In Strange & Mysterious Beasts (aka: Mysterious & Strange Beasts) I dealt with stranded unidentified (and very dead) sea creatures as well as globsters. Now you will have to buy the book to read what I wrote but 2016/2017 had a few sea discoveries and mysteries worth taking a quick look at.
If I have missed any please let me know.
BBC NEWS (US and Canada) published this little item
on 13th September, 2017-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41256922
Fanged creature found on Texas beach after Hurricane Harvey
A mysterious fanged sea creature that washed up on a beach
in Texas
following Hurricane Harvey has been identified.
Preeti Desai found the decaying fish on a beach in Texas City, and asked
Twitter for help.
She posted several photos with the caption: "Okay,
biology twitter, what the heck is this?"
Her request was passed to biologist and eel specialist Dr
Kenneth Tighe, who believes it is a fangtooth snake-eel.
He said it may also be a garden or conger eel, because
"all three of these species occur off Texas and have large fang-like teeth".
Preeti Desai found the creature on a Texas beach and asked Twitter for help
identifying it
Okay, biology twitter, what the heck is this?? Found on a
beach in Texas City, TX.
It is thought that Hurricane Harvey, which brought strong
winds and flooding to Texas,
could explain why the creature was washed up.
The fangtooth snake-eel, also known as a "tusky"
eel, is usually found in waters between 30 and 90 metres deep in the western Atlantic ocean.
Ms Desai, who was at the beach assessing the damage from the
hurricane, told the BBC: "It was completely unexpected, it's not something
that you'd typically see on a beach. I thought it could be something from the
deep sea that might have washed on to shore."
"My main reaction was curiosity, to figure out what the
heck it was," she added.
Ms Desai said she posted the images on Twitter because she
knows a lot of scientists use it, and a friend soon responded and contacted Dr
Tighe.
"I follow a lot of scientists and researchers. There's
such a great community of these folks that are very helpful, especially when it
comes to answering questions about the world or identifying animals and
plants," she said.
She said she left the eel on the beach "to let nature
take its course".
The eel is pictured on the beachImage
copyrightTWITTER/@PREETALINA
Image copyrightOCEAN EXPLORATION TRUSTImage captionA stubby "googly-eyed" purple animal looking like a cross between an octopus and a squid
Scores of spectacular and rare under sea species have been found by expeditions this year to some of the deepest trenches in the Pacific Ocean.
They include strange purple orbs, "mud monsters" and a bizarre swimming sea cucumber reminiscent of a flying Mary Poppins.
Another voyage found around 500 new undersea methane vents off the US west coast.
This doubles the number of known seeps, bubbling up a powerful greenhouse gas.
The gas vents were found by an expedition mounted by Dr Robert Ballard, the man who first located the wreck of the Titanic.
Image copyrightNOAAImage captionAn acorn worm that's described as a bizarre purple 'mud monster'
In his ship, the Nautilus, the Ballard team found new vents which were discovered off Washington, Oregon and California.
Little is known about the amount of methane that is coming out from these vents and how much is entering the atmosphere. But researchers say the new discoveries may better inform global estimates of these emissions.
"Methane seeps were basically unknown 20 years ago," said Prof Jesse Ausubel, from the Rockefeller University, part of the Nautilus team.
Image copyrightNOAAImage captionA strange floating sea cucumber, said to be reminiscent of Mary Poppins
"At first people thought they were incredibly rare and now, thanks to these expeditions, these seeps may be very widespread, so the (methane) budgets may have to be recalculated, that's why the exploration is important."
As well as discovering three new "black smoker" hydrothermal vents stretching up to 30 metres in height, the voyage also revealed some rarely seen, mysterious creatures.
Image copyrightOCEAN EXPLORATION TRUSTImage captionRare and mysterious creatures have been discovered on this year's deep voyages include this purple orb
"I think it's always surprising what we find," said Dr Nicole Raineault, director of science operations at the Ocean Exploration Trust, which organised the expedition.
