A real monster

In his excellent article “The Misguided Monster Hunters” [ FT331:55], Brian Regal asks the question: “What shall we do with cryptozoology today?” and ponders whether it’s time for a new direction. He points out that although no monsters have been found, cryptozoologists have helped us to understand more about nature, animal behaviour and the environment. For example, an FT copycat magazine recently featured an article claiming the ‘sea serpent’ sighted by the crew of the Daedalus off the Cape of Good Hope in 1848 was actually a surfacing sei whale ( Balaenoptera borealis). The author compared the classic depiction of the sea monster with a photograph of a sei whale showing how this species of rorqual displays its head at the surface while other whale species do not.

Regal remarks that future commentators “may very well remember this period as a colossal waste of time”. The search for hidden animals has resulted in a colossal production of books, magazine and TV shows that have certainly made some people quite rich (and famous). And who doesn’t enjoy curling up with books by such authors as John Keel and Stan Gordon and reading about latenight encounters with Bigfoot and other monsters?

In January Loren Coleman will host the Cryptozoological Convention in St Augustine, Florida, during which there will be a trek to the beach where the ‘St Augustine Monster’ was discovered in 1898. But it was a former curator of the now-defunct Marineland of Florida – Forrest G Wood – who