Normandy Nessie Hits the Big Time
November 15, 2009
By Scott Hamilton
In Cryptozoology, Sea/Lake Monsters
1
The Normandy Nessie has hit the big time, or at least as big as being on the inside of the Neighborhood section of the largest newspaper in the 14th largest media market in the United States allows something to be. Today the St. Petersburg Times ran a little story on Russ Sittloh and his alleged monster, under the headline “‘Big beast’ reported in Madeira Beach canal.”
MADEIRA BEACH — If you believe retiree Russ Sittloh, the canals around Crystal Island have their own version of the infamous Loch Ness Monster.
After four sightings of the mysterious creature, he is so convinced that something’s out there that he has dubbed it Normandy Nessie.
Sittloh and his wife, Betty, say they’ve seen the creature from their Normandy Road waterfront home once in the spring, again in September and twice this month.
Nessie doesn’t have a regular routine, Sittloh says, but usually swims by in midafternoon.
The couple used to watch dolphins frolic in their canal, but since Nessie arrived the dolphins have been a no-show.
“At first, I was puzzled. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then in September I thought it might be a python or some big snake. But then this month, I saw a caudal fin. He looks like he is over 30 feet long and about 15 inches in diameter. We are talking about a big beast out there,” Sittloh said.
When he told friends and neighbors about the first two sightings, he was met with skepticism and even laughter.
So he decided to prove his discovery. He spent $370 on a surveillance camera to monitor the canal from his window. He kept watch and downloaded both video and still pictures to his computer and then posted them on the Internet.
He even sent a letter to a local newspaper.
“At the risk of having everyone think I have lost it, gone bonkers or whatever, I must share this visual sighting with everyone,” he wrote.
He worries that the creature “could pose a real danger to people and small animals,” and particularly to those who swim or kayak in the canal.
Sittloh says his most recent sighting was about a week ago. The creature was in the middle of a school of baitfish, did a double roll and came back toward Sittloh with a “mouthful of fish.”
Now Sittloh’s Nessie sightings have gone viral on the Web.
Depending on how you structure your search, Google returns between 449 and 8,000 Web pages that reference “Normandy Nessie.”
Chatter on Web sites and blogs speculate on what Nessie could be. Guesses range from a large manatee to a Cretaceous-era mosasaur, a serpentine marine reptile that could reach nearly 60 feet long. Fortunately, it is extinct.
As for Sittloh’s first guess — a large python or snake — pythons can swim and have been reported in the Everglades. Presumably they are former pets turned loose by their owners.
A state-sanctioned hunting program reported capturing and killing 37 pythons this month. Officials estimate that 30,000 Burmese pythons live in the Everglades.
In July, an 8-foot pet Burmese python escaped from its terrarium and strangled a 2-year-old girl.
“I don’t know if we have a mutated species here or what,” Sittloh said. “Whatever he is, my God, is he big. He is some kind of big.”
Sittloh said he has warned his neighbors and called the city, but did not report the creature to the Sheriff’s Office.
“From the video, it appears most likely it is a manatee,” said Carli Segelson, media relations coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Marianne Pasha said no one else in Madeira Beach has reported seeing Nessie.
“It sounds like there is something out there, but we don’t know what it is,” she said.
I’d say these videos feature a manatee, or in the first video, possibly two. In the first video you can see the animal take a breath by poking its nose above the water, and in the second you see the animal move with the vertical undulation that typifies a mammal (reptiles undulate horizontally, so a snake is right out) and, though it’s far from the camera, even a hint of a manatee’s circular fluke. I replied to Mr. Sittloh, politely thanked him for taking the time to reply, and I laid out the case for why what’s in the video is probably a manatee. Mr. Sittloh responded with a long diatribe that was nothing but childish insults. All things considered, I think we can assume that Normandy Nessie isn’t a giant snake or mosasaur, but rather a misidentified sea mammal.
Prior to starting the marine science grad program at USF, I spent 3 years photo-cataloging the bottlenosed dolphins that frequented Estero Bay in southwest Florida. I’d typically spend 3 to 5 hours per trip, three trips per week taking both still photography and video. During the course of all that, I observed many manatees and I have no doubt that “Normandy Nessie” is one or several manatees.
Given the likely turbidity of the water in which the sightings were made, it wouldn’t be unusual for only a narrow length of the manatee’s back to be visible. The majority of the animal’s width would quickly get obscured in just a few inches of water, creating the impression of a long, narrow creature rather than the long, wide creature that’s actually passing by.
I agree that what we’re seeing at the beginning of the first video is a manatee snout. The animal took a breath, submerged, and then I’m guessing it gave a good thrust of its tail, causing the length of displaced water that we see a little later in the video. That’s consistent with manatee movement and behavior I’ve observed many dozens of times.
On another note, I’m curious as to why Mr. Sittloh assumes this animal – whatever it may be – poses a threat. There are very few marine creatures that actively hunt human beings, given the opportunity. Typically, they flee our presence.
Personally, I’d love it if this was a new or unusual marine species. Alas, I strongly suspect that the explanation is far more mundane.
Now, if the manatees turn out to have frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads, that would be worthy of a newspaper article or two.