"We've looked in the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and now the eastern Pacific Ocean with these remotely operated vehicles to get images of the sea floor, and we are continually surprised with the variety of life that we find."
"It just underscores how little we know about the ocean and how much more there is to discover our there."
"The carcass is about six metres long, but that's obviously not the whole carcass - there's no tail so it would have been bigger than that.
"That would suggest that it was probably a whale."
Image captionBlue whales are the largest creatures on Earth
'But it could be a manatee'
"They have numerous whale species in the Philippines such as the blue whale, fin whales and humpback whales as well as smaller whales such as minke whales.
"But they also have manatees out there, so it could be a manatee.
"Unfortunately with this animal it is far too decomposed to be able to get a confident identification on what animal it was."
Image captionManatees are also known as sea cows
Whales and manatees aren't hairy though
She explains that the "hair" you can see in the image is actually more likely to be muscle fibres, where the body has gone quite far along the decomposition process.
"Other creatures could have sped up the decomposition process, but it looks like a normally decomposing carcass," she says.
So what was it doing there?
Lucy says that only 10% of whales and dolphins that die out at sea actually end up on the shore.
"There's an awful lot that die and stay out at sea," she says.
"They can come to the shore for a variety of reasons, but in this case, because it's an animal that died quite a while ago, it could have washed up because of storm surges."
"That could have caused pressure on the seabed, which could have got the animal up nearer to the surface and onto the shoreline," says Lucy.
"It could have shifted the carcass, it could have caused differences in the tides and the strengths of the waves which would have washed it up on the shore."
Risk to human health
"There is obviously a risk of contamination," says Lucy.
"Any decomposing animal will carry diseases, so now they will need to safely dispose of it.
"In this country [the UK] we would put them in a landfill site, but they may move the carcass far out to sea."
Image captionA sperm whale carcass in Norfolk
Things like this don't wash up in the UK
"The animals we have wash up are pretty fresh. We get lots of whales, dolphins and sharks," explains Lucy.
Image copyrightIWALKCORNWALLImage captionMoon jellies washed up on Perranporth beachImage copyrightREG BUTLERImage captionThe sperm whale was discovered on its side at Perranporth beach on Sunday
Matt Slater, from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: "It's shocking the amount of jellyfish which are turning up.
"There are millions of jellyfish in our waters at this time of year. When I'm out surfing, I keep hitting them with my board."
He added moon jellies were rare in Cornish waters five years ago, but they now seem to be abundant at this time of year.
There could soon be sightings of leatherback turtles - the largest turtles in the world - as these feed on jellyfish, he said.
Christian McConville, from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, said: "Jellyfish do not have a tremendous amount of control over movement.
"It's likely the prevailing wind drew them to the coast and the tide left them on the beach."
He said this is the first major stranding event that he has seen this year.
I find it very amusing that over the past couple of years I have been referred to as either "a government patsy or agent" because I refused to accept certain Ufologists claims of crashed UFOs, etc.. Also, it seems that despite pointing out that I have never lived in South wales that claim is still made. Why all of this antagonism?
Simply put, it is because confidential information handed to a Ufologist on the grounds that it remain so but was made public by them. This Ufologist then made ridiculous claims and included my name in this silliness but refused to make known the facts that I ascertained through thorough investigation. I then got a rather ude email from a colleague of this Ufologist who used the word "please" while demanding that I surrender every piece of paperwork and material I had on the matter. I refused and then he started the name calling -which I ignored.
Then I was accused of being an "Arch debunker" and "arch sceptic" because I rejected certain paranormal 'investigators' claimed -I put forward my explanation as to why I rejected their claims and stated that if they had evidence that countered my evidence/belief then they ought to put it forward and I would seriously study it. The response -"you are an arch sceptic!"
