More Sea Serpents from Ivan Sanderson's Files

From the same source (The Greatest Study) by way of the Lake Monsters Facebook page. I apologise for any duplications of any material posted on this blog in earlier installments:

Sea Serpents. Reports.
As you can see, they are mainly US coastal cases. What you have are: 1). a "water elephant" from the Rio de la Plata in Uruguay [greater than five meters in length {good} and having pinkish spots {not so good}] [Could be an ordinary elephant seal, at one part of the year their skins peel off in irregular  and can be bloody, and hence pinkish-DD]
2). a "...sea monster" from Deception Bay, near Brisbane, Australia [with a 3' wide head and prominent eyes held above the water; no neck, possibly meaning serpentine];[also possible Elephant seal-DD]

3). a "monster" from Tampico Bay, Mexico [4' long plus half-moon tail, and six feet thick; sharp teeth and flippers ---a manatee??];

4). a "sea serpent" from Venice beach, CA [16' long with a serpent's head and a fin tail, estimated weight about 800 lbs];

5). a "[?Lobster, AKA "Specs"-DD]" from Miami Beach, CA [5 & 1/2' cylindrical body standing 3' high on eight hairy legs and eyes on stalks --- yep, that's the one I want to go after];

6). a "blob" from Delake Beach, OR [a 22' length whatever with a 4' body like a cow's and 9 "tails". A hairy chest". Scientists said: a piece of a whale; a whale shark; a squid.];

7). a "sea serpent" from Cadboro Bay, BC [ 35-40' long with snake-like head; body 1' diameter; can raise 4-5' out of water; dark color; coiled at about 6-7' --- well, at least we meet one old friend in these reports --- hello, Caddy];

8. a "seal serpent" [spelling on purpose] from Racoon Straights San Francisco Bay [10' long with seal's head and bluish-gray coloration];

9). a complete mystery thing from Sandy Hook, NJ [ a 40-50' long transparent cylindrical thing, 1/2' in diameter, undulating along beneath the surface like "fluid glass"-called a Venus' Girdle-DD];

10). a "sea serpent" from Ifafa Lagoon, Natal [ a serpentine body fronted by a pig-like face with bulging eyes staring at the witness at the waterline]; [Another possible Elephant seal-DD]

11). a "sea monster" from Marshfield, MA [ an elongated body about keg-thickness and two fins about twelve feet from the tail (tip?); an alligator-like head and gobbling fish --- one of my favorite kinds of sea serpents and maybe the only one I think could be a real animal];

12). a "serpent?" from Sutherland, CA [ an elongated thing swimming with its head raised 4' above the water].

Story #13: Shuyak Island [near Kodiak], Alaska. Glob on the beach. 30' long, headless "sea elephant" in state of decay. Had two hand-like front feet. A tail like a whale. Three-quarter inch thick brown-yellow "fur" on body. [Decayed whale-DD]

#14: Qualicum, Victoria, British Columbia. 30' long "sea serpent". Three heads [!!!]. Center head at end of trunk like neck. Other two at ends of necks branching off three feet below. Necks hairy and 12-18" thick. [Hairy indeed].[Three seals seen but combined by some funny journalism-DD]


#15: Near Mombasa, East Central African coast. A large animal seen just below the surface. This is known locally as the "Kilindini monster" and has allegedly been seen many times over the years.

#16: Pennock Island, SE Alaska. "Sea serpent". Flathead, cow-like shaped. Large goggle eyes. Curved neck. Body has a row of fins [humps] on back. Body "loops" as it swims.

#17: Northern Scotland. Historical tale: In the time of King Olof 14th, sailors would come across a Lorelei in these islands, who would make a sound so soothing that they would go to sleep or be entranced. It was a "sea troll" and referred to as female. Its head was like a horse's, with huge green eyes and strong jaws. Its body was like a serpent's and shaggy like a seal. It ended in a broad tail. [ a classic mermaid without the pretty girl, which to me is leaving out the best part ... but I bow to "reality" if that resides in here].

#18: Girvan, Scotland. "Sea serpent". Part of a representative of which was felt to be found decaying on a beach. "In life" allegedly seen to be a long body which swims with coiled motion and creating "humps" as it goes. A long neck [4'] and a "dragonish" head. The object on the beach had a skull reportedly weighing 17 lbs. [Basking shark-DD]

#19: Orkney Island, Scotland. "Sea serpent". Elongated body. [about 25']. Showing three humps as it swam. A long neck sometimes raised out of the water, and shaped like a cow's head.

#20: Cinsta, near E.London, South Africa. [extremely limited report]. Unknown sea creature, like a long-necked lion in shape [body not described]. Brown-skinned.[Likely Elephant seal again- DD]

#21. Off Soviet Research Station, Antarctica. "Sea serpent". 49' long. Light brown. Moved like snake with "convulsive movements". Labelled a "sea snake".[Whale-eater report, several other such reports in series, some reportedly twice that length-DD]

#22. Newport Beach, CA. "Sea monster". Estimated 20 tons [though not on basis of any carcass]. Round head held about 4' high out of water. Two-foot-wide mouth. Head described as "thorny" and one horn noticeable. Colored a "sickly green".

#23. Yarmouth, United Kingdom. Very poor quality photograph of a "sea serpent being held on the beach, my estimate from the size of the men= about 25-30' long. Photo from 1897. [Hoax-DD]

#24. Caddy country, British Columbia. A handful of clippings about one of our favorite critters. I'll try to summarize these clippings in a supplementary posting. I'll also try to get a scan of the Yarmouth "sea serpent" up later.

Case #25: off Brockton, MA, 1964. Minimalist report of a "sea monster" with a series of humps on its back.

#26: Mann Hill Beach, Scituate, MA, 1970. Another minimalist report. This time: thirty foot long "sea creature" like an Elasmosaurus. [Actually a basking shark-DD]

#27: Atlantic Ocean off South American coast [latitude 34.50 south; longitude 48 west]. 1824 0r 1834 [case is listed two ways on two different documents]. A "serpent", 40-foot long, no appendages, dark colored. Body = "barrel-sized" in diameter. Head held two feet above the surface and the size of a "ten-gallon keg".

#s 28&29: Gloucester Bay, MA, 1835 & 1834. Very long sea creature with head as big as a barrel and a "mane" on its neck. Head was raised seven to eight feet above surface as it swam. Motion was "serpentine". Each time it rose it made a hissing sound like steam escaping. Seen by several crew members. When told, another crewman said that he had seen an animal matching the description exactly while on the Bay the previous summer.[The brig Mangehan: it is really not known what was seen the year before-DD]

#30: Labrador Sea, 1834. On a voyage from Montreal to Greenock, UK, there was seen the head and "snout" of a "great fish" resting on the surface of the water. The head was twelve feet to its dome above the surface and 25 feet wide/long. The "snout" was 50 feet long. One very large dark "eye" stared out of the side of the head. The whole thing was colored a mottled light and dark green. The skin had a ribbed texture and the thing swam as fast as the ship.[Dead whale floating on the surface belly up #31: Camp's Bay, near Capetown, South Africa, 1845 or 1846. Observers saw a line of shining black objects like "casks" bobbing up and down. The line was 150-200 feet long. Object was one thing however as it showed in its entirety above the water during one sequence. This was one of those possibly paranormal days of water as smooth as glass; nevertheless, the thing produced frothing foam at one end. "Animal" suddenly turned and swam swiftly away.

