"It's a wonderful mystery, and that's why we're getting so much interest from around the world," says John Kirk, ex-Edmontonian, hard-core Oiler fan and president of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club. He now lives on the West Coast, close to Caddy.
Enter "Cadborosaurus" into your favourite search engine on the Web, and you can expect well over 200 independent pages on the subject, in several languages.
"The interest is at a new peak, it's the hottest it's been since Caddy first entered newspapers in 1933," says Kirk.
A headline in the Victoria Daily Times on Oct. 5, 1933, is an early hint of what was to come: Yachtsmen Tell of Huge Sea Serpent Off Victoria. Journalist and editor Archie Wills named the creature Cadborosaurus as many initial sightings occurred around Cadboro Bay.
Kirk attributes the new interest and Web craze to the work of his five-person group and their project Caddyscan. The site can be accessed from the cryptozoology club home page at www.ultranet. ca/bcscc.
The team has set up motion-detecting digital cameras in hot West Coast locations. On the site you'll find a history of sightings and descriptions of the Cadborosaurus, even a photo of a specimen taken in July 1937 at Naden Harbor, B.C. Due to a series of accidents and ineptitudes common to most mysteries, the remains of that particular carcass were lost shortly after the photo was taken. According to Caddyscan, the folks who found the specimen in 1937 described it as "a creature of reptilian appearance, 10 foot 6 inches in length, with a head that bears close resemblance to a dog with features of a horse and the turned down nose of a camel."
Unlike some monsters, there are no reports of Cadborosaurus attacks or vicious Cadborosaurus maulings. The worst report on the site is of a serpent startling a woman and her dog.
"I get e-mails every week from television companies around the world," says Kirk, "and they're all eager to do documentaries. I get e-mail from Europe, Asia, South America, you name it."
University of Alberta biologist Cindy Paszkowski had never heard of Cadborosaurus, specifically, prior to my call Friday.
"It's always a fairly large, spectacular thing, isn't it? No one is ever interested in discovering a new bug.
"This idea has been around a long time," she says. "There's always a little piece of evidence, a fragment, a track, a fuzzy photo, a bone to keep people involved. Occasionally you get people who really believe it."
Kirk thinks the interest runs deep, going back centuries. "Cadborosaurus taps into one of the quintessential legends of the world. Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Vikings -- they all mentioned sea serpents and dragons. Cadborosaurus isn't a dragon, though."
Of course there are skeptics, and Kirk accepts that anything less than proof will always be too little for them. "Scientists say there are no major discoveries to be made. This is ridiculous. There are always more mysteries out there."
Fishers and coastal people routinely see the serpents, Kirk says, adding that he's looking for their help. "For anyone who captures a Cadborosaurus, we offer a $500 reward."
Many of the Caddy sites link the creature to sasquatch and aliens, even ghosts.
"We're scientists," says Kirk, with gusto. "UFOs are scientific, but not ghosts or any of that other New Agey stuff. There are nuts out there, in great numbers, who think sasquatches, the Ogopogo and Cadborosaurus are paranormal beings who live in other dimensions."
These people upset Kirk and his team. "They give Cryptozoology a bad name," he says.
Interest Renewed In
Canada's West Coast Water Monster[Original headline: Have you seen this serpent?]
Said to be a seafaring cousin of the Loch Ness monster, Caddy prefers our West Coast water
Everyone loves a monster. Generally, if the monster doesn't come from the great black expanse of the universe it comes from that other deep, dark place. The ocean.
The Edmonton Journal
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