Pinky Report: St. Johns River, Part 1
Posted by: Loren Coleman on March 11th, 2008
I only have a few moments as the evolved dinosaurs (birds) have overwhelmed my travel log, to record some thoughts before I get back out there.
My boat excursions yesterday, captained separately by Rebecca and later Peter (out of the Blue Springs State Park), local natives well-educated in the local fauna and flora along the St. Johns River, served me well. Also, pre-boat interviews of Barbara gave me insights into the almost ancestral remembrances of Pinky reports from the bygone days of the 1970s.
I saw and counted 53 manatees, mostly in one herd, but with several incidents of them swimming, feeding, and diving along the river. I saw nose displays and tail flips, plus great views of the entire bodies underwater.
There is no way that a manatee could be confused with a bipedal dinosaur.
I recorded sightings of 24 distinct species of birds, plus two species of snakes, two of turtles, one type of crocodilian (of course), and only one land mammal (not counting humans).
I’ll talk more about this tomorrow.
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.
Speaking of birds, keep your eyes open for an Ivory-billed Woodpecker. Who knows, instead of Pinky, maybe you’ll see one of those!
Legend has it, that about this time of year in that area, the mermaid population increases dramatically. Keep your eyes open. They apparently like to bask on sunny beaches. Many of them -are- pinkish and have been known in a red, peeling phase, as well.
Please do be careful Loren. Be mindful of those freakishly huge pythons that have thrived in the wilds of Florida.
Loren,
Can ya’ at least give us a general idea of the area you are in? Like North or Central Florida?
Just a bit curious.
Thanks,
Vance
Loren,
if you get a chance to go to Gainesville, you can’t go wrong if you visit the Florida Museum of Natural History. There are some truly spectacular fossils there, all of animals that once lived in Florida. (Which gives you a good idea of what might have been.) Fossils include two types of giant ground sloth (one is nearly 18 ft high), a glyptodont, Panthera atrox and several other cats, including the most recently described sabertooth cat, Xenosmilus – to name but a few.
Xenosmilus was first discovered only a few years ago, in a dig (which is still ongoing) on the Santa Fe River. Who knows – maybe there are fossils of whatever Pinky is, just waiting the be found there too.
Nice post, Loren!!!
Loren, Thanks for the update, we are all waiting to hear back from you (hopefully with great news)! Take care.
Kittenz has the right idea. In order for one to even begin to try and decipher what Pinky might be, they have to be familiar with the particular fossils of that area as well as the animals found in the area presently. While the fossil record is most likely not complete, and might not show everything that has ever lived there, it is a very good way to get a lay of the land, so to speak.