Cadborosaurus — Cryptid Encyclopedia

The Coast Salish peoples of British Columbia have spoken of enormous serpentine creatures in the Pacific coastal waters for centuries. They carved them into totem poles and wove them into their spiritual narratives. When European settlers arrived, they began seeing the same things — and in 1933, the creature was given a modern name: Cadborosaurus, or "Caddy," named after Cadboro Bay in Victoria, British Columbia.

Cadborosaurus is described as a long-necked, serpentine marine creature ten to fifty feet long, with a horse-like or camel-like head, large dark eyes, a long flexible neck, a series of humps or coils visible above the waterline, and flippers or fins. It moves rapidly through the water, often leaving a prominent wake.

Over 300 sightings have been documented along the Pacific coast, from Alaska to Oregon, with the heaviest concentration in the waters around Vancouver Island. In 1937, what appeared to be a juvenile Cadborosaurus was allegedly found in the stomach of a sperm whale at the Naden Harbour whaling station in the Queen Charlotte Islands. Photographs of the carcass show a long-necked, serpentine creature approximately ten feet long. The specimen was never formally studied and has since been lost.

"It had a head like a horse, a long neck, and moved through the water like a snake. I've fished these waters for forty years and I've never seen anything like it." — A commercial fisherman's report from the 1940s.

In 2009, fisherman Kelly Nash captured video near Nushagak Bay, Alaska that appeared to show multiple long-necked creatures swimming in formation. Marine biologists Dr. Paul LeBlond and Dr. Edward Bousfield have formally described the creature as a new species — Cadborosaurus willsi — though the classification remains controversial without a type specimen.