripture references to flying dinosaurs.

Isaiah 30:6

The burden of the beasts of the South.

Through the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent,

they carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the humps of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.

Isaiah 14

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of you,

that the rod that struck you is broken,for from the serpent's root will come forth an adder,

and its fruit will be a flying fiery serpent.

(Some who claim to have seen recent pterosaurs claim that they are bio-luminescent)

Oobundi

2009-05-29T00:05:00.001-07:00

Does anyone have any information on this cryptid called Oobundi?? this is sadly all I was able to find. There wasn't even one picture available of this creature.

Oobundi: A large, black fossa reported to wait in the trees for its victims, and then dropping down to punce on them.

Oobundi a giant fossa like animal reported from madagascar

A fairly complete list of cryptids

2009-05-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a fairly complete list of cryptids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptids

Murray Monster (Papua New Guinea)

2009-04-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

The Murray cryptid, found in lake Murray in Papua New Guinea (a small nation roughly the size or California). The lake ranges from 100mi. long and 70mi. wide too up to five times that during flood season. The first account of this cryptid came in December 11, 1999, while paddling across the lake a small group of native villagers reported seeing a "dinosaur-like reptile" in shallow pools near Boboa island. The next day two missionaries claimed to see a similar animal in the same area.

this is some information I found online.... When googleing the Murray what comes up is mostly for the N. Carolina cryptid also called the Murray monster so I didn't have very much to go on and would appreciate any information that anyone might have.

"Described by eyewitnesses as being as being "as long as a dump truck", this animal is said to be a bipedal, amphibious creature, approximately 6-feet in width, with two, short forelimbs, legs as wide as palm tree trunks, a long neck, and a slender tail. The creature's head has been compared to that of a large eyed bovine with teeth as long as a man's fingers. Its back is said to have "largish triangular scoops" and its epidermis has been likened to that of the more familiar crocodile.

In June of 2000, reports emanating from Irian Jaya (the Indonesian section of New Guinea) stated that missionaries had traveled to the Lake Murray region armed with paleontology books in order to confirm these reports. According to this account, island natives grew agitated when they saw the images of a dinosaur which they believed to be the monster in the lake.

Unfortunately this report does not include the
identities of the animals found in these prehistoric mug shots, but some investigators have surmised - based upon eyewitness testimony - that the animal in question may be related to the saurian group known as Theropods (swift, bipedal, carnivores, which included the Tyrannosaurus-rex amongst its kin), which were presumed to have become extinct during the Cretaceous period."

Story from s8int.com

2009-04-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is a report taken from s8int.com, I highly recommend this site. If you have time you should look at the article on giants.

Eskin Kuhn's Excellent Adventure

I had been overseas for 12 months and took a 30 day leave before reporting to Camp Lejeune, NC in early March, 1971, to finish my hitch in the Corps.

Upon arrival there I learned of voluntary duty available in Cuba ; and being much fonder of duty in the field rather than garrison duty ,I went. I have never regretted the decision.

It was probably about mid-March when the C-130 prop plane arrived at the Naval Air Station, Quantanamo Bay, Cuba. From the NAS we travelled by boat along dense jungle lined canal to the Naval Station and site of the Marine Barracks.

I was not stationed to the Barracks; but to 2nd Battallion, 8th Regiment (reinforced), H&S Co., 106mm recoiless rifle platoon.

Reporting there at the point was preceded by a long jeep ride past rather desolate looking terrain.

Most of the buildings there were white painted wood; but the 106 Plt. was quartered in the large yellow metal building where the guns were stored, the Jeeps lined up outside.

This was a hardship duty station, for which we were compensated an additional $2 per day ! I sometimes ran, even the obstacle course, for entertainment in the evenings ; but all in all, it was good duty.

I had been in Cuba for perhaps 4 months and the SeaBees were engaged in constructing new barracks for us. It was a shame to see what I considered the end of an era when the old wooden buildings were dozed.

We were engaged during the day in physical training, close order drill, gun drill, cleaning and maintenance, classes and other sundry routine common to service life, including a break for lunch with its attending rest period or free time.

"It was during such a free time period, in the middle of the day, that I was outside and witnessed the Pterosaurs."

It was a beautiful, clear Summer day, hot ( but we were pretty well acclimated to that), still; most of the platoon was in the new barracks "hanging out". I was looking in the direction of the ocean when I saw an incredible sight. It mesmerized me!