#32: Table Bay, near Capetown, South Africa, 1857. This is the case of the drawing in the accompanying illustration above. Report is fragmentary. Case  involved a blob-like body with an extremely long "tentacle" or tail [I am just interpreting the drawing now; there was little in the partial clip --- note, by the way that the pictured clip speaks of more than one case]. One witness fired two shots at the thing. It apparently whipped around radically between shots.[Portugese Man-o-war kind of a thing-DD]
#33&34: Waters between Ireland and Bristol Channel, 1907? [reference in notebook does not have a date.] This is the Arthur Rostron case [and a supporting one]. Rostron and deckhands see "sea serpent" head and neck rise out of water nearby ship. Head elevated 8 or 9 feet from surface. Its neck was a foot in diameter. The head turned with suddenness like a bird's does as it hunts the ground. Later in port at Queenstown, Rostron and his captain heard of a report by a fisherman who had a confrontation with a "sea serpent" near the Bristol Channel the following day.

#35: 38degrees south/ 13degrees east roughly in the Cape of Good Hope area, 1855. On another of those remarkably calm smooth water days, a huge thing raised its head 30 feet out of the water. The head was about twelve feet long. The body was black and estimated at 180 feet long. It was 20 feet in diameter. There was a white stripe down the side of the head, and a "pouch" of lighter-colored loose skin under the chin. On its back was at least one "protuberance" shaped like a small water cask.

[Heuvelmans says this is a baleen whale-DD]

 #36: Lochs, Lewis, UK/ 1856. A "sea serpent" manifested in an inland lake near the ocean. It was 40 foot long.

#37: 29-degrees north/ 34+degrees west [roughly in the area of the Azores]/ 1856. In a sea so calm it was "glassy", an elongated undulating thing broke the surface, swimming strongly and creating ripples. It was 40 feet long and swam with its head raised.

#38: Near Bathurst, South Africa, coming from Madagascar or Mozambique area/ 1863. A huge "snake" manifest. It was about 100 feet long and swam with both head and tail out of the water. Its body was about a foot in diameter and dark brown. There was a "mane" on its head.

#39: 19-degrees south/ 10.6-degrees west [roughly near St.Helena Island]/ 1858. An "enormous sea serpent" swam rapidly with the ship, holding its head 20-30 feet out of the water.

#40: Waimarara Beach, New Zealand/ 1950. A carcass washed up on the beach [near Hastings] which was 30 foot long and with a head three feet wide. Described alternately as a "sea serpent", a huge "alligator-like" monster, or a decayed whale, the thing was stated as having one tusk sticking out of its head. A scientist said it was a Layards Whale, despite the fact that they only grow half this size

#41: Gloucester, MA/ 1817. Brief mention of this encounter with the "huge serpentine" monster with the head the size of a horse.

#42: Off the coast of Brazil [no further location given]/ 1905. A large strange animal with a head and neck like a huge turtle [raised up eight feet out of the surface], showed nearby a ship. It seemed to have "rubbery" skin. {My moneys on something in the "sea lion family" on this one}.

#43: During a military blockade in the North Sea/ 1917. An animal similar in description to the previous "turtle" surfaced and was fired upon by the British Navy.

#44: Long Beach Island, NJ/ 1906. This is the report which goes with the illustration/news story on this page. A "great snake" greater than 60 feet
long raised its head twenty feet above the surface. The head was like an eel's, but four feet in diameter and having eyes the size of dinner plates. Its mouth was four feet wide. The animal was black and its texture slick. No fins nor protuberances were seen. There was a flabby loose-skin gathering under its chin. It swam like slithering. This thing is a bit like a junior version of #35.

Case #45: Some year just after the turn of the century, c.1900 --- Prout's Neck. ME. Witnesses waving and shouting on shore. Fishermen rowed in direction of pointing. Close to the beach under the shade of trees floated a "sea monster". It was an "enormous snake" with a flat head widening at the rear. It was similar to the famous incident at Nantucket. The animal floated there with its head raised well out of the water. When it finally focused on the fishermen, who were right up to it, it calmly turned and swam away to sea.

#46: Cape Ferrat Bay, Bay of Biscay [no date given on this mini-clipping]. Carcass [we have three such carcass cases this time, so I've regaled us with a random carcass picture for visual stimulation]. This one was said to resemble a sea elephant 13 feet long and 9 feet wide. It weighed several tons. Huge ears protruded from on top of its flat head. Its feet were webbed and it had thick black body hair.

#47: Gloucester, MA, 1960. Witnesses reported a "sea serpent" 70 feet long with a snake-like head colored black and white. It had "bulging eyes". Unfortunately for our wonderment, another story said that the thing was just 15 feet long.[That would be the head and neck-DD]

#48: Suez, Egypt, 1950. Carcass. 36 feet long and 7 feet thick. Twin seven foot tusks protruding from head with a vestige of a trunk. Speculation was that a normal elephant had somehow died at sea.

[Actually a decayed whale-DD]

 #49: Saco River, ME, 1967. Carcass. An 8 foot skeleton with a head like a snake. It had fins and some "feathers" [!!] clinging to the bones.[Also cited as a"Thunderbird carcass", the head elsewhere compared to that of a horse-DD]

#50: Research Submarine, Atlantic Ocean Gulf Stream, 1969. [picture at left is not this but sort of gets the major point across anyway]. Research team saw schools of black-colored fish 30 foot long as average. Also spotted a huge Medusa Jellyfish four feet in diameter with 30 foot long tentacles. They were convinced that there is a whole lot of weird stuff down there.

#51: Hamilton, Bermuda, 1960. Seven witnesses saw a creature greater than 30 foot long and shaped like a serpent ['tubular']. It was black colored. A local scientist was quoted saying that he thought it must be a whale, a porpoise, or rubber tyres. [<-- Bermuda is British, remember]. Unfortunately for him, three of the witnesses were nuns. Sister de Chantel followed his opinion with: "I know a whale, a porpoise, or a rubber tyre when I see one. I saw a sea serpent!". And, if he has any sense, that will end THAT debate!!

