Lake Monsters

Dracontologist Jacques Boisvert Dies Suddenly

Monster hunter, scuba diver, historian, and ecologist, Jacques Boisvert, died on Saturday, February 4, 2006, at age 73, suddenly, untimely, and quietly, according to the Magog, Quebec newspaper The Outlet. Ironically, Jacques recommended I place myself on the mailing list of this small newspaper, which is not online. The paper’s arrival today was my first awareness of his death. Jacques Boisvert was born on October 11, 1932, in Magog, Quebec, the fourth of five children of Omer Boisvert and Jeanne Estelle Guilbert. He worked for his father’s insurance, investment, and ski management business for many years, assuming ownership in 1988. [...]

Mokele-mbembe Expedition Update

Cryptomundo CryptoZoo News Exclusive The exploratory Milt Marcy Mokele-mbembe Expedition has returned. The trek to the Cameroon was made in preparation for a longer, full-scale effort in search of Mokele-mbembe, at the beginning of 2007. Drawings of Mokele-mbembe by Bill Rebsamen, used with permission. Here’s Bill Gibbons’ first report from the group just returned from Africa: Milt Marcy is in good shape given all the travel time and tough conditions (the insect problem was awful and his feet are swollen up from all the bites). But he sounded encouraged and in good spirits. He took a boat with him (11ft [...]

Photo Contests: Duel Masters’ Bigfoot One Ends, “Champ Sightings” Begins

Today is the deadline, February 3rd, 2006, for the Duel Masters™ 2005 Photo Contest. You have until Midnight Eastern (9 PM Pacific) to email your photo (see rules here) to this email address. Remember, they are going to give away $5000, $2500, and three $500 prizes, and winners will be announced by February 20th. Click image for larger version Meanwhile, in Burlington, the "Vermont Lake Monsters," a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Washington Nationals, have started their own photo contest. The mascot of the Vermont Lake Monsters is "Champ," known to cryptozoologists, of course, as the cryptids inhabiting [...]

Breaking News: Mokele-mbembe Sighted

Exclusive to Cryptomundo There’s some exciting news from the Milt Marcy Expedition, now in Africa, in pursuit of the Mokele-mbembe. Word via Bill Gibbons is that Milt Marcy just emailed from Cameroon. The expedition travelled far up the Dja River and spoke to witnesses that had observed a Mokele-mbembe only two days before. Paul Ohlin, who replaced Pastor Gene Thomas in 1992 in the northern Congo, saw a Mokele-mbembe only three weeks ago! Mokele-mbembe art courtesy of Bill Rebsamen. Click on image for a larger view. The brief dispatch ended with a promise, by the end of this week, of [...]

Great Bear Lake Monster

Scientific historian Will Bagley recently gave a lecture to Utah Humanities Council at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, on the the legend of the Bear Lake Monster and other aquatic creatures in Utah. The title of his January talk was “Does the Bear Lake Monster exist?” The Giant Beaver, illustration by Harry Trumbore. From The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep (Copyright 2003). Bagley mostly gave a chronological overview of the accounts, bringing to the fore, once again, the rich interwoven nature of the local history of the area with the reports [...]

Hoan Kiem’s Giant Turtle

In the midst of a very long article reviewing the eating establishments and the The Ho Chi Minh Museum of Hanoi, Vietnam, there’s a surprising update on the Old City’s most famous cryptid. Photograph of the Hoan Kiem Lake’s Giant Turtle. Credit Vietnam.net Here’s what we learn from Simon Busch, in the January 28th edition of London’s Financial Times: The turtle of Hoan Kiem Lake sounds terribly lonely. Such experts as there are on this most elusivecreature, Vietnam’s only slightly less fabulous version of the Loch Ness Monster, contend furiously over its likely age and its species – even its [...]

Emela-Ntouka: Africa’s Killer of Elephants

Cryptomundo Exclusive The Emela-ntouka has been an unknown animal of some confusion in Africa. A few chroniclers have felt it was merely another named cryptid representing the sightings of the Mokele-mbembe. But as revealed by an image seen here for the first time, it appears to be a beast unlike the saurapod-like Mokele-mbembe. Click on image for larger size Copyright: Michel Ballot – Mokélé – Mbembé CAMEROUN 2004 On page 219 of one of my recent field guides, written with Patrick Huyghe, we noted, among several different kinds of alleged “dinosaurs” in Africa, “one animal is called by locals the [...]