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Moreton Bay serpent

The Moreton bay serpent is a multi-finned serpent reported in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Moreton Bay is more than 1,500 square kilometres in surface area and is located in southeastern Queensland, about 14 kilometres east of Brisbane. The bay is also a national marine park home to many whales, dolphins, dugongs, and sharks.

In December of 1959, Ron and Jeanette Spencer and their friend John Belcher claimed to have seen a two-foot wide head surface out of the water five kilometres from shore only three feet from their boat. As they went back to their dock, it kept appearing, as if it was curious about the boat. It had a wide and flat head with brownish skin, far set eyes, and whiskers. Only three days after this sighting, a man named Nigel Tutt claimed to have seen a similar creature nearby on new years day of 1960. They saw a 20 ft long animal only about 10 ft from their boat. It was serpentine and its neck rose four feet out of the water. Its head was identical to the previous sighting, except its mouth was described as fish-like, not mammalian.

On January 9th, 1960 a man named Mr. Manners said that while he was on a vacation with his mother, he saw a sea monster 20 yards away swimming in an up-and-down motion. They followed it for two kilometres in their boat until they started running out of fuel and went back to the marina. He noted its flat and long nostrils and a fin below its head. In October of 1960, a woman named Mrs. Carr saw a 20 ft sea serpent with a wide plated back on a reef next to Bribie Island. A few weeks later, another man saw a similar creature at the same spot. In September of 1962, Robert Duncan claimed to have spotted a large sea creature with a large plated body and a walrus-like head swimming in the water for about 5 minutes from his binoculars. He claimed to have seen water vapour come out of its back like a whale, suggesting it's some kind of cetacean, though this contradicts the whiskers described on its face.

Since the Moreton Bay serpent was only seen during a four-year timespan, it may have been a visitor from some other place, possibly the open ocean. The Moreton Bay serpent is often classified as a multi-finned serpent under the Huevelmans system or a segmented serpent under the Champagne system.

An illustration of the Moreton Bay serpent by Tim Morris (Pristichampsus on DeviantArt)

An illustration of the Moreton Bay serpent by Tim Morris (Pristichampsus on DeviantArt)

A map of the Moreton Bay

A map of the Moreton Bay

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