#52: Burra Isle, Shetland Islands, 1903. The crew of a fishing boat saw an animal 30 foot long, with a horn on its head and enormous flippers [one was seen; presumed two]. The thing destroyed several nets. Later in the year, in two incidents with four witnesses each, something was seen in the same location which was described as a "sea monster". {Possible Basking Sharks-DD]

#53: Off the Maldive Islands, WW2 era, but exact year unspecified. British Admiralty trawler. This is another one of those "sea as smooth as glass" cases. It was nightshift and the sea was full of phosphorescence. [ strange balls of light were constantly floating by]. They fished at night by setting down towards the surface a bright lantern-like light. All manner of sea life were always attracted to it. The scene was, in fact, described as consistently magical to watch. This night, suddenly, all the fish et al vanished. Instead, in the lighted area, the deck officer saw only one large circle of greenish light. It resolved into one large eye. It was "attached" to a Giant Squid. The officer walked the length of the ship's deck and back; it lay all along the boat, and its size was "colossal". It was greater than the 175 foot length of the vessel, with tentacles at least 24 inches thick. Details like the suction disks and the parrot-beak were quite clear. After about 15 minutes, wherein it moved only languidly, it suddenly puffed up and shot away. (( now unless one of you folks tell me differently, this is probably my favorite Giant Squid case that I've heard about)). {but tell me if it's bogus}.

#54: Somewhere near the Gulf of Benin, Central Africa [5.31 South // 4.42 West], 1902. Here we are in another phosphorescent sea. The witnesses of the S.S.Fort Salisbury noticed a long dark object making a long luminous trailing wake. Two lights, like Masthead lamps, seemed mounted on the upper edge of its body. All of this sunk below the surface together. Upon coming up to the site of submergence, they could see a "huge monster" underneath the water. It has a scaly back with scales a foot in diameter. Barnacles grew on some of these. Shiny twinkling lights shown here and there on the creature. The length of the creature was 500-600 feet [!!!!!]. The body's width was 30 feet at the widest. They surmised that there must be two areas for fins, due to the disturbances of the water. There was a strong odor. Later, to the Zoologist, the Captain vouched for his second officer and the two crew.

Case#55: South China Sea, early 1900s. A "big snake" followed a ship for three days, keeping pace with it, but never closing in. Finally it just swam away.

#56: Fairway Beacon, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 1934. An elongated animal estimated at greater than 40 feet long, swam with its head raised 8 feet out of the water. Along its body were three humps spaced about 20 feet apart.

#57: La Jolla, CA, 1955. A compact [i.e. not serpentine] monster swam about 50 feet from observers for 25 minutes. It had the head and shoulders reminiscent of a bull gorilla. But it had no discernible face. Observers swore it was no whale nor sea lion. ["Ugly Merman"-DD]

#58: Santa Barbara, CA, 1966. A 15-20 foot long "serpent" moved by underwater camera several times [film clip to the side]. Motion was "spiraling". It had "rudimentary" head but noticeable eyes and mouth. A long thin tail completed the creature. Scientists speculated about jellyfish. ["Marvin the Monster" possible salp chain-DD]

#59: Yakutat, Alaska, 1956. Carcass. Greater than 100 feet long. Fifteen feet wide at broadest. Reddish-brown hair. No blubber on carcass. Head 5 1/2 feet wide. 7-9" diameter eyes placed a foot apart. Ribs 5-6' long. Upper jaw protruded 5 1/2 feet beyond lower. Speculation about a Baird's Beak-nosed Whale.

#60: Whidby Island (Puget Sound), WA, 1958. A sea serpent of modest proportions [only twelve feet long] swam by using "snake-like" motions. Body was one foot in diameter. This thing was said to appear there seasonally in the warmer weather. [Oarfish?-DD]

#61: Queen Charlotte Islands, Hecate Straits, BC, date not stated [and no date on clipping either]. A very long "sea serpent" [but no estimate given for length] appeared for quite some viewing time. (Observer made three sketches; none included). Head was raised thirty feet out of the water. Head was 1 1/2' wide and 2 1/2' long. Body was greenish shiny and of telephone pole diameter. Submerged in a spiraling fashion. [Heuvelmans mentions sighting, gives date]

#62: Isle of Soay, near Skye, Scottish islands, 1959, maybe. This multiple witness sighting created a lot of news there. Witness diagrams are at left, plus a professional drawing. Professional drawing blows it as far as head conformation is concerned, as it should be rounder and more "turtlish".

Head protruded above water, two foot top to bottom and large eyes. Nasal holes easily seeable as well as mouth. Behind head 8-10 feet of body was seeable, rising three feet out of water. Creature was scaly and had row of serrated "fins" running down back. Body was 4-5' broad at waterline. Neck was about 8" in diameter. The head was described as like a tortoise's but as big as a donkey's. The eyes were large and round like a cow's. It made a terrific roaring-whistling sound when it breathed. Desperate scientists speculated about a displaced iguana lizard, even though they aren't nearly as big. There were claims that other seamen have seen this same sort of animal in these waters near the Isle of Mallaig.

#63: Mediterranean Sea, 1877. Relating perhaps to the Soay case, it was brought up that the HM Yacht Osborne had witnessed a strange creature the previous century. This was a long thing with serrated fins along its back [note the drawing below], and when it turned to swim away, appeared to be turtlish with flippers.

#64: near Barnstable harbor, MA, date not given [pre-1971]. Witnesses observed a large bony "grotesque" head rise up out of the water only twenty feet away. Head was covered with barnacles and "horse-like". It spouted water short distances. Its body "snaked" into view: thick, black, clean of fins or any protrusions, and 50-60 feet long. Witness had film as he was out to make film of something else at the time. Writer of story allegedly saw film and vouched for it.

Case#65: Georges Bank, Newfoundland, 1826. This case actually could be a great one "if". The "if" is because there was the claim that there were many witnesses on board this passenger ship, many testimonials were taken, AND a drawing was made. None of that came with the story, unfortunately. All that was said was that a "sea serpent" was seen and that 60' of its length could be observed out of the water [ therefore intimating that the thing was longer].

#66: Machrihanish, Scotland, 1944. Another carcass, and none too impressive. >20' long with enormous eyes. Feet unlike a seal's or anything like a whale. Speculated to have been killed by War maneuvers.
#67: Brockton, MA, 1964. A "sea monster" was seen having a raised head and humps on its back.
#68: Alexandra Bay, Newfoundland, 1860s. A man was sailing to his home, saw a "sea serpent" and got so scared that he turned back.
#69: Eastern coast between NYC and Portland, ME, 1912 or 1913. An animal with a huge eel-like body, raised its head 20' out of water, and turned slowly as if surveying the surroundings. The neck had a diameter similar to a barrel.