Being what people like to call a "noted naturalist" with my name on a number of papers and having been a UK police forces advisor of exotic fauna (felids and canids a speciality) from 1977-2013, I offered to take up the challenge put forward by UK advocates of there being a "British wild man" -an equivalent of the US sasquatch but varying in size. Repeatedly they shouted that Science would not look at their data. I was very polite -my email is on the record- and stated that I would be very interested in seeing and assessing any evidence and submitting a full report with my conclusions to these British groups before general release.
Again, the response is public knowledge. I received an abusive string of responses that were seen by all on the group in question (rather than via private message) and so guaranteed that no one would cooperate since the apology that was later sent was private. A person finding a stick in the middle of woodland and claiming it is a stick used for wood-knocking by a wildman is ludicrous. I visited my local woods and came up with twenty similar sized and shaped sticks. A stick found in woodland is a stick. There are many, many homeless in the UK and there are a lot of people living in woodland and forests making shelters -shelters are also made by people learning bush craft.
When it came to it there was not one single piece of physical evidence of any Woodwose in the UK. I was called a "sceptic who went into this to disprove it all!" Well, I waited six months and no one responded to my emails and posts -I had to go by articles by "British Bigfooters" that included photographs of their 'evidence' as well as their videos.
You cannot prove something exists if there is no evidence something exists. Odd and often very similar reports of sightings are not evidence.
UK "dog-man" and "werewolf" reports. As I documented in my last book, it took one email to get to the bottom of these mysteries and discover evidence that noted UK authors were knowingly and willing falsifying accounts.
That does not make me a sceptic. That does not make me an "arch debunker". In fact, it makes me one of the very few genuine truth-seekers out there. And those using the terms "sceptic" and "debunker" indicate that they have a lot they want to hide.
"He is completely anti-UFO!" is something I've read a few times. Really? "completely anti-UFO" -I'm guessing these people never really read blog posts and have certainly not read UFO Contact?
We have cryptozoologists, Ufologists and all sorts of other "gists" outrightly lying and deceiving the public while taking their money and the money of TV companies who pay them as 'experts'. Well established Ufologists and cryptozoologists lying, at war with one another and putting out so much false information that it is a full time job to keep track of it all.
So when I am told that cryptozoologists, ufologists and some in the paranormal field hate me and call me names I get a rush of pride (but only temporarily). I get offers to join sceptic groups in all fields regularly because "Your mindset and beliefs seem along the same lines as ours". Reject any offers because I do not consort with people who deliberately distort or lie about facts whether they are for or against a subject.
That is NOT in any way, shape or form scientific. It is a bunch of spoilt little boys and girls acting as though they are in little school yard cliques.
Every case I report on is fully referenced. Others can try to follow up from those sources and might find other references. I present facts and, where I can, solutions. But not "well, it's possible it might probably" solutions -if a case is left open it is because it needs much further investigation and I will only offer an explanation where facts fit and do not need to be twisted.
Remember that, in some cases, I began investigations in 1975/1977 and only concluded 30-40+ years later. Many cases had natural explanations and while some of these were eye-openers I simply learnt and moved on after presenting the cases. We thrive (or should do) as a species on new knowledge and advancing our understanding so, okay, this case and that case were ultimately explainable even if they were complete mind-numbing puzzles to start with. But then there is the next case and there are some that are still puzzling and a few that, if true (see UFO Contact?), are incredible beyond words.
I do not care whether anyone likes me! I do not care whether I dislike a person -investigator or other- who reports on a case. I am only interested in the account. In the data and whether it is true and if true what we can all learn from that.
That is what each and every ufologist, cryptozoologist and paranormalist or whatever should be doing. And if they are not then their lives are pretty meaningless and gaining money through lying they will have to live with if they have consciences. Science will certainly never take them seriously.
It appears that people are confused. I just answered some questions for a website review and part way through the messaging I got: "Are you not a sceptic? You seem open to certain things?"
Have I not made my position clear in the last seven years on this blog and in my books? Carl Sagan made it very clear:
And there you go. I want to find out and see the truth and learn. It is what led me to see what are glaring faults in 'cryptozoology' and Ufology which are, since the 1980's entertainment and pop culture scenes where very little if any real research or investigation goes on.
