Free Republic

A 10-ton fishing boat has been sunk by gigantic jellyfish off eastern Japan. One of the largest jellyfish in the world, the species can grow up to 2 meters in diameter. The last time Japan was invaded on a similar scale, in the summer of 2005, the jellyfish damaged nets, rendered fish inedible with their toxic stings and even caused injuries to fishermen. Relatively little is known about Nomura's jellyfish, such as why some years see thousands of the creatures floating across the Sea of Japan on the Tsushima Current, but last year there were virtually no sightings. In 2007,...

The fossilised skull of a colossal "sea monster" has been unearthed along the UK's Jurassic Coast. The ferocious predator, which is called a pliosaur, terrorised the oceans 150 million years ago. The skull is 2.4m long, and experts say it could belong to one of the largest pliosaurs ever found: measuring up 16m in length. The fossil, which was found by a local collector, has been purchased by Dorset County Council. It was bought with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and it will now be scientifically analysed, prepared and then put on public display at Dorset County Museum. Palaeontologist...

NEW SPECIES PICTURES: 850 Underground Creatures Found The newfound blind cave fish Milyeringa veritas, seen above, inhabits the same Cape Range aquifers as a blind cave eel found during the same survey of Australia's underground habitats. The only blind cave fish known in Australia, the 2-inch-long (5.1-centimeter-long) species is "remarkably versatile," living in freshwater or seawater in underground coastal regions during various stages of its life, researchers say."

Dinosaur experts in Dorset, England, are examining the fossilized skull of a sea monster so large they say it could have eaten a Tyrannosaurus rex for breakfast.

A possible new species of giant prehistoric lizard—bigger and badder than the deadly Komodo dragon—may have stalked the ancient Australian outback, a new study says. Three fossilized bones of the mysterious 13-foot-long (4-meter-long) lizard were collected in 1966 in western Timor island, part of Indonesia. When study leader Scott Hocknull recently examined the fossils, he was "astounded" to find that they belonged neither to the Komodo dragon—the only giant lizard species alive today—nor Megalania, a 16-foot-long (5-meter-long) extinct monster that's among the largest lizards known to have ever lived. Giant Lizard "a Nasty Piece of Work" The "tantalizing bones"—which date...

U.S. scientists in the Gulf of Mexico unexpectedly netted a 19.5-foot (5.9-meter) giant squid off the coast of Louisiana, the Interior Department said on Monday, showing how little is known about life in the deep waters of the Gulf. Not since 1954, when a giant squid was found floating dead off the Mississippi Delta, has the rare species been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. The squid, weighing in at 103 pounds (46.7 kg), was caught July 30 in a trawl net more than 1,500 feet underwater as it was pulled by a research vessel. The giant squid, which did...

CERRO AZUL, Panama -- It looks a bit like a small, portly alien from the movie "E.T." or Gollum's long-lost cousin, but officials haven't the slightest idea what a creature found just east of Panama City really is. The creature was first found by four teenagers playing near a creek in the community of Cerro Azul. According to a local TV station, Telemetro, the teenagers spotted the creature crawling out from a cave. They said it started moving toward them. Fearing for their safety, they pelted the beast with sticks and rocks. After the barrage killed the creature, the teenagers...

Researchers have warned that two non-native species of python currently slithering free in south Florida could morph into a giant man-eating swamp coil. The capture of five African rock pythons near an Everglades already teeming with the gentler Burmese pythons has experts worried about “hybrid vigor” – a phenomenon that occurs when interbreeding uncorks volatile recessive genes, passing traits such as aggression onto the offspring, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Wednesday. The two species have interbred in captivity. While Burmese pythons aren’t known to eat people in their native habitat, the African rock python, unfortunately, has been known to...

A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them. The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out "as if to attack them". Locals told Panama news the monster was like "Gollum from Lord of the Rings". One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film." But in a "desperate bid to defend...

Snake With Foot Found In China A snake with a single clawed foot has been discovered in China, according to reports. [Pic in URL] 14 Sep 2009 Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night. "I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw," said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China. Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake...