#70: Seal Rock, OR, probably early 1940s. Carcass. Eighteen feet long. Eight foot long neck. Small head. Four flippers. Short light-brown hair. [Could have been a seal-DD]

#71: Sunset Beach, north of Vancouver, BC, 1937. Fishermen had very "close encounter" [25' away]. Had a large head shaped like a long-nosed pig, but wider built. Huge body and two large flippers seen. Later in day, others claimed to see [at greater distance] a "sea serpent" with a body 50-60' long and a head like a camel's. Diameter of body said to be "barrel-sized". At other times others claimed to have seen a "sea serpent" about 100' long.

#72: South Pacific [position undisclosed (Actually NW of the Marquesas)], 1852. A whaling vessel [The Monongahela-DD] encountered something that captain and crew did not recognize as being any sort of whale. It was black, serpentine and moved with a snake-like motion. After some debate, they decided to chase the thing as they would a whale, harpooning it and killing it. It was 103' long. with a 6' diameter neck, widening to 8' at "shoulders". The body was about 16' at its broadest. The tail diminished to a point. The head was flat-topped and elongated. Its tongue was tipped with a "heart-shape". It had 94 teeth. Two spout holes, and four webbed paws. The back was black, the sides brown, and the belly yellow. They dismembered the thing as they would a Whale, but decided not to try to bring any of the bulk of it home. [I believe that some accident also occurred which flushed the evidence-ITS]. Oh well, such is Cryptozoology. [The Monongahela was later wrecked with a loss of all hands after the message was sent home by another ship in a parcel of letters. The authenticity of the letters was vouched for by the captain's surviving relatives and the letters together with the accompanying affidavits are now in the archives of the New Bedford Whaling museum. Several important points which needed to be specified!-DD]

#73: New Bedford, MA, 1964. An animal 50' long was seen just 50-100' off starboard. Water was "Flat and calm as a mill pond". The head was shaped alligator-ish, with lumps all along its midline, like camel humps. Head was also huge, about 20' long. The thing had a blow-hole, but was without a discernible neck. Body was dark but with white spotting. Its tail was like a lobster's and it flapped it upon the water. It paralleled the boat for some time and seemed "friendly". [Hey boys, come on in; the water's fine...]. [This one sighted by the Blue Sea was likely a whale but it is usually included together with the next one because both have "Alligator heads"-DD]

#74: New Bedford, MA, 1957. A creature with a very large body [of which 40' could be seen out of the water], was estimated at weighing over 35-40 tons. It had a seal-like shaped body but a long neck which held its head 26' out of the water. The head was "alligator-ish". It sported a mane of bristly hair.[The Noreen report, probably a "Whale-Eater" or the same as the Monongahela creature, and the midline crest is more ordinarily called a fin-DD]

The Photos of (Not) the Lake Superior Monster

While doing my usual cruising on Facebook this morning I came upon the Lake Monsters page. On that page I saw something which I thought was pretty remarkable, a set of Lake Monster photos which struck me as being possibly genuine. These were the photos, probably the same photo reprinted several times:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-Monsters/537100722991730

And I found that these were supposedly photos of the Lake Superior monster and a reference link given to a source about the Lake Superior monster. The source did not mention this photo and I mentioned that part too. "This is one of many photographs taken in the 90s by the Us navy.They estimated the creature's length about 15 m [approx. 45-50 feet long] long,with a long tail," was the first part of the reply, "These photographs appeared in either SIGHTINGS or UNSOLVED MYSTERIES.I don't remember which, but they showed an amateur footage of the same creature on the surface." was the second half of the reply which came later.

As it turned out, both the mentioned photographs actually came from a different lake, Lake Pepin.
http://www.lakecitymn.org/about/pepie.html
With the contrast turned up a great deal higher

courier_wedge_dec__3_1987

Anonymous photo, pepie_swimming_below_maiden_rock 2008-06-20

Something swimming on the Lake between Central Point and Maiden Rock. Submitted by local fishermen  Al Knudson, DVM and Steve Raymond

The legend of Pepie

Lake Pepin is the largest lake on the Mississippi River, over two miles wide and 22 miles long. It forms the natural border between Minnesota and Wisconsin and is located about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities. Surrounded by scenic bluffs and quaint villages, Lake Pepin is widely described as one of the most scenic spots in North America!

The native Dakota people that lived in the area refused to travel on Lake Pepin in bark canoes because of the large "creatures" that would rise from the depths of the Lake and puncture the thin bark skin of those canoes. They would only travel on Lake Pepin in more stout dugout canoes that were made by hollowing out a large log.

On April 28, 1871 "a lake monster is seen swimming in Lake Pepin" (Minnesota Almanac, published by the MN Historical Society). Since then, many people have reported sightings of an unidentified creature surfacing from the depths of Lake Pepin. The locals have given this shy and elusive creature a name; Pepie.

Over the years the question persist, what is Pepie? Because Lake Pepin is almost identical in size and geography to Scotland's Loch Ness (which is 23 miles long and 1.5 miles wide), many people feel that Pepie is a relative of the famous Loch Ness creature dubbed Nessie.

Still others feel that the sightings might be surfacing schools of the huge game fish that are so abundant in the Lake

http://www.pepie.net/PepiesHome_Page.php

The legend of PepieLake Pepin is the largest lake on the Mississippi River, over two miles wide and 22 miles long. It forms the natural border between Minnesota and Wisconsin and is located about 60 miles south of the Twin Cities.   Surrounded by scenic bluffs and quaint villages, Lake Pepin is widely described as one of the most scenic spots in North America!

The native Dakota people that lived in the area refused to travel on Lake Pepin in bark canoes because of the large "creatures" that would rise from the depths of the Lake and puncture the thin bark skin of those canoes.  They would only travel on Lake Pepin in more stout dugout canoes that were made by hollowing out a large log.

On April 28, 1871   "a lake monster is seen swimming in Lake Pepin"  (Minnesota Almanac, published by the MN  Historical Society).  Since then,  many people have reported sightings of an unidentified creature surfacing from the depths of Lake Pepin. The locals have given this shy and elusive creature a name; Pepie.  Over the years the question persist, what is Pepie?  Because Lake Pepin is almost identical in size and geography to Scotland's Loch Ness (which is 23 miles long and 1.5 miles wide), many people feel that Pepie is a relative of the famous  Loch Ness creature dubbed Nessie.

Still others feel that the sightings might be surfacing schools of the huge game fish that are so abundant in the Lake.  

In an effort to solve the puzzle, we have posted a $50,000 reward for indisputable proof of Pepies existence.  Click on "News" for the details. 

An editor on the site added this message: Note; There are only three known [bona fide Plesiosaurian] Lake Monsters in existence today, Champ in Lake Champlain, Nessie in Loch Ness, and Pepie in  Lake Pepin.  -- M.F.A.

