Mystery monsters of deep
WHILE fishing, have you seen the monster that is reported to inhabit some Tasmanian waterways? Some have and it appears as if we have a resident ‘yowie’ or something similar.
I love a good, spooky story and it seems as if many of our readers do too. Many sightings of mysterious creatures have been reported throughout Tasmanian writings for many years and the ‘creatures’ have been seen at places such as Great Lake, Lake Lea, Lake Binney, Lake Echo, Lake St Clair, and Lake Tiberias.
The initial reports which came from anglers fishing the Great Lake in the mid 1800s claimed that the creature had a hyena like face, walrus tusks and was as big as a small cow. Moaning noises often accompanied its appearance.
In the late 1800s a man and his son were on the lake in their boat when their oar struck something underwater, A beast raised its head then took off at a very fast speed through the water. The men allegedly said it was similar in size to a large dog or calf.
Many others describe seeing a number of water dwelling creatures off Swan Bay with heads like bulldogs.
Others have seen 5-foot (152cm) long creatures ‘porpoising’ in the water with fur along their backs.
Another angler in 1935 saw a creature ‘neither Tasmanian devil, dog nor hyena’ and claimed it was the size of a small dog, brindle in colour and hair so fine, it looked as if it had none. The face resembled that of a ferocious dog with two large protruding tusks. More creatures have been seen at Penstock Lagoon with reports of similar creatures in size and shape to the Great Lake monster. While only spotted on one occasion, the objects were seen to be swimming along the surface, being propelled by a large tail.
Now many ‘theorists’ claim that the creature is a seal and one would have to query how the heck, a seal would have made it to such a big expanse of water as the Great Lake. I could suggest that someone ‘transporting a seal’ or ‘relocating’ it from the coast may just have released it into a lake along the way, but the first reported
sightings were in the mid-1800s, long before relocations took place.
There would certainly be an abundance of food in the form of marsupials and fish in all the aforementioned lakes, certainly enough to sustain a creature or creatures.
It takes two to tango, so how would such creatures, if they existed reproduce? So
many questions and I’m hoping we can get some reader input here.
Have you seen or heard of any creatures in any Tasmanian waterways over the years?
I can’t say I have apart from something creating many large splashes and roaring at Lake Dulverton some 50 years ago.
That I might add was during a trip fuelled by the green ginger
wine, so the imagination was rampant.
If you have something to contribute, I’d love to hear from you and a picture would be awesome. Seems like we might have our own Bigfoot or bunyip, what a tourist attraction that may be!