Tracking monsters in the world of man Odd Jobs by Diane Peters METRO CANADA August 31, 2009 5:43 a.m. Throughout his career, John Kirk has made a living as a journalist and working for the government. His other occupation doesn’t make him much money — in fact it costs him — but he still can’t give up the hunt for undiscovered wildlife. It all began when Kirk first emigrated from Hong Kong in 1987. As a new resident to Canada, he went in a tour of B.C. He was passing by Sproat Lake on the way to Nanaimo when he...

A man living north of San Antonio says he has quite the animal sitting in his freezer -- and it may be a mythical chupacabra. Jerry Ayer, a teacher at the Blanco Taxidermy School in Blanco, Texas, told TV station KSAT that he's never seen anything like it. "Different, that’s for sure, very interesting," said Ayer. The find comes amid a number of strange sightings in the area. The animal is gray in color with leathery, hairless skin and large fangs. "The front legs seem to be a little bit longer than a typical coyote, very irregular and never seen...

A teenager has added fresh rumour to the yeti debate after claiming the beast spied on her in her bikini as she paddled in a river. Justyna Folger was having a dip during a camping trip when a shadowy creature appeared on the opposite bank. 'At first I thought it was a bear but it appeared to be stooping and then it raised itself on to two legs and ran off. I couldn't believe it,' said Miss Folger, 19. The incident was caught on camera by her boyfriend Tadeusz Serafinowski. Yeti-hunters are already flocking to the site in the Tatra...

'Here there be monsters' By Kenton Whitman, For The News Wednesday, August 12, 2009 9:42 AM CDT Something very strange found lurking in the Dunn County woodlands. Photo by Rebecca Whitman / For The News. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine described a peculiar ‘something’ he saw while driving on the outskirts of Menomonie. This creature was of a dog-like nature, but large and misshapen, with a blunt nose and a reddish tinge to its fur. “It was like a red-coated hyena”, he described, but his voice sounded uncertain, shaken. Reports like this fascinate me. Rebecca and I...

This amazing image on Google Earth could be the elusive proof that the Loch Ness Monster exists. Sun reader Jason Cooke spotted "Nessie" while browsing the Web site's satellite photos. The shape seen on the surface of the 22-mile Scottish loch is 65ft long and appears to have an oval body, a tail and four legs or flippers.

Here is video from Lake Worth Lagoon, Florida where officials there are trying to identify what they have dubbed the "Muck Monster." The video shows a strange sea creature that is always below the surface. You can see its wake in the water. Experts have looked at the video but have not been able to identify what it may be. Any ideas? . . . . (Watch Video)

A new species of giant carnivorous plant has been discovered in the highlands of the central Philippines. The pitcher plant is among the largest of all pitchers and is so big that it can catch rats and well as insects in its leafy trap. During the same expedition, botanists also came across strange pink ferns and blue mushrooms they could not identify. The botanists have named the pitcher plant after British natural history broadcaster David Attenborough.

Greer Island, a small patch of land close to where the West Fork of the Trinity River flows into Lake Worth, is heavily shaded by tall oaks, cedar elms and cottonwoods. One of the quietest spots in Fort Worth, the island is home to egrets and owls, perhaps an alligator or two. And maybe, just maybe, the Lake Worth Monster. The Lake Worth Monster — aka Goat-Man — hasn’t been seen regularly at the Fort Worth Nature Center since a very memorable summer 40 years ago when all of Texas seemed to buzz with the news that a hairy, scaly...

Jumbo Humboldt squid wash up minutes after 4.0 earthquake hit off the coast of La Jolla It was an odd start to the morning in La Jolla. First residents were jolted out of bed at 7.34 a.m. by a 4.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered 19 miles out to sea. First residents were jolted out of bed by an earthquake, which is not uncommon in San Diego, but what happened just minutes later was a little fishy. “I was having coffee up on the balcony and I felt it shaking,” Kate Lutkemeier said. She wasn’t the only one. “I heard...