Lake Pepin is actually the widest part of the Mississippi River and very plausibly the creature in it could be the last refuge of "The Great Serpent of the Mississippi River (Said to be shaped like a Plesiosaur in some of the older accounts) that once roamed the whole length of the river and which was once important in Native American lore.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Pepin

The 50000 dollar reward was mentioned once before on this blog. This is the original source for that story:
http://www.wisconsinosity.com/Pepin/articles/Pepie/wcco/lake_pepin_sea_monster__capture_.htm

http://cryptidchronicles.tumblr.com/post/26501197906/pressie-the-lake-superior-sea-serpent

http://voices.yahoo.com/pressie-lake-superiors-own-monster-6762668.html?cat=58

[One of the Lake Superior reports also specified a Puckwudgie creature on two legs and five feet tall]

"Missi", the Mississippi River Monster, at the level of Tennessee, from Flickr (During WWII reports referred to "Submarines" with "Periscopes". "Missi" is the proper regular name for the creature anywhere along the lenth of the River, and several reports at New Orleans state it is the same creature seen there as at the River's source)
[NB, I have no confidence in this photo as representing the Mississippi River Serpent, unfortunately]

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/world-largest-roadside-attractions-gallery-1.39761
The Serpent of Serpent Lake (Not only meant to represent this lake, this represents all of such creatures in the area generally. Serpent Lake runs into the Mississippi) There is a photo said to represent the monster of Serpent lake in circulation but it might be only a copy of the Lake Pepin monster photograph shown above. The statue represents a monster thirty feet in length.

 

The creatures are said to run generally 30-50 feet long (A minority of reports, mostly older ones, say 60-75 feet) with a horse-sized snakelike head, a 15-foot neck a foot thick and a spiny crest down the middle of its neck and back. It can be either green or brown, but running to black in either case. Fore-flippers are sometimes noted at the base of the neck, as in this case. Although scales are shown on this statue, they are not generally known as a feature of the reports.

Several early reports from Wisconsin (eg, Rocky of Rock lake) also come from tributaries of the Mississippi river. And several large lakes at the source of the Mississippi (eg, Leech Lake, etc) have historical records of such reports: Serpent Lake is in the area of the sources for the Mississippi.

George Eberhart, Mysterious Creatures (2002), Water Monsters Appendix

Minnesota
Big Sandy Lake. Chris Engstein fired at a horned monster in August 1886. Charles Fort, The Books of Charles Fort (New York: Henry Holt, 1941), p. 615.
Leech Lake. John Aldrich and Skip Christman were using a fish-finder in September 1976 when they detected two 60-foot targets at a depth of around 100 feet. Minneapolis Star, October 1, 1976; Betty Sanders Garner, Monster! Monster! (Blaine, Wash.: Hancock House, 1995), pp. 88–89
[Both these lakes are near the source of the Mississippi. Eberhart seems not to know of Pepie-DD]

Wisconsin
Devil’s Lake.
Two huge serpents with finlike paddles were allegedly seen fighting in August 1889. “Western Lake Resorts Have Each a Water Monster,” Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1892.

"[W]hen the first Christian missionaries arrived on the shores of Devil’s Lake they were greeted by the Nakota tribe who told them about yet another creature that was revealed in the year of the great drought.
The Natkota’s remained near the swiftly drying lake, not only because it was the only water source for miles, but also because the animals upon which they fed were forced to expose themselves in order to drink, providing the tribe with an ample — and relatively simple to hunt — food source. As the summer progressed the lake grew smaller and smaller, until it eventually became two lakes, separated only by a shallow strip of mud, which ran through the center.
One morning the Nakota’s awoke to find what they described as a huge, fish-like creature, which they referred to as “Hokuwa,” trapped on the narrow, muddy strip of exposed lake bed.
The tribe watched as the apparently amphibious animal — which they described as having a large body, long neck and small head much like other prototypical LAKE MONSTERS such as CHAMP or the LOCH NESS MONSTER — thrashed and writhed in an effort to free itself from its drying perch for days.
The sight filled the Nakota with both awe and terror and not even the bravest warrior dared to approach the creature, which they believed it to be an Unktizina — the vile progeny of the evil spirit Unk and the lizard beast known as UNKCEGI — for fear that the spirit’s wrath would bring on even greater hardships than just the drought. Eventually the animal was able to free itself and (presumably) make its way back into the deeper portion of the lake."
American Monsters
http://www.americanmonsters.com/site/2010/10/devils-lake-monsters-wisconsin-usa/

Elkhart Lake. An animal with large jaws was seen in the 1890s. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Lake Mendota. See BOZHO.
Freshwater Monster of Wisconsin.
Etymology: Potawatomi (Algonquin)... May be a shortened form of the name of the Algonquian trickster figure Manabozho.[ie, "Supernatural"?] Physical description: Serpentine. Long head and neck. Large eyes. Long tongue. Distribution: Lake Mendota, Wisconsin. Significant sightings: On June 27, 1883, Billy Dunn and his wife encountered a huge, green snake with light spots that had to be beaten back from their rowboat with an oar and a hatchet. In the autumn of 1917, a fisherman saw a head and neck 100 feet off Picnic Point. Sources: “A True Snake Story,” Madison Wisconsin State Journal, June 28, 1883; “Western Lake Resorts Have Each a Water Monster ,” Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1892; Char les E. Br own, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Mississippi River. The Menomini Indians warned Jacques Marquette in 1673 that the river was filled with monsters, some like enormous trees, others with tigerlike heads. Jacques Marquette, Récit des voyages et des decouvertes du R. père Jacques Marquette de la Compagnie de Jesus (Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons, 1855).
Lake Monona. Eugene Heath took several shots at a 20-foot-long animal on the evening of June 11, 1897. “What-Is-It in Lake,” Madison Wisconsin State Journal, June 12, 1897; Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
Pewaukee Lake. There were several sightings of a monster in the 1890s. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942). Red Cedar Lake. A 50-foot animal was seen by a fisherman in 1891. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942). Lake Ripley. Serpentine animal. Betty Sanders Garner, Monster! Monster! (Blaine, Wash.: Hancock House, 1995), p. 181.
Rock Lake. See ROCKY.
Freshwater Monster of Wisconsin. Etymology: After the lake. Physical description: Spotted dark brown, like a pickerel. Horselike head. Eyes like a snake’s. Long neck. Distribution: Rock Lake, Wisconsin. Significant sightings: The earliest sighting was in 1867. On August 28, 1882 (or 1887), Ed McKenzie and D. W. Seybert were in a rowboat race on the lake when they spotted a floating log that turned out to be the head and neck of an animal. The creature was as long as their boat and the color of a pickerel(Pike, spotted green and brown, and Costello says the head reared up out of the water in front of the witnesses). Sources: Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942); Mary M. Wilson, A History of Lake Mills: Creating a Society (Milwaukee, Wis.: Mary M. Wilson, 1983), pp. 521–522; Frank Joseph, The Lost Pyramids of Rock Lake (St. Paul, Minn.: Galde, 1992), pp. 89–95.

