Sea monsters are in the news and on television like never before. NBC has a hit show on Monday nights with "Surface," about a huge, terrifying aquatic creature, and sea monsters grace the cover of the December 2005 issue of National Geographic. Scientists working in Patagonia, South America, recently found remains of a 13-foot beast with four-inch teeth. The creature, dubbed "Godzilla" by its discoverers, is a distant relative of today's crocodiles and lived about 135 million years ago. Since men took to sea, stories of fearsome leviathans have haunted those brave enough to venture beyond dry land. The Kraken, a huge many-tentacled beast, was said to attack sailors on the open ocean and drag them to their watery deaths.As fantastic as these monsters are, science has discovered a biological basis for some of these myths.Biologists have verified the existence of a true sea monster: the mysterious and elusive giant squid Architeuthis. Dead specimens periodically wash up on the world's beaches, most often in Newfoundland and New Zealand. The largest giant squid specimen, found in New Zealand, was estimated to be 65 feet long. On Sept. 30, 2004, Japanese zoologists Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori became the first to see and film a giant squid at depth. The creature, about 26 feet long, was found at a depth of 2,953 feet (900 meters). The researchers, searching whale feeding areas in the North Pacific near the OgasawaraIslands, used bait and a remote camera to film the creature. Some suggest that huge, unidentified masses that occasionally wash up on beaches throughout the world are sea monsters. These finds, often called "globsters," are obviously flesh, yet have decayed so badly that they lack bones or distinguishing features. One classic globster washed ashore in 1896, when giant waves tossed a massive fleshy corpse on a beach at St. Augustine, Florida. The rubbery, six-foot-high blob was examined by a local naturalist, who initially speculated that it was likely from a giant octopus far larger than any previously seen. Many other such blobs have washed ashore, including one in Chile in July 2003 and another in Newfoundland in 2001.Controversy and mystery surrounded the creatures for decades, as definitive identifications eluded researchers. A team of biologists led by Sidney Pierce began looking into the mystery. As the team pointed out, "Wild claims, especially in the nonscientific literature, are regularly made that the blobs are the remains of sea monsters. For example, the Tasmanian West Coast Monster is still referred to as a monster, although an Australian scientific team…identified it as a whale. Other relics such as the St. Augustine (Florida) Sea Monster and the Bermuda Blob are still described by some as the remains of a gigantic octopus, even though A.E. Verrill—who named the St. Augustine specimen sight unseen—recanted his identification in favor of whale remains…and in spite of microscopic and biochemical analyses showing that they were nothing more than the collagenous matrix of whale blubber." In 2004, Pierce and his colleagues examined all available globster specimens using electron microscopes, and applied biochemical, molecular, and DNA analysis.The conclusion, published in Biological Bulletin: the samples matched exactly those of various species of great whales. The DNA and molecular structure were unmistakable, and "when the microscopic anatomy and biochemical composition of the Chilean and Nantucket Blobs are compared with those of the other remains, similarities are manifest. Thus, there is no doubt that they are all derived from the same type of organism." The mysterious globsters were simply whale remains. With the application of science, one of the world's great mysteries of the sea was finally explained. The many mentions of globsters in books on the "unexplained" and marine mysteries will have to be revised in the cold light of hard evidence and close scrutiny. So far, all the sea monsters science has found have either been extinct for millions of years or are known (but previously misidentified) creatures. Until hard evidence surfaces, truly unknown sea monsters will remain in the realm of fantasy and fiction.
So do you believe sea monsters are just fantasy or do you believe there are unknown creatures out there to be discovered? I think there are unknown creatures as new species are being discovered all the time. If it took all these years to catch a giant squid on film , how many years will it be before some one catches an unknown large sea creature on film?
POINT PLEASANT — For 43 years Point Pleasant, W.Va., has been haunted by the Mothman, which has gained attention all over the world. The city has used this bizarre legend to develop tourism.The legend behind the infamous winged creature known as the Mothman began 43 years ago this Sunday in November of 1966 when two young couples saw something they would never forget, according to Jeff Wamsley, author of two Mothman books, Mothman Museum creator, and director of the Mothman Festival.
