Monday, September 21, 2009

Cryptozoology...


...it's more than just a big word. According to the Wikipedia people, it 'refers to the search for animals which are considered to be legendary or otherwise nonexistent by mainstream biology.'

An article in Canoe.ca news caught my eye this morning and I figured I would share it with you, just in case you haven't had enough weirdness in your day. The full story can be found here, but to paraphrase: there was a photo released taken on Cameron Lake near Parksville, BC on Vancouver Island. The woman who took the photo had seen something on the surface and snapped a quick shot of the serpent-like creature. Researchers spent Saturday on the Lake and did, indeed, pick up a large sonar signal from an object 60 feet below.

British Columbia has had a storied history with strange beasties from the Sasquatch to Ogopogo, and, years ago, the fabled Cadborosaurus. It's interesting that all it takes is one misinterpreted sighting of an object on a body of water, over a span of dozens of years, gets folks speculating as to what lies beneath. I'm as guilty as the next person...when we visited Loch Ness years ago I had my eyes peeled on the water at all times, just hoping for the elusive sighting. I guess some things are human nature. To the right is a photo of the serpent play-thingy, made of concrete, located at Gyro Park at Cadboro beach in Victoria. I used to play on that as a kid.

And all of this reminds me of the hilarious video to be seen at Carrie Harris' blog regarding the trend of merging the classics with supernatural elements. You've got to check it out.

12 comments:

Laura Eno said...

Beasties from beyond and beneath - the best kind. :)They fire our imagination in ways that actually seeing something cannot.

Aaron Polson said...

Something very Lovecraftian in cryptozoology.

Rebecca Nazar said...

Love beasties, I wish we had some around here. We do have a dragon/castle playground, though. Hey, great new profile picture.

Fox Lee said...

I recently bought Steve Alten's "The Loch." Looking forward to his take on Nessie as horror!

Elspeth Futcher said...

Here's to the Cadborosaurus which I played upon as well! The world is full of mysterious creatures and wouldn't it be dull if it wasn't?

I envy your trip to Loch Ness; I've never been though I yearn to. The last time I was in Scotland it was simply too far north to get to in a short time period.

I've spent my vacation the last few years around Okanagan Lake and I keep a weather eye out for Ogopogo. Now there's something lurking around Parksville? I'm not surprised at all.

Elspeth

Alan W. Davidson said...

Laura-I believe that the beasties could feed us with lots of ideas for stories.

Aaron-From what I've heard, you are correct. I'm going to have to 'explore' him a bit more...

Alan W. Davidson said...

Rebecca-Thanks. Thought that I would do a bit of pining for my lost youth and dark hair. That was taken in '92 (I think) just a couple of years before getting married.

Natalie-Let me know if the book is any good.

Elspeth-My favourite at the Gyro park was climbing up into the octopus. Since I have family in Scotland, I've been there a few times. I've only been north once as the family is around Paisley/Glasgow.

Jameson T. Caine said...

As a kid I was obsessed with Bigfoot. I read every Bigfoot book I could get my hands on and watched all those 70's documentaries like "The Mysterious Monsters" and "In Search of..." that would scare the crap outta me. To this day, I love reading about any BHM's (Big hairy monsters) like The Yowie or Yeti.

BT said...

ooh - I have a stirring...

No, Nat, not that kind of stirring...

Alan W. Davidson said...

Jameson-I suppose that there's worse things that a kid could be obsessed about.

BT-Run with it...and wow us with something unique!

Katey said...

I agree with Aaron-- it's totally Lovecraftian. I'd have my eyes peeled, too, to be honest!

Logan said...

Here's a unique fiction book for anyone interested in Cryptozoology:

Cryptid Hunters by Ronald Smith.

It's juvenile fiction and a pretty quick read.