Lake Waubesa. A dark-green animal, 60–70 feet long, was seen around 1900. Charles E. Brown, Sea Serpents: Wisconsin Occurrences of These Weird Water Monsters (Madison: Wisconsin Folklore Society, 1942).
see also http://www.atthecreation.com/wis.monsters/deep.html

Hoax Postcard of unknown date, said to come from New Orleans area

"Minnie", a travelling mockup of the "Loch Ness Monster" type, was making the news a while back:
http://www.bringmethenews.com/2013/06/07/minnesotas-answer-to-loch-ness-monster-resurfaces-at-lake-nokomis/
And currently the mockup is on permanent display on Lake Nokomis.

Minne-the-Lake-Monster-photo-Facebook-com-LakeMonster

Recently a similar-appearing cement mockup was erected upriver of New Orleans but authorities wanted it removed since it was in violation of local ordinances.

If nothing else all of this shows a continuing public awareness of the Mississippi River Plesiosaur-shaped water monster, which according to John Keel was known as far back as colonial times and even to the "Mound builders" before them, who represented it in artworks always as being of the Plesiosaurian type.(This was mentioned in his regular column "Mysteries of Tiome And Space" along with a mention of Harold T. Wilkins' sighting of two green Plesiosaurs in a creek in Cornwall, in a book also by that title.)

More Mississippi Monsters:

http://kurtisscaletta.wordpress.com/2011/12/01/the-mississippi-river-monster-of-1877/
December 1, 2011 by Kurtis

The Mississippi River Monster of 1877

A great many able monsters have been seen by sea captains in different states of gin, but the fresh-water monster which is at present infesting the waters of the Mississippi surpasses the ablest of them. (The New York Times, September 7, 1877)

A handful of stories in the fall of 1877 concern a sea monster in the Mississippi River. The monster is described as being 65 feet long, with the body of a snake, the head of a dog, and a ten-foot tusk-like bill. It has six legs and the mane of a horse. You can find the stories here, and they’re all quite enjoyable for their descriptions, style, and quality of evidence. I particularly like the one where the reporter avers the certainty of the monster’s existence because it was witnessed by a Methodist minister.

What the monster needs is a name. What would you call this pelican-billed dogsnakehorsefish?

 

[The illustration which goes with this article is entirely fanciful]

 

Since the head of this creature was compared to a dog or a seal although many times larger, because it had a "horn" on its snout and because it had large webbed feet 14 inches across, I suspect this series of reports was once again inspired by an errant Elephant Seal, the whole scenario sounding very much like Roy Mackal's version of the White Lake Monster. The tail is not reported as such and is imaginary, likely the extra pair of limbs also.

 

http://www.unmuseum.org/whiteriv.htm White River Monster Elephant Seal

Posted on the Cryptomundo site by way of Jerome Clark is this account of what may actually have been a Mishipizhw or Water-Panther (American Master-Otter) since there is a mention of a long tail and "sawteeth", although the reference is obscure. It was ten feet long and 500 pounds, quite reasonable enough dimensions:

A Terrible Fish Story

A strange monster was captured recently [during May] in the [Missouri] river opposite Canton, by some fishermen, in their seine, while dragging for fish. We know not what to call it, or what it looks like, or how to describe it, for it is unlike any creature of earth, air or water, that we have ever seen. It is not a fish, nor is it an alligator, or crocodile, or a turtle, but resembles the pictures we have often seen in books of the mythical dragon. It is a hideous looking and apparently savage monster – the last remnant of a past age. It has a huge, slimy, scaly body, short, strong legs, immense claws, long, serpent-like tail and sharp teeth, set in, like those of a saw. It chaws up ravenously everything with which it comes in contact, but seems loth [sic] to leave the water even in quest of food, and can only be seen where drawn out by the chain with which it is made fast. We should judge it to be ten feet in length, and it weighs probably 500 pounds. When provoked, it makes a roaring noise similar to a sea lion. The parties having it in charge are having a large tub or tank for it, and they intend to take it to Quincy [Illinois] and St. Louis for exhibition. They have refused a thousand dollars for it.

 – Lagrange (Mo.) American.South Side Signal, Babylon, New York, May 14, 1870

“There is, of course, not the remotest possibility that this story is true, but it’s a great yarn anyway.” – Jerome Clark

 

 

Oh and along the way during this search there was a reconstruction of the "Big Blue" catfish under the title "The Legend  of Old Blue"

 

 

http://www.combat-fishing.com/taleofthebigcatfish.html

Recent species of "Chameleon" Snake Formerly Unknown to Science

#Kapuas Mud #Snake | #Enhydris gyii

2005. A new species of Enhydris (#Serpentes: #Colubridae: Homalopsinae) from the Kapuas River System, West Kalimantan, Indonesia...
http://novataxa.blogspot.com/2012/11/2005-enhydris-gyii.html

  Murphy, J.C.; H.K. Voris & Auliya, M. 2005.
Raffels Bulletin of Zoology. 53 (2): 271-275 http://archive.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/zoology/pdf/murphy_voris_auliya_2005.pdf


‘Chameleon' snake can turn white in minutes
A new species of snake capable of rapidly changing colour has been discovered deep in the forests of Borneo. Two specimens of the Kapuas mud snake (Enhydris gyii) were discovered in the swampy forests of Indonesia's Betung Kerihun National Park.

The half-metre-long venomous snake is normally brown with an iridescent sheen, but can turn white. It is not yet known whether the snake can become other colours too, or what exactly causes the change.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9417-chameleon-snake-can-turn-white-in-minutes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapuas_mud_snake

Like all Homalopsinae, the 30 inches (76 cm) long snake is mildly venomous (rear-fanged) and viviparous.  30 inches is not half a meter, it is more like 3/4 of a meter.

The Crypto Crew: Does The Loch Ness Monster Really Exist?

Reprinted From The Crypto Crew Blog:
http://www.thecryptocrew.com/2013/08/does-loch-ness-monster-really-exist.html

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Does The Loch Ness Monster Really Exist?

Nessie - Real or Not?

By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Professional Writer, a nature and wildlife enthusiast who has written for many magazines

Does The Loch Ness Monster Really Exist?

Extreme Monster Hunter, Adam Davies, Weighs In

By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher

  Most of us in the bigfoot world believe in the creature because there’s enough evidence floating around out there to give us good reasons. Hundreds of researchers around North America and around the world are collecting evidence nearly every day, listening to hundreds of stories and filing reports. It’s enough of a constant cycle of sightings and reports to at least give all of us reason to believe we need to examine the subject further. Bigfoot gets a lot of attention because he’s earned it. He keeps popping up in lots of places around the world and holding everyone’s interest. But when you look at Facebook pages and websites dedicated to The Loch Ness Monster, there doesn’t seem to be so much activity; one recent report and photo among a few other scattered sightings over the course of time.
No volume even close to the number of bigfoot and yeti reports around the world.