I am an artist with sharp eye for detail;and was determined to drink in the visage before me for future recording on paper. I saw 2 Pterosaurs (or Pterodactyls...what's in a name?) flying together at low altitude, perhaps 100 feet, very close in range from where I was standing, so that I had a perfectly clear view of them.

The rythym of their large wings was very graceful, slow ; and yet they were flying and not merely gliding, like turkey vultures do here in Ohio.

The rate of their wings was more like that of crows, perhaps a little slower; but very graceful. The structure and the texture of the wings appeared to be very similar to that of bats: particularly in that the struts of the wings emanated from a "hand" as fingers would ; except that a couple of the fingers were short (as for grasping) and the other ran out to the tip of the wing, others back to the trailing edge of the wing to stretch the wing membrane as a kite would.

The Pterosaurs I saw had the short hind legs attached to the rearwardmost part of the wing, and they had a long tail trailing behind with a tuft of hair at the end.

The head was disproportionately large, with a long crest at the back, long bill, long neck with a crook in it. The chest of the creatures was similarly prominent, protruding forward like the prow of an old ship.

The vertebrae of their backs was noticeable, mostly between the shoulders. I would estimate their wingspan to be roughly 10 feet.

It has been 30 years now since I was there, memory fades, even for something so startling as that. I recall running to a barracks as they were well past me, grabbing Sgt,Cunningham by the arm and trying to drag his reticent self outside to witness them and corroborrate my sighting, but by the time I could get him outside they were gone.

I rotated back to the States not long after that; and for the rest of my tour I never saw them again. Eskin C. Kuhn

ADDENDUM

The height I stated as about 100 ft and the range very close, the wingspan roughly 10 ft. I recall that immediately afterward I could not positively discern the size of the creatures or the altitude of their flight, precisely because there was no known point of reference visible within the frame of space they were observed to occupy.

In clear skies it is very difficult to determine distance or height, even clouds are hard to judge, try this yourself. The height of the birds may have been no more than 40 ft or 50...it was impossible to tell with any degree of certainty.

The size of the creatures was a little easier to judge, but not much, their span could have been 8 ft or 12 ft, with a body length of perhaps 30 to 40". That part has to remain a guess. They came in from the direction of the sea and flew inland.

In Cuba we swam a great deal on weekends. A group of us once explored some coast line and saw several caves. In one we entered we disturbed a large number of bats.

Some of the guys saw sea turtles. I got very close to a large barracuda once (it is a humorous story). On another occasion I saw 3 of the men in our platoon swimming far out past our sanctioned area, and they were in the center of a circle of barracuda of perhaps a hundred or more feet in diameter ( tougue in cheek...measuring again).

The barracuda looked to be evenly spaced in a perfect circle with our friends in the very center. We watched as they swam to the edge of the circle and then shot through the gap of the barracuda to reach the safety of the nearly shear, rocky face of the coastline ; where they scrambled out.

Cuba is a land of mystery and many secrets I feel sure. If ever we reestablish trade with Cuba I should like to revisit Gitmo. Surely someone else there has seen such things.

I don't know why I made a rather obvious mistake...the "hands" of the Pterosaurs were strange, in that the "thumb and next two digits" were short - as depicted -but the other 2 were extremely large stretching as spars to brace the wing.

I have only depicted one such "spar" and I can only attribute that to my youth and lack of artistic discipline. I recall observing how those digits and spars radiated from the same "hand" but size was quite disparate.

National Geographic portrays pterosaurs as without the tufted tail; and to be generous,perhaps there were a variety which looked that way... but it would not have flown with the effortless grace the two I saw exhibited...

slow,pause, glide, slow flap and rise, etc.

There is no mistaking what I saw, it was middle of the day during our free time, a work day, no booze, no drugs, bright sun and full visibility with vision I wish I still had, eyes that qualified me as Expert Rifleman and the Pistol shot in the Marine Corps.

I saw what I saw...wish others would go there and see the same.

Monster of Monterey Bay.

2009-04-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

The Monster of Monterey Bay (also called the Monster of Santa Cruz) washed up on Moore beach in 1925
The Monsters looks had very differing reports, although most of the reports support the idea that the animal had a long neck (possibly around twenty feet) and a tail
(around three feet). Also at least three different reports compared the front of its head to a ducks bill.

(the top pic is taken from the animal planet web site and looks like it was enhanced quite a bit and it has a play sign in the middle of it)

The following article was taken from the Monterey County Weekly's website.

