Normandy Nessie
Posted by: Loren Coleman on November 18th, 2009
Normandy is not just a location famed for its role in the D-Day invasion of Europe in World War II. Normandy is also the name of a site in Florida where a strange cryptid is being seen. Now the name will be associated with a new cryptid report. Photographic evidence of the creature has been obtained.
Russ Sittlow set up a surveillance camera to video tape the creature swimming in the channel behind his home. Staff photo by Michael Egger.
Some kind of serpentine cryptid is being seen in…
…the canals of Madeira Beach along the Pinellas County coast. Those who have seen it say it’s no fish and think it could be a sea serpent.
Russ Sittlow, 78, has seen it. He calls the creature “Normandy Nessie” because he lives on Normandy Road.
The retired engineer said he first saw “Nessie” in April.
“His head come up out of the water, and then he rolled up in a double roll behind him and he was long he was huge,” he said of that first sighting.
Sittlow said he has seen two of the creatures in the canal, one very large, and the other a bit smaller. He estimates the largest one is at least 30 feet long.
Sittlow set up a surveillance camera to record video if the creatures came back. He said his camera recorded “Nessie” three times since September, the latest Saturday [November 14, 2009].
Thanks for incoming news of this story from Craig Woolheater, Zach Klyver, Justin Decker, Judy Renouf, and others. By this morning, it appears to be getting growing coverage across several news organizations.
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.
Wow, the head looks pretty big when you compare it to the boat on the dock and other things in the photo. My first thought was OOP sea lion, or maybe manatee, but when I read that he estimated the creature at 30 feet long it makes me really wonder. The only thing I can think of that could be called serpentine, have a large head, and even come close to 30′ long in Florida would maybe be an escaped/released exotic snake (python, boa, anaconda). But even that doesn’t make too much sense, one of those would probably have been seen on land and would go more for the neighborhood cats and dogs for their food supply. But until I see better photographic or video evidence proving that what he saw was indeed 30 feet long and serpentine, I can’t really see any reason to get too excited about this being an actual sea serpent, that “head” could be anything. But since he has set up a video camera maybe more evidence will come. Maybe someone can get out there in a boat when this thing is feeding and the water is clear and get some decent pictures of the length of the thing.
My thoughts exactly…since it seems to keep coming back, keep the camera going…and maybe see if we can get a betterrrrrrrrr photo or closer for a more distinct shot…this one’s not so good…:)
There were four images in the report I read. In one, it appears to have flukes. Doesn’t seem to be a manatee, even though that is what you’d expect. I don’t think otters roll in sequence. I don’t know if snakes roll at all. Catfish? seems too skinny, but we need better images(!)