MOSCOW, Idaho – The giant Palouse earthworm has taken on mythic qualities in this vast agricultural region that stretches from eastern Washington into the Idaho panhandle — its very name evoking the fictional sandworms from "Dune" or those vicious creatures from the movie "Tremors." The worm is said to secrete a lily-like smell when handled, spit at predators, and live in burrows 15 feet deep. There have been only a handful of sightings. But scientists hope to change that this summer with researchers scouring the Palouse region in hopes of finding more of the giant earthworms. Conservationists also want the...

The rare prickly shark captured recently off the coast of California is not in my son's "Monsters of the Deep'' book, but it should be. It looks like one of the many weird animals I've learned about since my seven-year-old developed an interest in deep sea creatures. Yesterday marked only the second time a prickly shark has been kept in captivity and the first time one was exhibited. It was held at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for only a few hours before being released because it wasn't doing well in the tank. My son will want to hear about all...

Is it a pig? A rhino? A zebra? Heck if I know. But it's really freaking weird looking, that's for sure. The headline in the NY Times article, "New Research on Malaysia's Odd, Elusive Tapir" caught my attention, mostly because I had no idea what the heck a tapir is. Still don't, really. The Wiki entry attempts to clarify: A large browsing mammal, roughly pig-like in shape, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs, being the Brazilian tapir, the Malayan tapir, Baird's...

They say they have a cast of a footprint 5 inches wide and 15 inches long. A group of Bigfoot hunters claim to have found footprints and heard calls of the legendary creature in Oklahoma. About 30 people spent Memorial Day weekend on a Bigfoot hunt in the Kiamichi Mountains in the southeastern part of the state, the Tulsa World reports. They say they have a cast of a footprint 5 inches wide and 15 inches long. "The toes were clearly visible on the cast after it was lifted up," said D.W. Lee, director of the Mid-America Bigfoot Research Center....

It's hard to dispute some family resemblances, even after death. The new Montauk Monster, found on a Southold, N.Y., beach earlier this month, probably is closely related to last year's edition, and was likely a stealthy, intelligent, night-ranging creature that may roam alarmingly close to human settlements. The flesh of the new monster's skull has mostly rotted off, but the beak-like snout, wide back teeth and large eye sockets indicate that it may be of the same species as the original monster, which startled beachgoers in the chic resort town of Montauk, N.Y., last summer. Then, as now, speculation was...

Fifty years ago sightings of the Loch Ness Monster or ‘Nessie’ were common and few Scottish locals doubted the presence of an exotic water creature in their locale which might have been the last living member an isolated relic Plesiosaur population. Sightings of Nessie have decreased over the last few years and extensive and thorough scanning of the Loch Ness by scientists and researchers have failed to produce any evidence of Nessie. This has led many to believe, sadly, that this gentle, secretive creature had passed on. Now, astonishingly, frequent sightings are being reported of a creature living in the...

A woman in Qatar, in the Middle East has taken this photograph of what looks like a small hairy human/squirrel hybrid.

Wombat droppings are helping an industrial city in Australia fight the effects of the global financial crisis. Burnie, in the north-west of the state of Tasmania, has been hit by repeated rounds of job cuts. But despite the gloom, one local industry is thriving by producing handmade paper out of a material no-one else wants - wombat poo. The novelty paper is a hit with tourists keen to buy a distinctly Australian souvenir from the area. The wombat, a furry marsupial, lives in the wild only in Australia.

Two backpackers on a year long trip around Australia got the fright of their life last week while they were out trekking in bushland in the vicinity of the township of Leura, not far from the well known Katoomba landmark, "The Three Sisters". It was early evening and by the two ladies admission a bit late to be by themselves in the bush. Ingrid Schön 23, of Germany and Adi Hassan, 22 of France decided to head back into town when they heard the breaking of branches and loud footsteps heading towards them. Ingrid shone a torch onto the track...

