Northumberland sea monster?

See below a synopsis of an article from the Shields Gazette: 4th September 2006

More than 50 years ago a sea monster was spotted off the coast of Northumberland :It was in about November and a fisherman and the mate had just gone on watch at 4pm.The ship was off Tees Bay, heading south after loading at the West Staithes at Blyth. The anonymous seaman remembers: "It was a murky afternoon. The mate was scanning the horizon with the glasses when he did a double-take. "He called me over from the wheel and said 'have a look and tell me what you think of that'.
"I said 'that's the nearest thing to a sea monster I've ever seen'." "I can't remember if it had a tail," he says. "It was moving into Tees Bay. We didn't mention it to anyone else for obvious reasons: nobody would have believed us and we would never have lived it down.
"We tried to equate it to a small boat, a trick of the light, the sea, shadows etc. But no, we were convinced that we had seen some sort of marine beastie and I'm still convinced.
"I wonder if anyone has seen anything like it before?"
The fisherman did a rough drawing of a creature with three humps and a long neck.

Also in Northumberland in Berwick on Tweed in the River Tweed

on 16 September 1757 a report of an 1.8 metre long shark , green in colour being found.

Then I found this :

A very rare sea fish has been found dead on the Northumberland coast and experts believe it to be the deep water Ribbonfish. The Ribbonfish was discovered by three local men on the beach at Hauxley near Amble on Sunday 31st January, 2009. As the men had no idea what species it was, they sent a picture to Sam Harris, a sea fishing programme presenter for BBC Radio Newcastle.

"It does look like a Ribbonfish, also known as an Oarfish – Regalecus glesne – and is rarely seen around British coast lines. They can grow up to 10 or 11 metres long and weigh more than a quarter of a tonne, but are usually more at home in deep, sub tropical oceans. Maybe warmer sea temperatures have pushed them into areas such as the North Sea?"

The Ribbonfish propels itself with a long undulating dorsal fin and is the longest bony fish in the sea. It is believed that this was feared by mariners for many centuries as a mythical sea serpent or monster. see more here: http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/News/ribbonfish.html

I did an earlier blog on the Ribbon Fish caught on the coast around Whitby area, a few miles down from Amble, well probably about 100 miles, geography not being my strong point.

I am off to Northumberland tomorrow so will keep my eyes peeled We forget sometimes when looking at cryptozoological phenomena that we may find instances of them near to home. Checking out old local newspapers at the local library can reveal some great stories. Will be back on Friday. Don’t miss me tomorrow will you?