A group of Vancouver Island cryptid enthusiasts looking to prove the existence of a mythical sea creature are asking people to keep their eyes peeled while on the water this summer.
Jason Walton, president of the Victoria-based British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, said recorded sightings of the Cadborosaurus, or Caddy, go back to the 1930s, but tales of sea serpents in the waters of the Pacific Northwest go back hundreds of years.
"[Sea captains] had to put in their log books when they saw these [Cadborosaurus'], and they would not lie in a log book especially when there are 100 sailors aboard," said Walton. "The pictures them dating back to the 1700s have bodies and forms and movements are very similar to what people report from time to time today."
Walton and others from the Cryptozoology Club started Caddyscan in 1999, where they set up a number of cameras that faced the ocean along the island with the goal of capturing photos and videos of Caddy. They also started recording individual witness reports going back to the 1930s.
In the 1990s, Walton said Caddy sightings were "booming," however they have since waned, but they still hear of about 10 sightings every year.
He described the Cadborosaurus as a 20 to 30 feet long with a serpentine-like body and when its body comes out of the water, "it looks like half of a tire sticking out of the water.
"In sightings of these Cadborosaurus', they move so fast and they have a neck and head that's sometimes described like a camel. They have a big, bullet-like head and they're usually very fast and brief sightings," he said. "People that have seen it say 'I have never seen anything like that in my life.' [They] have lived out on the water and are very accustomed to all the marine life but one description they will give is that it's prehistoric and they are are like 'what is that doing there? That shouldn't be there.'"
While the weather warms up and more people are spending time on the ocean, Walton asks swimmers, sailors and seafarers to be vigilant and to report possible Caddy sightings to sightings@bcscc.ca.