After Ray Wallace died in 2002, his children revealed that he had a pair of carved wooden feet he used to stomp around the woods in Northern California, leaving tracks that he claimed belonged to Bigfoot. The disclosure should have been a blow to Bigfoot hunters everywhere, because Wallace's stories about a huge, hairy humanoid are credited with starting the Bigfoot movement. If Wallace was a practical joker, shouldn't that make those who believe in Bigfoot think twice? "You're not going to shake these people," Michael McLeod said. "They don't want to admit anything. They still deny Wallace has anything...

Today's question: When I was a kid in Phoenix in the early '60s, I spent a week every summer at a Boy Scout camp east of Pine, just below the Mogollon Rim. Sometimes late at night, around a campfire, the older scouts would regale us with tales of attacks on ranchers and campers by the "Mogollon Monster." Has anyone claimed to have seen hairy ape-men in Arizona recently? The Mogollon Monster is Arizona's version of Bigfoot. It supposedly lives, as you may have guessed, along the Mogollon Rim, although it has allegedly been spotted around Prescott and in the Grand...

"What in the world is that? A snake, eel, possibly a salamander?" These are the questions that likely traveled through the mind of a Dunklin County resident who recently located a strange looking creature in a ditch positioned in the front yard of his home. According to local Missouri Department of Conservation Agent, Eric Heuring, he recently visited the area residence to exam the animal and found himself, like the homeowner, in awe. "After arriving at the residence and taking a look at it, I found myself speechless," Heuring said of the strange find. It turns out that the once...

The authorities of the Russian town of Kemerovo arranged a special expedition to find the yeti habitat which was discovered by Google maps. Recently there have been more than 20 claims from the local hunters who said they had seen strange creatures in the forests. These creatures resembled yeti. After the claims from the local hunters Kemerovo authorities decided to create the team of scientists for yeti searches. The expedition turned to be successful. Scientists managed to find ‘fresh’ yeti footprints in the Azassky cave. Scientists found two identical yeti footprints. One of them was left on the rock and...

In the new book "BIGFOOT DECLASSIFIED" by M.P. Raymond, life in America is beginning to change and the author takes us on a unique journey in a world where Bigfoot is real and becoming a part of American culture. Through modern secretive technology and the acquiring of several specimens, BIGFOOT is now a documented species. This is the only approved government text that focuses on understanding and controlling the legendary creature. * Read harrowing stories of Bigfoot encounters throughout the world, and how this avalanche of information has overtaken man. See how it all started and why this government manual...

The air-breathing fish, which can survive out of water for 'extended periods' as it searches for water, was found in the Thames Estuary at Woolwich by angler Birol Koca. The walking catfish, or Clarias batrachus, is a species of freshwater airbreathing catfish found primarily in Southeast Asia. The fish, which could be a 'significant risk' to the environment, used its pectoral fins to 'wiggle' on land as it searches out a new home. Catfish can pose a threat to the environment if they escape into the wild by competing with native fish for food and habitats and spreading disease or...

<p>MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Parts of eastern Arkansas are infested with a type of fish that is threatening the ecological balance. The snakehead fish is indigenous to Southeast Asia, but the species has been found in large numbers in the Piney Creek watershed in Monroe and Lee counties.</p>

A giant fossil sea monster found in the Arctic had a bite that would have been able to crush a 4x4 car, according to its discoverers. Researchers say the marine reptile, which measured an impressive 15m (50ft) long, had a bite force of about 45 tonnes (33,000lbs) per square inch. The creature's partial skull was dug up last summer in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard by a Norwegian-led team. Dubbed "Predator X", it patrolled the oceans some 147 million years ago. Its jaws may have been more powerful than those of a Tyrannosaurus rex, though estimates of the dinosaur's bite...

"On Monday evening Melvina's mother heard an awful racket/strange and loud noise coming from the back of her property. It certainly did frighten her as the sound was so very unusual and the dogs certainly were going wild over what was happening. She contacted her daughter and Melvina came down the next day to look into what took. She put on a set of snow shoes and headed out into the forest. In the open areas, (not under any trees) the snow would have been approximately a foot and a half in depth. Under the trees the snow pack was...