When Steve and Mary Mallette and David and Linda Scarberry turned onto an old dirt road on the outskirts of Point Pleasant that took them through an area known as TNT, an abandoned World War II TNT factory, the foursome came face-to-face with the creature and the account of what they saw that day started a craze that has since swept the city of Point Pleasant, the nation and the world. While out joyriding through the heavily wooded area the couples saw two red lights off in the distance that they simply passed off as shadows from a nearby power plant. Moments later, however, those lights began to move toward them at a rapid pace. What they saw next, according to reports, were the eyes of an enormous creature that looked like a man with wings on its back. The animal then chased them in their car exceeding speeds of 100 mph. They claimed to have escaped when the creature became distracted by a dead dog on the side of the road. They were unable to find the following day. On the same night, Newell Partridge, a SalemW.Va., resident, also reported strange sightings on his property. His TV began showing strange patterns on the screen and he heard terrible noises coming from outside. His dog reportedly began howling from the porch. Partridge went outside to investigate and reportedly saw the same red-eyed creature. When Partridge’s dog, Bandit, saw the creature, he ran after it and the dog was never seen again. Partridge learned the next day that the same creature was seen later that evening 90 miles away in the TNT area and he believed Bandit was the dog the couples saw. Wamsley said that over the next year more than 100 reports of a “bird-like” creature began popping up all over the city and he said that there were probably around 100 more sightings at the same time that did not go reported because of the skepticism of the event. Sparse sightings have occurred ever since.
This story caught international attention with the help of a movie. The 2002 movie entitled The Mothman Prophecies was directed by Mark Pellington and written by John A. Keel, an avid Mothman researcher, and Richard Hatem. “Of course, when the movie came out people got different angles on it and everything so I tell people that come into the museum that the real story is a lot scarier than what the movie was,” Wamsley said.
The creature is also associated with the worst disaster in Point Pleasant’s history, the collapse of the SilverBridge. The event happened on Dec. 15, 1967, when a bridge that spanned the Ohio River collapsed during rush-hour traffic. Over 45 cars fell in to the icy water in less than a minute. According to Dorsal Plants, 50-year-old former resident of Point Pleasant, 46 lives were lost. He said that the bridge failure was due to a defect in an eyebar, but some say that the Mothman was sighted under the bridge moments before it collapsed. The Mothman has been linked to a curse on the town of Point Pleasant and has been associated with 83 deaths so far.There have also been reported sightings of the creature in the U.S., United Kingdom, Mexico and several other places around the world. Each report has been linked to the occurrence of a major event. The most recent sighting was in Mexico where the swine flu pandemic began. Loren Coleman, a reporter for Wireless Flash News, Inc., said the Mothman can “sense viruses.” According to Wamsley, most scientists dismiss the creature as nothing more than a large bird, such as a sandhill crane. This specific type of bird has red patches on its head.Plants said other things may be blamed for some Mothman sightings. When the Mothman legend was just taking off, he was approached by an out-of-town man looking for the TNT area in search for the creature. “As it turns out, we got out the to the TNT area. It was very very late at night,” Plants said. “One of my friends happened to have a flashlight with a red lens cap and as it turns out at the right moment a huge red light come shining on, we all screamed it was the Mothman, we all took off running, including the guy with the cameras and we’ve never seen him since.” The name changed from “bird-like” to Mothman when an Ohio newspaper used the term and it has been used ever since.“A lot of those original witnesses said that it had the shape of a man of what they saw, so there are conflicting theories there and we still do today.” Wamsley said. Despite what scientists say, the people of Point Pleasant dismiss the possibility and are still exploring the Mothman legend to this day. The legend is being used in the city of Point Pleasant as a main theme for tourism and has caused the city to grow beyond expectations because it has similar unexplained characteristics like the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot according to Wamsley. “It has been a good launching board for other things that is in Point Pleasant,” Wamsley said. “Not too many small towns like us have that kind of a calling card you know, to get people to come and look around and stuff.” In the city of Point Pleasant there is the world’s only MothmanMuseum, a Mothman statue, guided tours of the TNT area and the Mothman Festival. Sept. 18 and 19, 2010, will mark the ninth edition of the Mothman Festival in downtown Point Pleasant. The festival features hayrides to TNT, guest speakers, entertainment, exclusive showings of various documentaries, vendors, various props used in the Mothman movie and a Miss Mothman pageant.
So was Mothman a publicity stunt? It is the charge they lay at the residents at Loch Ness and other cryptid sites. I am not sure most people would say they say they saw something knowing it could mean they could be ridiculed and criticised. But when a cryptid is sighted the media and the tourism follows , which always leads people open to talk of publicity stunt. I think as cryptozoologists we have to be aware of this but keep an open mind, not everyone is out to make money.