Look at the work of people like J. Bernard Delair at the old Contact (UK) ans the UFO Registers he submitted so much important material to. All done via note books, paper files and news clipping. What do we have today? Computers and all sorts of programs and what is produced? Lists of uninvestigated UFO sightings and claim after claim of "Grey alien abduction" cases and in all of these the facts (that there are) are altered from one source to another. When I wrote High Strangeness (aka: UFOContact?) I looked at the online details given for certain cases. Well known and documented cases. Not one of the web sites gave the correct details and most were all quoting the same very inaccurate online source.
If you cannot give basic facts then what are you doing? Deliberately lying -why? To make it seem that your fantasy world built up around the X-Files and Dr Who is genuine? And who are your original sources -the lying media darlings who are only involved because it makes them money from TV or book sales? Go out and buy a copy of Grimms' Fairy Tales because there is far more fractual evidence there.
I do not want to live in a fantasy world. You will see from my books that I look at what is reported and what the truth is -the explanation can either back up the original account or be scarier. Whether we are talking strange beasts from Sasquatch to sea monsters or mysterious killers of the 17th and 18th centuries France, to hide the truth between twisted accounts that will earn you money and make your life as a 'monster hunter' seem glamorous is wrong. We need to learn and develop.
I am very open to the existence of Sasquatch but not the modern "reboot". UFO contact? I gave my opinions. I do not believe that Ufology as such was started deliberately as a way to make money but that is what it became while real researchers worked away in the background before being pushed out.
Donald E. Keyhoe was the first star of this new Ufology and it was often said that he "interpreted things the way he wanted" which was how he sold books that were filled with speculation and at times wild speculation. There were others and when we get to the 1960s and 1970s then the real stars of Tabloid style sensationalism made their mark. Whether Brad Steiger or one of the plethora of Ufologists who realised what it took to sell a book -UFO abductions and sexual shenanigans, aliens probing people, slaughtering cattle left-right-and center. UFOs attacking farms, military bases and motorists -humans "seared to death" or "struck by a beam of powerful radiation" that led to death after death.
And just in case the cryptozoologists thought they escaped: Heuvelman's unscientific behaviour and then the claims to get press and media coverage -"vampire-like killings" of livestock; attacks my mysterious beasts and then distorting words so that a simple sighting of a non native cat becomes a possible "paraform" or paranormal entity. "Blazing red eye glow" that does not exist...or the witness might have seen "eye glow" when an animals eye reflects light from a torch or other light source -twist that to "glowing eyes".The carcass of the mysterybeast or the stuffed and mounted specimen that is beset by mystery and debate -why? Has anyone actually looked at it with all the diagnostic features that are required to identify it? But that would solve the 'mystery', right?
And with all of this there are the name-calling spats and even worse from Ufologists and cryptozoologists. The fan clubs choose sides based on who the 'nicer guy' is.
All of this has absolutely nothing to do with serious investigation and research based on scientific principles. It is money earning. "The Bizz".
I do not think my online interview will appear because it seems it was to be based on my totally debunking UFOs, ghosts, paranormal phenomena and so on. That is someone not doing their research and not understanding how Science works.
Now, off to check more information for the next fact based project.
Please remember that this was written by a journalist. Interesting that a "huge UFO" and no mass panic. Of course, Ufologists give mass panic as the reason behind the non-existent UFO 'cover-up". I notice some Ufologists are claiming that some reports are NOT of this launch...seriously? Why does Science not take you seriously?
All of Southern California thought they saw a UFO — and the photos are eerie
Meaghan Kirby
Just before 5:30 p.m. PST this evening, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocketinto the sky from the Vandenberg Air Force Base — but it turns out, a lot of people thought they were watching a UFO fly over Southern California.
The launch, which saw the Falcon 9 sent into Earth’s low-orbit with ten Iridium NEXT satellites, marked SpaceX’s 18th launch of the year, setting a modern record.