So does The Loch Ness Monster, aka Nessie in Scotland warrant the same attention and emotional investment from researchers and locals there? Does it really exist? I just had to ask our favorite cryptid hunter, Adam Davies, the guy who’s actually been there and done the work to look for Nessie and worked with National Geographic, Monster Quest, and Finding Bigfoot, what his thoughts are on the subject. He knows lake monsters exist. He’s actually seen one. And even though it’s a really hard thing in the cryptid world for a cryptid researcher to say he doesn’t think a certain cryptid exists, Adam seemed pretty comfortable saying it’s his opinion that Nessie doesn’t exist, and he explains why:
“I know Lake Monsters exist. Importantly, so do credible scientists. In 1999, I was part of a team which used a hydrophone to prove the existence of Selma, the Norwegian version of Nessie. You could clearly hear the animals seemingly communicating with one another. So convincing was it that it led the Marine Research Institute in Bergen to conclude we had found an unknown species. Importantly, I also saw it. In Loch Ness a year later, I tried the same approach with the hydrophone. Simply put, apart from fish, there was nothing very interesting registering on our hydrophone. What could it be in the Lake then? Well, to dismiss all the accounts as floating logs, wakes or just lies was incorrect in my opinion. I remember seeing a particularly persuasive account by a Monk who had certainly seen an animal in the water. He described its specific movement through the water. He had certainly seen an animal. What could it be then? Fishermen at Foyers told me they had seen huge eels in the Loch. Large eels would explain the shape of the animal many people were describing, I concluded. I was never a fan of the `sturgeon theory.` I would be delighted to be proved wrong! If anyone does, I will join the queue to shake their hand. However, the only way I can see Nessie actually existing is if it is an infrequent visitor to the Loch.”
[This is in fact exactly my own opinion also. And it does nothing to disprove the FORMER existence of such a creature we call Nessie at Loch Ness.-DD]

But Adam certainly hasn’t lost faith or the inspiration to keep searching for these types of creatures, as he expressed further thoughts about that in his statement: “Fascinatingly though, I heard on several occasions from locals about Loch Morar. One very well known Nessie skeptic suggested that I look there to see my second Lake Monster, as did locals. With its clear waters, and without the tourist focus of Loch Ness, it has a real appeal. If there is a Lake Monster in Britain this is the best place to search. I know Lake Monsters exist…” So is it possible we all just caught a glimpse into where Adam’s headed next? He wouldn’t say, so who knows? But Loch Morar, also in Scotland, may be the future hot spot to watch for lake monsters. Stay tuned.

   *******
DF [Special Thanks to Adam Davies]

[In my opinion NO "Lake Monsters" are PERMANENT fixtures of any of the lakes they might wander into. And why should they be? the notion of monsters inhabiting a specific geographic area is only a continuance of the notion that cetain areas are haunted by spirits. And we are NOT dealing with spirits here!-DD]

ShukerNature Himalayan Mystery

Sunday, 25 August 2013

LEGLESS IN NEPAL - A LIMBLESS HIMALAYAN CROCODILE DRAGON?

 

Nepal's limbless crocodile dragon (William M. Rebsamen)

As comprehensively documented in my latest book, Mirabilis: A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (2013), crocodilian mystery beasts come in all shapes and sizes and are of worldwide distribution. Yet few, surely, can be stranger than the giant limbless version reported from southern Asia as recently as 1980.

That was when Reverend Resham Poudal, an Indian missionary, was leading an entourage through a Himalayan jungle valley in Nepal. They came upon what seemed at first sight to be an enormous log, greenish-brown in colour, lying on the ground across their planned path – and then the 'log' moved! To the great alarm of everyone present, it proved to be a huge limbless reptile, whose scaly serpentine form blended in so well with the surrounding vegetation that when stationary, it did indeed look exactly like a log or fallen tree trunk.

Its eyewitnesses estimated the creature's total body length to be at least 42 ft, and approximately 6.5 ft in circumference, but most shocking of all were its jaws. For whereas those of true snakes, even massive ones, are relatively short in relation to their body, this mystery reptile's were extremely long, greatly resembling a crocodile's jaws. And although they were motionless, they were fully open, yielding a gape wide enough for a 6.5-ft-tall human to stand inside!

As I learnt from veteran cryptozoological explorer Bill Gibbons, who has also written about this bizarre cryptid, the entourage's native Nepalese members informed the Reverend that they considered these 'crocodile-snakes' to be dragons, but stated that they were only very occasionally encountered - and even when one was met with, it rarely moved. Instead, it would simply lie impassively with its monstrous jaws agape and wait for unsuspecting prey, usually water buffaloes, to approach, not seeing its enormous yet perfectly camouflaged form until it was too late. For as soon as a buffalo walked within range, the dragon's open jaws would seize it, and from those immensely powerful killing implements, brimming with sharp teeth, there would be no escape. In addition, the natives claimed that its eyes glowed like luminescent lamps at night (a feature also reported for anacondas and other very large snakes), which helped to lure prey.

But if such a remarkable creature as this truly exists, what could it be? Possibly an immense species of snake with unusually large jaws, or perhaps a gigantic legless lizard? Might it even be a unique limbless species of terrestrial crocodilian, highly specialised for this cryptic, motionless lifestyle? Whatever it is, it certainly does not match the appearance of any reptile currently known to science.

This ShukerNature blog post is excerpted from my newly-published book Mirabilis:A Carnival of Cryptozoology and Unnatural History (Anomalist Books: New York, 2013), which is available as a hard-copy paperback book and also as a Kindle e-book.

 This may not be transparently obvious to everybody but the creature that is described here is really the same thing as the Buru, the Buru being a creature that is alternately described as having four limbs like a crocodile but also as being limbless like a sepent. The size as reported here is comparable to the clearly identical Bu-Rin of Burma, said to be 50 feet long and limbless (but also seen swimming in the water only and so the legs could be missed. In this case the creature was well-camouflaged and hard to discern from the vegetation, well covered by vegetation as well, so the legs could conceivably be missed.
The story of "we thought it was a log until it moved and then we saw it was a big snake" is a popular legend found in many places, including several different parts of Indonesia and including also many parts of Latin America. Of course selecting only one telling of the legend as a report is analogous to singling out one report of The Phantom Hitchhiker and treating the story as a real event unrelated to the dozens of other other near-identical retellings of the same story.
Personally I think estimations of lengths up to 50 feet or more are only exaggerations. Heuvelmans allows a length of up to 25 feet for this species and this blog has had an ongoing disputation over that point. The more exaggerated accounts allege that such creatures (called Nyans) can eat whole elephants and so the stories of buffalos marching into its open jaws are right in line with that. (The bestiary dragons which attack elephants come out of this legend) The legends of larger creatures undoubtedly originate in sightings of wakes-in-the-water and an early publication of the reports notes a distinct resemblance to Scandinavian sea-serpent reports. Because of this there is at least the sound suggestion that some of the reports are actually referring to giant eels instead.  All of this has also been mentioned on this blog before.