Normandy Nessie: 'Big beast' reported in MadeiraBeach canal
By Sheila Mullane Estrada, Times Correspondent
Sunday, November 15, 2009
MADEIRABEACH — If you believe retiree Russ Sittloh, the canals around CrystalIsland have their own version of the infamous Loch Ness Monster. After four sightings of the mysterious creature, he is so convinced that something's out there that he has dubbed it Normandy Nessie. Sittloh and his wife, Betty, say they've seen the creature from their Normandy Road waterfront home once in the spring, again in September and twice this month. Nessie doesn't have a regular routine, Sittloh says, but usually swims by in midafternoon. The couple used to watch dolphins frolic in their canal, but since Nessie arrived the dolphins have been a no-show. "At first, I was puzzled. I couldn't figure out what it was. Then in September I thought it might be a python or some big snake. But then this month, I saw a caudal fin. He looks like he is over 30 feet long and about 15 inches in diameter. We are talking about a big beast out there," Sittloh said. When he told friends and neighbors about the first two sightings, he was met with skepticism and even laughter. So he decided to prove his discovery. He spent $370 on a surveillance camera to monitor the canal from his window. He kept watch and downloaded both video and still pictures to his computer and then posted them on the Internet. He even sent a letter to a local newspaper. "At the risk of having everyone think I have lost it, gone bonkers or whatever, I must share this visual sighting with everyone," he wrote. He worries that the creature "could pose a real danger to people and small animals," and particularly to those who swim or kayak in the canal. Sittloh says his most recent sighting was about a week ago. The creature was in the middle of a school of baitfish, did a double roll and came back toward Sittloh with a "mouthful of fish." Now Sittloh's Nessie sightings have gone viral on the Web. Depending on how you structure your search, Google returns between 449 and 8,000 Web pages that reference "Normandy Nessie." Chatter on Web sites and blogs speculate on what Nessie could be. Guesses range from a large manatee to a Cretaceous-era mosasaur, a serpentine marine reptile that could reach nearly 60 feet long. Fortunately, it is extinct. As for Sittloh's first guess — a large python or snake — pythons can swim and have been reported in the Everglades. Presumably they are former pets turned loose by their owners. A state-sanctioned hunting program reported capturing and killing 37 pythons this month. Officials estimate that 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the Everglades. In July, an 8-foot pet Burmese python escaped from its terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl. "I don't know if we have a mutated species here or what," Sittloh said. "Whatever he is, my God, is he big. He is some kind of big." Sittloh said he has warned his neighbors and called the city, but did not report the creature to the Sheriff's Office. "From the video, it appears most likely it is a manatee," said Carli Segelson, media relations coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said no one else in MadeiraBeach has reported seeing Nessie. "It sounds like there is something out there, but we don't know what it is," she said.
Gigantopithecus Blacki was said to have lived in what is now China and Southeast Asia, but could have migrated over land bridges as did other animals. Gigantopithecus was the largest primate that ever walked the Earth. It would have been 9 to 10 feet in height in a standing position and probably weighed 600 or 700lbs.The largest modern gorilla stands about 6 feet tall and weighs about 300 to 400 lbs. Gigantopithecus became extinct about halfway through the ice age, according to fossil record. Why it became extinct is unknown, but probably was due to changes in the climate and scarcity of food supplies to which Gigantopithecus was unable to adapt.
Some suggest that Gigantopithecus Blacki is not extinct but is the explanation for Bigfoot or the Yeti. Hiding in remote regions in small family groups ,the last remnants of a great mammal. It certainly is one explanation as I can’t see many people trekking up the Himalayas in a monkey suit in their bare feet....but who knows.
P.S. This is a re-posting from earlier in the year as I have spent the morning at the animal shelter and returned with one adult cat and one tiny kitten.
A GROUP of overseas Nessie-hunters plan to keep their heads above water in a bid to track down the famous Loch Ness monster. The mystery of Nessie has puzzled hordes of visitors from across the globe and now one strange party of nine Italians are determined to find her. Travelling all the way from Rimini, the group - led by Cristiano Patelli and including a scientist - has arrived in Inverness to begin the search, which is being filmed as part of a documentary series intent on solving the world's biggest mysteries. Cristiano explained: "The first chapter of our series is on the Loch Ness Monster. It's something lots of people are interested in and we think we have developed the techniques to solve the mystery. "We believe she does not just stay underwater and think that she can breathe on land, so we will be footprint tracking as well as water searching." The Italian Nessie-hunters are experiencing Inverness and all it has to offer for the first time and say they have relished their experience in the Highland capital.In order to raise some cash to help fund the filming, as well as for various children's charities, all nine were raising eyebrows in the city last week when they dressed in lycra to sing and dance on the streets.
"The people are so friendly and accommodating and the scenery is beautiful," said Cristiano. "But obviously our main focus is locating the monster. We are very much looking forward to our boat trip, where hopefully we'll get a glimpse of her." Other mysteries which the group claim they will solve include the Yeti and vampires. The documentary showcasing the Loch Ness Monster will premier in the party's home town of Rimini next year. Cristiano added: "When the documentary has it's premier, we charge nothing for the people to come along. Instead they make a donation, all of which goes to a children's charity, chosen for that year. "We have already made five documentaries over the years, and so we have managed to raise quite a bit and we think children's charity's are very worthy." Nessie was unavailable for comment as the Highland News went to press.
