Saw a Sea Serpent
The officers and crew of the schooner Edward Waite, of Portland, Me., which arrived at this port recently, are positive that they fell in with a genuine sea serpent on the voyage from Cardenas [Cuba] to this city with a cargo of sugar. The vessel was yesterday docked at South street wharf, and the bronzed-faced mate, William Page, who has been a sailor for thirty years, told the story of the remarkable adventure in a straightforward manner:
“Our voyage,” said he, “from Cardenas to Cape Hatteras was uneventful. We passed that point and were more than half way to Cape Henry when we sighted a strange disturbance in the ocean. It was my watch and there were several men on deck at the time. We thought at first that it was a whale, but as it did not ‘blow’ we concluded it was a shark, although some of the men who were watching it said it was too large for a shark. The thing, whatever it was, came nearer and nearer, as if charging for the vessel, and we began to get a little excited. We noticed, also, as it came within a reasonable distance, that the thing’s head was out of water.
It came nearer and nearer, leaving a long, wide wake behind it, and stirring up the water into foam like the paddles of a river steamer. It passed the schooner within less than 250 yards and we had a full view. We were so much interested that I forgot to call the captain, who was below asleep, but all of the watch saw the thing as plainly as I can see the schooner there in the next dock. It was a sea serpent and no mistake. We could only measure its size by the line in the water, but I should say it was fully ninety feet long, with a head as large and something like a horse’s head. The most remarkable thing about it was the color and size of its eyes. They were of a bright saffron hue and half as large as a man’s hand. It held its head above water all the time we saw it, which was about half an hour, when it passed out of sight in a southerly direction. We were at the time in latitude 35, 40, and it was a clear day. We could not have been mistaken.” — Philadelphia Record.Plattsburgh [New York] Sentinel, May 30, 1884
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.
Email • Facebook • Twitter •