The Buru of Assam as illustrated by Neave Parker of the British Museum (Natural History)
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/art-nature-imaging/collections/art-themes/20thcentury/more/iguanodon_more_info.htm

Could this finally be proof that Nessie exists?

Could this finally be proof that Nessie exists? Amateur photographer snaps 'large black object' moving beneath the waters of Loch Ness

• David Elder, 50, takes mysterious picture while photographing a swan

• Insists the image must show 'a solid black object under the water'

• New photo will fuel theories about the existence of the Loch Ness Monster

By Hugo Gye
PUBLISHED: 07:28 EST, 26 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:34 EST, 26 August 2013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402134/Could-finally-proof-Nessie-exists-Amateur-photographer-snaps-large-black-object-moving-beneath-waters-Loch-Ness.html

 

An amateur photographer has captured an eerie photo from the shore of Loch Ness which could encourage those who believe in tales of a monster living beneath the surface of the lake.The image was taken by David Elder at Fort Augustus, at the south-west end of the 23-mile-long body of water in northern Scotland.
It shows a long bow wave apparently caused by some sort of disturbance on the surface of the loch.
Scroll down for video

Mystery: This bizarre picture of an unexplained phenomenon was taken from the shore of Loch Ness

The 50-year-old photography enthusiast insists the only thing that could have caused it is 'a solid black object under the water'.
Mr Elder, from East Kilbride in Lanarkshire, was able to take still photos as well as filming a video of the mysterious scene.
'We were at the pier head at Fort Augustus and I was taking a picture of a swan at the time,' he said.
'Out of the corner of my right eye I caught site of a black area of water about 15ft long which developed into a kind of bow wave.

 

Could this mysterious wave be evidence of Loch Ness Monster?

 

'I'm convinced this was caused by a solid black object under the water. The water was very still at the time and there were no ripples coming off the wave and no other activity on the water.
'Water was definitely going over something solid and making the wave. It looks like the sort of wave perhaps created by a windsurfing board but there was nobody on the loch at the time, no boats, nothing.
'The disturbance in the water began moving up the Loch sideways. It is something I just can't explain.'
The extraordinary picture will doubtless fuel the imaginations of anyone who believes the story that there is a sea creature living in the lake, which is Britain's largest due to its 230m depth.
However, sceptics will ascribe the wave to a freak gust of wind or other natural phenomenon.

Iconic: This is the 'surgeon's photograph' taken in 1934 which purports to show the Loch Ness Monster

The story of the Loch Ness Monster goes back as far as the medieval period, but it first came to widespread public attention in 1933.
That year a couple named the Spicers claimed to have seen a creature with a large body and long neck jumped in to the loch, causing a national sensation.
The next year, the iconic 'surgeon's photograph' was published, purporting to show the creature swimming in Loch Ness with its head out of the water.
Although that image has been debunked as a hoax, the search for Nessie has continued, with true believers undeterred by the failure of repeated attempts by scientists to find the creature


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402134/Could-finally-proof-Nessie-exists-Amateur-photographer-snaps-large-black-object-moving-beneath-waters-Loch-Ness.html#ixzz2d7Y027ES
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Return of Morag

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/weird-news/tourists-shock-morag-loch-morar-2219656
By Alan Dow

Tourists' shock as Morag of Loch Morar – Scotland's second most famous monster – makes a comeback after 20 years

25 Aug 2013 13:14

DOUG Christie and his wife Charlotte claim they spotted a 20ft black shape in the water three times in two days and are convinced the beast has returned.

   

Sighting of the 20ft object near the loch's surface.

SHE has been quiet for more than two decades without even the hint of a recorded sighting…
But now Scotland’s second most famous Loch monster – Morag of Loch Morar – has made a comeback.
Holidaymaker Doug Christie, a recently retired oil industry engineer not given to flights of fancy, said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a solid 20ft black shape in the water.
He and wife Charlotte say they saw the beast three times during a stay at Kisimuil B&B by the loch. Doug, 66, from Brechin, Angus, said: “I could not believe my eyes.
“I am not the type to get excited unduly but this just couldn’t be explained.
“It was a large black shape on the loch that looked just like a bit of a ­submarine and around the same size.
Charlotte said: “I thought it was a whale. We saw it three times in the space of two days.
“The ­longest sighting was about 10 minutes before it submerged again.”
The couple were staying for a night at the B&B owned by Barra-born Michael MacNeil, 53, and his 50-year-old nurse wife Catherine, who was brought up on the lochside.
Michael said: “Doug shouted to me asking if there was a rock out in the middle of the loch.
“I laughed and shouted back that the loch was almost 1000ft deep and there were no rocks near the surface.
“But sure enough, there was a largish black object, maybe two, very close together, in the middle of the two-mile-wide loch.
“I have seen otters in the loch but this was no otter, much bigger and almost ­motionless.”

Tourists Doug and Charlotte Christie saw the beast three times during their stay.

His 24 year-old daughter Kathleen, who has researched the phenomenon said: “There have been sightings of a monster in Loch Morar going back more than 100 years.”
The last person to see the monster, 58-year-old factory boss Alistair MacKellaig, of Mallaig, Inverness-shire, said: “I was fishing with a group in a boat and we all saw Morag and only about 50 yards away.
“It was the classic three humps moving through the water with the head underwater. We were left astounded and a wee bit fearful at what we had seen and how close we had been to it.
“I bumped into Michael the other day and firmly believe that what he, his daughter and guests saw was what we witnessed but they saw Morag at a far greater distance than we did.
“I am sure others have seen Morag in the past 23 years but feel too embarrassed to say so.”
The most dramatic sighting and only known actual physical contact with the ­monster was experienced by two local men in August 1969.
Willie Simpson, 66, and crofter Duncan McDonell, now 80, were returning from a ­fishing trip up Loch Morar when the creature struck Willie’s boat. He grabbed a rifle and shot at the beast, which sank out of sight.
He said: “There is no doubt in my mind that there is a large monster, maybe more than one, in Loch Morar.”

Lake Champlain Monster photo.

[From Scott Mardis, currently on expedition at Lake Champlain]:

One of Dennis Hall's alleged Champ photos, computer enhanced by himself.

 

• Dale Drinnon Yeah, that "Computer enhanced by himself" is a killer. However I do not wholly discout the picture as a fake. For one thing, the neck action in fishing is attested to in many reports.

Scott replied by sending in the next comparison:

 

One of Dennis Hall's Champ photos compared with a Champ eyewitness sketch by Eva Gauvin from 1983.