November 14, 2011

Naden Harbor News

The famed Naden Harbor carcass was mentioned in the news of the day…and we are fast approaching this news item’s anniversary.

The Naden Harbor (British Columbia) “Cadborosaurus” carcass, retrieved from the stomach of a sperm whale and photographed in October, 1937. The specimen has since been lost.

Stonewall Argus
Stonewall, Manitoba

November 17, 1937

A STRANGE CREATURE

Taken From The Stomach Of A Whale On The Pacific Coast

The fisheries department’s news bulletin described a strange creature taken from the stomach of a Pacific coast whale, tallying closely with descriptions of the elusive cadborosaurus of southern Vancouver Island waters but much smaller, possibly an infant.

Officials reading the report of the Naden harbor whaling station were surprised to find in it this description of an animal taken from the stomach of a whale killed off Queen Charlotte Islands: “about 10 feet long, having a head similar to a large dog, animal-like vertebrae and having a tail resembling a single blade of gill bone as found in whales’ jaws.”

Officials said it was surprising to find such a large creature in a whale’s stomach as the animals feed usually on squid, octopus and sometimes shrimp.

To the best of our knowledge, no photo of the carcass was published in the newspapers of the day, but certainly, the discovery was noted then.


As noted previously, there is a full-scale model by Lee Murphy of the Naden Harbor carcass at the International Cryptozoology Museum.

Thanks to Jerome Clark for the archival news item.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

Filed under Cadborosaurus, CryptoZoo News, Evidence, Sea Serpents