It was a beautiful June day. Visibility was clear. His boat was in about six feet of water. And Nova Scotia lobsterman Wallace Cartwright and his sternman saw what can only be described as a “sea serpent.”
“It was about 2:30 in the afternoon. I was in Point Aconi Cove on my way to haul my traps,” Cartwright says. “And then I saw it. It was probably 20 to 25 feet long. I’d say the body size was about the diameter of a five-gallon bucket. The back was humped in three places. I figure it had to go three to four hundred pounds at least.”
He added, “At first, I thought I was looking at a log, but then I realized it had a head. The head was disproportionate to the body, smaller, and it looked almost like the head of a sea turtle. The head was up out of the water about a foot, and it was paying attention to me. When it saw I was trying to get closer, it went down in a cloud and dug itself into the mud.”
Cartwright continues, “We hung around hoping it would come back. It headed in a southeast direction, and we followed. It went down again. We went jogging along at about three or four knots and saw it probably half a dozen times. After about 45 minutes it disappeared for good.”
He adds that although he didn’t see any other boats in the area, he’s convinced that others probably saw the creature. “I can’t confirm this, but I heard that at least one other fisherman saw it but doesn’t want to talk,” Cartwright says. “And wouldn’t you know, I didn’t have a camera. I’ve got one on board now, though.”
Andrew Hebda, who is Curator of Zoology at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History and who has talked with Cartwright, says he thinks an oarfish is “the closest fit” to the creature. But Hebda adds, “There is always the possibility that it could be something as-of-yet unidentified.” He also says that he has several deepwater fish from off Labrador in the freezer that “appear to be new species.”
Hebda continues, “We have several reports from near-shore areas, going back to the mid 19th century of similar ‘sea serpents’ in coastal waters, including several with good descriptions from ‘close-up.'”
He adds, “The size is only one factor. Healthy, vibrant oarfish also display a sort of ‘mane’ of rays just back of the head, which have been described as being, on occasion, quite red, in color. The other factor is Wallace’s report of the serpent ‘raising its head above the water.’ This is obviously not too common a feature for large fish, and certainly unusual for a deepwater fish. However, oarfish have the unusual pectoral fins that are somewhat ‘oar-like’ in appearance. This would allow the fish to ‘raise its head.’ Tilting heads back is not a common fish feature. The fact that the fish tried to go deep in one fathom of water, again suggested that it was more comfortable retreating to the depths, when available.”
Hebda also says, “Wallace and his crewmate provided a very good description, including the observation that the animal headed back out to deeper water in a very predictable manner, allowing for them to intercept its path. So, the absence of many reports on this side of the Atlantic may reflect, in part, the reluctance of some to report such sightings.”
Hebda concludes, “Ultimately, the confirmation of what a particular animal is, depends on an actual specimen. So one can only speculate.”
But Cartwright says, “After I talked with Hebda, I looked up oarfish on the Internet, and I’m here to tell you that it was definitely not an oarfish. For one thing, an oarfish looks like a ribbon, and this was tube-shaped. I also understand that an oarfish swims vertically, and this was swimming horizontally. Obviously, I don’t know what it was, but I know what it wasn’t.”
A fisherman out of Alder Point for 30 years, Cartwright adds, “My neighbors will tell you I’ve got a reputation as a pretty credible man. It was quite the experience; I felt privileged to see it.”