Saturday 28 March 2009

more sea monster tales


In the absence of any glaring news items so far today decided to do a sea monster sighting blog.
A man serving as navigator on RAF Shackleton aircraft in 1957, flying missions over Europe and much of South America claims to have seen a sea monster . The official job of the Shackleton was to search for submarines and relay the positions back to base. One of the tell-tale signs they used to look for from above was a dark shape underwater, which could often be a shark or whale or other creature, but sometimes they would find a submarine near to the surface. On one occasion, having seen something, they flew down to investi­gate, and as they flew by , every crew member on board saw the same thing – the neck and head of a large sea creature protruding from the surface. The nearest thing they could think of at the time was a plesiosaur. They were all in agreement but of course the pilot on the way home forbade them absolutely from talking about it; if they had done so they would all have been in serious trouble. A report on the incident has appeared in The Fortean times, in more detail than here.
We have had our own UK sea monsters over the years. Falmouth Bay is an oft reported sea monster hot spot.

A hundred years ago, a long-necked monster was caught by fishermen in Gerrans Bay. Fifty years later, a Mr. Reece and a Mr. Gilbert, trawling three miles south of Falmouth netted a large creature. It was twenty feet long, with an eight foot tail, a 'beaked' head, scaly legs, and a broad back covered with 'matted brown hair'. Marine Biologists of the day were unable to identify the beast.

So Long necked Pinniped anyone? More likely explanation than plesiosaur.Plesiosaurs would have to have survived en masse to still be a few around today.Seals however exist in many forms and even Leopard seals have been seen inland. Keep watching the seas maybe evidence will turn up soon,




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