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> This message is in MIME format. Since your mail reader does not understand this format, some or all of this message may not be legible. --Boundary_(ID_wfhxj3guJO+1YY87LWX7+A) Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: 'Sea serpents' regular visitors -- Daily News, Wed., Jan. 17, 2007 Hfx. Daily News, Wed., Jan. 17, 2007 PHOTO: Scary sea monster: Nova Scotia zoology curator Andrew Hebda holds up a goosefish head, a known sea creature. (Photo: Andre Forget) 'Sea serpents' regular visitors BETH JOHNSTON The Daily News Wallace Cartwright was coming into a cove to haul the last of his lobster traps on a calm, sunny day in late June 2003 when he saw what he thought was a telephone pole floating on the water. But when the Cape Breton Island fisherman saw a head lift out of the water, a "queer" feeling hit the pit of his stomach. He turned to his fishing partner, who couldn't believe his eyes. "I said, 'Do you see what I'm seeing?' He said, 'I don't know skipper, I think I'm going crazy,'" Cartwright said. The animal, which he described as a "big, humongous black or dark brown snake" was about 40 feet long and two feet wide. "For lack of a better word, I figure it was a sea serpent," he said. The pair followed the creature southeast for about 45 minutes. It kept diving each time they got too close. 'It was an intelligent animal' "Every time it heard the boat approaching, it would turn around, look at us, then it would go down again. It was an intelligent animal, it knew it was being followed," he said, adding he was "awestruck." Cartwright and his companion didn't think anyone would believe their fish story. But when his friend, who wished not to be identified, shared the story the next day, he was told sea monster sightings are not that uncommon. "Usually people are afraid to say something for fear of ridicule, but we frequently get reports of unusual things, sort of like UFOs in water," said Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History zoology curator Andrew Hebda. There have been over 31 sightings of "sea monsters" in or off Nova Scotia over the last 140 years, from Pictou Harbour to Saint Margarets Bay. Even Joe Howe's diaries contained details of a strange monster from Shubenacadie, Grand Lake, back in 1844, Hebda said. One of the features that comes back, repeatedly, with sea serpent sightings is the ability of the "serpents" to lift their heads out of the water. "Among fish, there are very few fish that are able to do that. This is primarily due to the arrangement of the neck vertebrae, combined with the lack of appendages to be able to use to brace them with," Hebda said. Cartwright suspects the creature came from the 1,000-foot hole off of Camp Head in the Bras d'Or lakes. Disturbed by blasting "There was some blasting going on at the time and maybe that disturbed the animal," he said. Cartwright's story has been posted all over the Internet and is very popular on websites dedicated to cryptozoology (the study of hidden animals). "We don't know everything ... People are still discovering new species," Andrew Hebda said. "The point is there is not enough information to come up with the specific identification and therein lies the mystery." Cartwright is always thinking of the elusive creature when he's on the sea. "I am always scanning the water, but I think that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said. "It's just too damn bad I didn't have a camera with me." bjohnston@hfxnews.ca --Boundary_(ID_wfhxj3guJO+1YY87LWX7+A) Content-type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> 'Sea serpents' regular visitors -- Daily News, Wed., Jan. 17, 2007</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <B>Subject: </B>'Sea serpents' regular visitors -- Daily News, Wed., Jan. 17, 2007<BR> <BR> <FONT SIZE="2"><FONT FACE="Arial">Hfx. Daily News, Wed., Jan. 17, 2007<BR> </FONT></FONT> <P ALIGN=CENTER> <BR> PHOTO: Scary sea monster: Nova Scotia zoology curator Andrew Hebda holds up a goosefish head, a known sea creature. (Photo: Andre Forget)<BR> <BR> <P> <FONT COLOR="#BB0000"><B>'Sea serpents' regular visitors</B></FONT> <BR> <BR> <B>BETH JOHNSTON</B> <BR> The Daily News<BR> <BR> Wallace Cartwright was coming into a cove to haul the last of his lobster traps on a calm, sunny day in late June 2003 when he saw what he thought was a telephone pole floating on the water. But when the Cape Breton Island fisherman saw a head lift out of the water, a "queer" feeling hit the pit of his stomach. He turned to his fishing partner, who couldn't believe his eyes.<BR> <BR> "I said, 'Do you see what I'm seeing?' He said, 'I don't know skipper, I think I'm going crazy,'" Cartwright said.<BR> <BR> The animal, which he described as a "big, humongous black or dark brown snake" was about 40 feet long and two feet wide.<BR> <BR> "For lack of a better word, I figure it was a sea serpent," he said.<BR> <BR> The pair followed the creature southeast for about 45 minutes. It kept diving each time they got too close.<BR> <BR> <I>'It was an intelligent animal'<BR> </I><BR> "Every time it heard the boat approaching, it would turn around, look at us, then it would go down again. It was an intelligent animal, it knew it was being followed," he said, adding he was "awestruck."<BR> <BR> Cartwright and his companion didn't think anyone would believe their fish story.<BR> <BR> But when his friend, who wished not to be identified, shared the story the next day, he was told sea monster sightings are not that uncommon.<BR> <BR> "Usually people are afraid to say something for fear of ridicule, but we frequently get reports of unusual things, sort of like UFOs in water," said Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History zoology curator Andrew Hebda.<BR> <BR> There have been over 31 sightings of "sea monsters" in or off Nova Scotia over the last 140 years, from Pictou Harbour to Saint Margarets Bay.<BR> <BR> Even Joe Howe's diaries contained details of a strange monster from Shubenacadie, Grand Lake, back in 1844, Hebda said.<BR> <BR> One of the features that comes back, repeatedly, with sea serpent sightings is the ability of the "serpents" to lift their heads out of the water.<BR> <BR> "Among fish, there are very few fish that are able to do that. This is primarily due to the arrangement of the neck vertebrae, combined with the lack of appendages to be able to use to brace them with," Hebda said.<BR> <BR> Cartwright suspects the creature came from the 1,000-foot hole off of Camp Head in the Bras d'Or lakes.<BR> <BR> <I>Disturbed by blasting<BR> </I><BR> "There was some blasting going on at the time and maybe that disturbed the animal," he said.<BR> <BR> Cartwright's story has been posted all over the Internet and is very popular on websites dedicated to cryptozoology (the study of hidden animals).<BR> <BR> "We don't know everything ... <BR> People are still discovering new species," Andrew Hebda said.<BR> <BR> "The point is there is not enough information to come up with the specific identification and therein lies the mystery."<BR> <BR> Cartwright is always thinking of the elusive creature when he's on the sea.<BR> <BR> "I am always scanning the water, but I think that was a once-in-a-lifetime thing," he said.<BR> <BR> "It's just too damn bad I didn't have a camera with me."<BR> <BR> <FONT COLOR="#BB0000">bjohnston@hfxnews.ca</FONT> <BR> <BR> </BODY> </HTML> --Boundary_(ID_wfhxj3guJO+1YY87LWX7+A)--
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