In memory of Baggins cat sadly passed away yesterday, some eye witness accounts from Loch Ness. Baggins spent a year with me on the Black Isle near Inverness, a monster hunting cat, though he only caught rats and mice!.
Ian Cameron, a retired superintendent of the Northern Police Force, lives in Inverness, Scotland.
“Well, we're talking about an incident that happened approximately 32 years ago, almost to the very day—mid-summer, June 1965. I, along with a friend, was on the south shore of Loch Ness, fishing for brown trout, looking almost directly into UrquhartBay, when I saw something break the surface of the water. I glanced there, and I saw it, and then it wasn't there, it had disappeared.
But while watching, keeping an eye, and fishing gently, I saw an object surface. It was a large, black object—a whale-like object, going from infinity up, and came round onto a block end—and it submerged, to reappear a matter of seconds later. But on this occasion, the block end, which had been on my right, was now on my left, so I realized immediately that while in the process of surfacing, as it may, it had rotated. And with the predominant wind, the south-west wind, it appeared to be, I would say, at that stage drifting easily across.
So I called to my friend Willie Frazer, who incidentally had a sighting of an object on the Loch almost a year ago to the very day. I called him, and he come up and joined me. We realized that it was drifting towards us, and, in fact, it came to within I would say about 250, 300 yards.
In no way am I even attempting to convert anybody to the religion of the object of Loch Ness. I mean, they can believe it, but it doesn't upset me if they don't believe it. Because I would question very much if I hadn't the extraordinary experience of seeing this object. If I hadn't seen it I would have without question given a lot of skepticism to what it was. But I saw it, and nothing can take that away.”
Val Moffat has lived on the shores of Loch Ness for 11 years with her husband Ron.
“Well, the day that I saw the monster, it was the end of September 1990, and I was driving back from Inverness. I came up the hill where we came in sight of the bay, glanced out across it, and saw this large lump, is the best way to describe it. The nearest I can tell you is it looked like a boat that had turned upside down. Pretty much like that one out there, actually, same sort of size. If you took that boat and put it in the entrance to the bay, which is where I saw the monster, that's the size of it. About 30 feet in length, and nearly 10 feet in height from the water to the top of the back.
It was a bright, sunny day, the water was bright blue, and it really showed up against it. It was a mixture of browns, greens, sludgy sort of colors. I looked at it on and off for a few seconds, because I was driving. Must have seen it three or four times, and the last time I looked, it was gone!”
Ronald Mackintosh was born and raised in the village of Drumnadrochit on the shores of Loch Ness.
“Well, I've lived here all my life, so that's coming up for 59 years, I'm afraid, and I've fished this Loch here nearly all my life, for salmon. I've caught a few, not as many as I would have liked to have caught, and I basically know the place, just back to front really.
Well, I was about 14 years old, and we had a local farm down here at Drumnadrochit. My late brother and late mother were in the car, and we were driving to Inverness for messages on a Saturday. Beautiful day, flat-calm surface. About eight miles from here down towards Inverness, opposite AldourieCastle, I happened just to look to the Loch and shout "Stop the car!" My brother stopped the car, and we all saw this huge commotion right in the center of the Loch.
It was gray-brown, massive. Now, I always try to relate it to the size of a bus, a big bus. It flipped over, just flipped right over like that, crashed down. You could see it, and the waves from that point were about three feet high and ebbed to each side of the Loch.
That's what I actually saw with my own eyes and my late mother saw and my late brother saw. We did tell one or two people, but we didn't tell too many. I myself obviously think I saw the monster, but I certainly saw that. Nobody to this day has been able to tell me exactly what I saw or what we saw. Therefore I must say that it was the monster, really. I mean, I actually saw it. It was an object, it was huge. What was it? It must have been the monster.”
source and for more including videos of the accounts:
New book on kindle- myths, murder, monsters and magic in modern day Loch Ness
New Cryptofiction book out
mysterious creatures roam the countryside,what is the secret of the horror tunnel and what are the modern day witches up to with the fifth reich? our Friends from the book Dark Ness once again meet cryptids and danger . s
Mother, author, cat lover, amateur cryptozoologist, cook and bottle washer, some times lover, single parent,middle aged,a mad woman without an attic, red wine and chocolate lover.Now housebound due to ill health so an armchair researcher.Too wheezy to sit in a hide and watch for cryptids anymore lol.Have now taken up crafting when I feel able.I now have a Fiction book out on amazon Kindle Dark Ness by Tabitca Cope set in, you guessed it, Loch Ness with monsters , murder , myth and magic.