While the aerospace manufacturer founded by Elon Musk had been live-tweeting the Falcon 9 take-off to the excitement of its nearly five-and-a-half million followers, the majority of Californians were left in the dark regarding this pre-planned event (metaphorically speaking, of course), leaving them shocked at the eerie sight of bright lights flying overhead.
The excitement prompted the Los Angeles Fire Department to issue a response on Facebook and Twitter, informing fans that the “mysterious light in the sky” was actually a rocket. But naturally, many took to Twitter to share their UFO sighting — and while it seems the aliens didn’t make contact with Angelenos this evening, sight of the rocket flying above them left people in awe. The L.A. Times even reported that commuters driving during the event pulled over to watch, and naturally snap a few photos, of the rocket.
While the mass UFO sighting ended up being a stunning rocket, the launch came on the heels of a report published by the New York Times last week, in which The Pentagon confirmed that from 2007 to 2012, it funded a secret UFO investigation program.
While we’re grateful the aliens didn’t decide to invade Earth this evening — and glad we got to see gorgeous photos of the Falcon 9 rocket — we’d definitely love advance notice next time there’s a rocket launch, that way we don’t immediately start preparing for certain doom.
It is rather odd how you can suddenly be asked something and your realise that what you are being asked is, in point of fact, a request to look into something.
Here is an example. Last week I was about to have my dinner and the phone rang. It was a call from a very noteworthy fellow who asked about any recent non native cat sightings so I explained that I still received reports but then I realised that his tone was all wrong so I asked: "When was the last time you phoned me? Must be a while ago now?" It was a while back. Fifteen (15) years back in fact so I asked him outright why he was calling as he did not seem that intent on pumas, panthers or lynx?
"Well, I was just wondering how you were coming along with your wolverine work" was his reply and so I asked what had piqued his new interest in the mustelid in question? It seems that he had heard, due to his position in Scotland, of sightings of wolverine that were outside the area I had previously mapped them. So we chatted and I realised that the population had expanded somewhat since I wrote my preliminary paper UK National Wolverine Population: Preliminary Notes some 17 years had elapsed. 25th November, 2000 is the date on the paper. Seventeen years.
That made me look at another paper I had written and submitted: Felids: Wildcats, Ferals and Hybrids and that was dated 23rd September...2000!
The Fox and Hybrid Study had begun in 1997 and that is constantly being added to and thanks to information from the National Fox Welfare Society a much better picture is available which will probably mean an up-dating of the Red Paper (I): Canids as there will also be much more to add on the subject of wolves -in Europe the situation is changing each year with new canid species moving in. In the United States there is also a lot going on and a lot more has been learnt from my contacts with Forest & Wildlife Service offices.
This will all need to be added to my newer projects that also include The Red Paper (II): Felids and since I have been asking blog visitors since 2011 to pass along links or news of any unidentified sea creatures (or "sea serpent"/"Sea monster") they see with absolutely zero response -I am going to have to start the work from scratch and a plan of action is already underway. No, blog readers will not be reading of anything I find -unless they buy the book after all the work has been completed. This also means that no one out there can snap up what I post and claim it as their own work (which happens a lot).
My one disappointment is that, seven years after setting up this blog, there is absolutely no feedback or any kind of interaction with visitors. No one has seen or read or heard of anything strange that they can be bothered to forward to me. This is the internet age and you do not have to sit down and write a letter then go to post it. But I accept that this is what has happened to the formerly curious and enquiring people of the past who communicated and read books -they've been "internetified"!
Now, as I do not "do" Christmas it is time for more work. I am that dull.
“The Sea Serpent is a Fact,” a story published in the Washington Times, April 24, 1904, with illustrations that showcase many of the famous sightings from the 19th century. In Chronicling America(Library of Congress) .
OCEAN EXPLORATION TRUST
NOAA
NOAA
OCEAN EXPLORATION TRUST
MEGAN WALTON
IWALKCORNWALL
IWALKCORNWALL
REG BUTLER