The tale of Bobo, Monterey Bay’s sea creature, resurfaces.

By Staff

It was a clear fall day, and the Pacific Ocean was as flat and clear as a giant mirror. From Captain Sal Colletto’s small salmon fishing boat, 10 miles off Moss Landing, the indentation of the Monterey Bay on the shore looked like a giant’s thumbprint as he headed back towards Point Pinos. After a day of luckless fishing in the waters of Santa Cruz, the Monterey fisherman was looking forward to getting home.

Suddenly, Colletto noticed something floating in the sea about a half-mile farther out. Thinking it might be a man bobbing in the ocean, he gunned the engine and headed out towards the object. When the captain got within 100 feet of the thing, he saw a creature with a head the size of a 50-gallon barrel. It was tapered to where a duck-like bill protruded from the massive bulging forehead.

Colletto started to think about how a pair of fishermen had disappeared recently without a trace. Maybe this sea monster had devoured them. Not wanting to join their ranks, he pushed his boat’s throttle all the way down and headed back towards the Monterey Peninsula. He decided that he would not tell anyone about what he had seen.

Sixteen years later, Colletto was traveling towards the fishing grounds off Half Moon Bay on his 45-foot boat, the Dante Alighieri. While the crew ate lunch in the galley below, Colletto and his brother-in-law swapped fishing stories as the craft headed northward. Eventually, his brother-in-law started talking about a strange sea creature he had spotted a few times at the edge of the deep Monterey submarine canyon. Colletto got the chills as his brother-in-law described how other fishermen had said the beast would only surface on calm, sunny days 24 hours before a strong northwest wind started to blow.

It was a windless day, and the water was smooth and silver as liquid mercury. As Colletto gazed towards the Santa Cruz Mountains, he observed something bobbing in the sea and his heart fluttered like a dying fish’s gills. He realized immediately that it was that strange creature.

“All hands on deck,” Colletto yelled to the crew. They poured out of the galley and stood on the bow of the boat, wondering what the commotion was all about.

“I want all you guys to see this,” he said as he slowly brought the boat closer to the beast. The captain then cut the motor, and the boat drifted within 50 feet of the object. The creature’s eyes were closed and it floated on the surface as if it were sunbathing or sleeping.

“It has the face of a monkey,” his cook squealed. “Let’s leave. This is a bad omen.”

“No, its face looks like that of an old man,” Colletto’s brother-in-law said.

The noise must have awakened the monster, and it slowly opened its eyes, which were as big and pink as grapefruits. The creature’s body was brown and almost as long as the boat. Its skin was wrinkled and sagged from its frame like ill-fitting clothing. Colletto thought to himself that this was a very old animal.

While the crew argued about what the animal looked like, the monster quietly slid underwater like an elderly man easing into a bath.

Following the sighting, several other fishermen saw the creature, and eventually the people of Monterey started to refer to the animal as “Bobo, the old man of the sea.” From then on, Colletto kept a camera on his vessel hoping to once again spot “Bobo” and get photographic evidence of its existence. He never saw it again.

A few years later, in 1925, a strange sea creature washed ashore on a beach two miles north of Santa Cruz. Though the dead body was decomposed, scientists including E.L. Wallace, a former president of the Natural History Society of British Columbia, did not think the carcass was that of a whale or shark. Wallace even suggested that the animal might be a plesiosaurus, a large marine reptile held over from the Jurassic period.

Whatever it was, a creature resembling Bobo was never spotted again in the waters of Monterey Bay.

THIS STORY IS BASED ON A TRANSCRIPT IN THE MONTEREY MARITIME MUSEUM’S COLLECTION WRITTEN BY SAL COLLETTO, A MONTEREY SARDINE FISHERMAN WHO WORKED ON THE BAY DURING THE EARLY 1900’S.
An account by a Mr. E.J. Lear was published by the Santa Cruz Sentinel a few days before the body washed up on shore. This is Mr. Lears statement:

"I was driving a team toward Capitola, when suddenly I was attracted by some young sea lions not far out. They were lined up and several large lions were swimming back and forth in front of them. Much farther out I saw the water being churned to foam and thrown high up in the air. It was shiny and I took it for a big fish. A dozen or more lions were battling it, and every once in a while all would raise out of the water. It looked to me as though all the sea lions were attacking it beneath as the monster came out of the water several times. In telling of the battle of that night I estimated its length at 30 feet.

