Cryptids/Cryptozoology is one of my favorite subjects. xD Just the mystery of it all, what can be out there. Much of our oceans are unexplored so you can’t be too skeptical. There are a lot of fantastic reports that can’t all be true but we never know.
I got my hands on a copy of “Cryptozoology A to Z” and that book has a lot of neat tidbits in it.
The giant octopus is one of the more well-known of the cryptids. Very clever critters, terrifying if they can indeed be whale-sized. Of course, connecting to the globster phenomena. One of the more prominent initial findings of a corpse was in Anastasia Island, Florida. It was discovered by several young cyclists. Physician, Dewitt Webb of the St. Augustine Historical Society arrived the next day with associates to examine the findings. The specimen that was discovered was 18-feet across.
“Yale University zoologist A.E. Verrill and Webb corresponded about the discovery. Though initially skeptical of the octopus identification, (octopuses are not believed to exceed 25-feet, Verrill estimated) Verrill soon embraced it, even naming it after himself. Octopus Gigantues Verrill. Meantime, weather conditions has moved the carcass with even more of the body missing to a third location” (Coleman and Clark, pg. 91).
In 1971, marine biologist Forrest G. Wood and Octopus specialist Joseph S. Gennaro wrote accounts of evidence that the giant creature that had been found was indeed an octopus. They were generally respected but many people still ridiculed the notion.
Amazing how people can start out as skeptics, but then jump on board wholeheartedly, even enthusiastically. The weather is just the tip of the ice berg of things that affect remains, keep the numbers of confirmed and discovered species somewhat limited.
There are many experts in the field too, who make it their lives work to discover cryptids, one of these people being Ruth Harkness.
At one point, Giant Pandas had been considered cryptids of sorts. They were not confirmed species outside of Tibet and China until 1863. It had been noted that they had remained hidden and illusive for over 60 years. Interestingly, Giant Pandas live in the same general area as where the Yeti is thought to be. In 1914, German zoologist Hugo Weigold became the first westerner to see Giant pandas alive in the wild. It was Ruth Harkness who had returned to the West with a Giant Panda.
Unfortunately, Giant Pandas becoming high profile was a factor that contributed to them being endangered. Theodore Roosevelt’s sons were the first Westerners who attempted to kill a Panda. Cryptozoology was the method that pandas were discovered. While successful, it would have lasting negative repercussions, feeding into the bear’s endangered status.
In the 1930s, many people made it a goal to be the first to capture a Giant Panda. William H. Harkness made it a goal to capture one, with his success of capturing a Komodo dragon. Harkness died in Shaghai in 1936, but his widow Ruth took over his work.
“Harkness returned for more Pandas on her second expedition. quickly brought two back: this after decades of frustration by other searchers. Sadly, she never left any records of her second or third expeditions, according to Richard Perry’s “The World of the Giant Panda.” Three Giant pandas were captured and taken to the United States in the 1930s: Mei Mei, Pandora, and Pan” (Coleman and Clark pg. 105).