"The battle continued as long as I could see it from the road. I was driving toward Capitola with a load of sand. I have not seen the monster on the beach, but it may have been that which I saw."

A few days later a body of an animal was discovered by Charles Moore on the shore in the very same area that Mr. Lear saw the battle.
The monsters body was studied by naturalist E. L. Wallace who said "My examination of the monster was quite thorough. I felt in its mouth and found it had no teeth. Its head is large and its neck fully twenty feet long. The body is weak and the tail is only three feet in length from the end of the backbone. These facts do away with the whale theory, as the backbone of a whale is far larger than any bone in this animal. Again, its tail is too weak for an animal of the deep and does away with that last version. With a bill like it possesses, it must have lived on herbage . . . I would call it a type of plesiosaurus."" Later, Mr. Wallace offered the theory that the monster may have been preserved in a glacier for millions of years, finally being released by the gradual melting of ice, eventually ending up cast upon the shore in Monterey Bay."

There was a video made by the t.v. show Lost Tapes which airs on Animal Planet featuring the "monterey monster". I watched it hoping that there would be some truth to it... but well t.v. monster shows have once again let me down. I have been searching online for any information on a "Sharon Novak"s death, I have found nothing aside from a story of a woman swimming back to her boat and her body never being found. And of coarse the most probable answer is that a monster ate her, yeah right! The show Lost Tapes is a docufiction, and I have only seen this one episode and was sorely disappointed! If you are looking for a good story it fits the purpose well, but I am sad to say not for real science. The footage looked VERY staged. And how on earth could you get that kind of audio quality on a sailing boat?? and since when does the coastal guard not answer? and how could her boyfriend possibly hear her when she is outside on top of the boat? Well if this is a true story then it is an amazing one and I feel for her. Also the Japanese ship that found something decaying did have some conclusive evidence the dna test results were VERY close to that of a Basking shark, and to have really been a plesiosaurus the neck would have definitely been longer. There have to my knowledge been no other reports since the body of the animal was discovered on shore of a monster sighting.

If you have any additional information please feel free to comment.

The first of many...

2009-04-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

HI,
This blog will be a guide to all things cryptid and the like. First off this is a compilation of many many sites and their information about these animals. Just too help all those who like me have an interest in these animals but are burnt out on looking and looking and finding no information online. This is not a blog about aliens!

Mokèlé-mbèmbé: meaning "one who stops the flow of rivers" is not to be confused with Emela-ntouka, Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu, Nguma-monene and many others.

Location: The Congo river basin. Said to be possibly a nocturnal animal. And it spends most of its time submerged.

Skin: The color of the skin is predominately reddish-brown with a color range from gray to brown. There are no reports of hair.

Description: Most reports say between 15 and 30ft long but, some have reached up to 75ft. Mokele-mbembe has been described as an animal with a long neck and tail which are characteristics of a sauropod dinosaur. The footprints are three toed. There have also been reports of a frill on the back of the head. The frill is like the comb found on a cock (male chicken), and may have a horn on its head.

Behavior: The Mokele-mbembe is very territorial and will kill hippopotami if they are so unfortunate as to come into the area.

Diet: Vegetarian, the Mokèlé-mbèmbé does not eat what it kills. Landolphia mannii and Landolphia owariensis are two plants that are said to be essential to its diet.

One of the first relevant sightings was in 1776 by Abbé Lievain Bonaventure, a French missionary to the Congo River region. He stated in his book that the animal "must have been monstrous: the marks of the claws were noted on the ground, and these formed a print about three feet in circumference."

For a more complete list of expeditions go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mokele-mbembe

The following statement was taken from angelfire.com

"I am writing in regard to the Mokele-mbembe creature. Just the other day I was taking to my friend about some strange sightings that I saw when I used to live in Africa when I was a kid and in turn my mate seem very surprised and emailed me your link. when I clicked on the link I couldn’t believe what I saw, the same creature that I saw in Tanzania. I used to live in dar-es-salaam in the mid eighties, our house was by a swamp. I was about 5 at that time, I remember it being the late eve and was in our garden. I remember looking toward the area were the swamp was and remember seeing Mokele-mbembe. I could not believe my eyes, it looked exactly like the pictures in your site. Being so young I thought it was strange but after a while i simply forgot about until now.

It's really amazing to come across people who have been researching it."
Regards
Nana Dankwa 23 Jul 2004

Expeditions have continued through the years but to little avail. Hopefully this "dinosaur" will prove more than just a myth in time...