A 150-year-old mystery has reared its head after a woman woke to find 'Satan's hoofprints' dotted across freshly fallen snow in her back garden. The single track of cloven-like prints - which appear to have been made by a two-legged creature - precisely resemble footprints recorded in the area in 1855. The phenomenon, which has never been explained, became known as the 'Devil's foot prints' in a local legend. The new tracks appeared in fresh snow in Jill Wade's back garden on March 5th. Grandmother Jill, 76, of Woolsery, Devon, said: 'I looked in the garden and it really intrigued...

Sir David Attenborough believes there is "very convincing" evidence that Yetis exist. Speaking on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, the revered wildlife expert said: "I'm baffled by the Abominable Snowman - very convincing footprints have been found at 19,000ft. No-one does that for a joke. I think it's unanswered."

An article on Iceland's de facto bankruptcy in the April issue of Vanity Fair notes that a "large number of Icelanders" believe in elves or "hidden people." This widespread folklore occasionally disrupts business in the sparsely populated North Atlantic country. Before the aluminum company Alcoa could erect a smelting factory, "it had to defer to a government expert to scour the enclosed plant site and certify that no elves were on or under it." How do you find an elf? With psychic powers. According to a poll conducted in 2007, 54 percent of Icelanders don't deny the existence of elves...

Brian Vike believes he has photographic evidence that sasquatches exist. No, he doesn’t have a photo of a sasquatch, but he does have a photo of a very large footprint.

A member of a disaster team monitoring flood regions on the South East Asian island is said to have captured the image while hovering over the Baleh river in a helicopter. The shot, which shows a green, wavy object floating along the meandering river, has sparked rumours that a mythical snake called Nabau has returned to the area. Sceptics have joined the debate claiming that it is nothing more than the work of photo-editing software. Rather like the myths surrounding Scotland's Loch Ness Monster, legend has it that a terrifying 100ft snake called Nabau, with a dragon's head and seven...

By Rebecca Morelle Science reporter, BBC News Advertisement See the footage of the rare, venomous mammal Rare footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists.Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew; it can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite. Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species. Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed. The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the...

Herzog's epic quest for camera shy Nessie BRIAN PENDREIGH THE legend is about to take on the monster. Eccentric German film-maker Werner Herzog will shortly arrive in Scotland to pursue one of the world’s most elusive creatures. Herzog, widely regarded as one of the greatest film-makers alive because of his painstaking attention to detail, has become fascinated by the myth of the Loch Ness monster. He now intends to make the definitive documentary on Nessie for cinema release around the world. Friends say he has been obsessively collecting research material in advance of his trip to the Highlands next month....

Beneath the tourist gondolas in the remains of a great Aztec lake lives a creature that resembles a monster - and a Muppet - with its slimy tail, plumage-like gills and mouth that curls into an odd smile. The axolotl, also known as the "water monster" and the "Mexican walking fish," was a key part of Aztec legend and diet. Against all odds, it survived until now amid Mexico City's urban sprawl in the polluted canals of Lake Xochimilco, now a Venice-style destination for revelers poled along by Mexican gondoliers, or trajineros, in brightly painted party boats. But scientists are...

Why you shouldn't swim in lakes in Oklahoma!!!! A very large alligator gar : the fish was caught in Broken Bow Lake, Oklahoma 8' - 10' and weighed 327 lbs This is why people just disappear from the lakes in Oklahoma! And yes, this is for real."

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday. Four leathery, white eggs from an indigenous tuatara were found by staff at the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in the capital, Wellington, during routine maintenance work Friday, conservation manager Rouen Epson said. "The nest was uncovered by accident and is the first concrete proof we have that our tuatara are breeding," Epson said. "It suggests that there may be other nests in the sanctuary we don't...

OSLO (Reuters) – A giant bat with a wingspan up to 5.5 feet has made a comeback from the brink of extinction in Tanzania in a rare conservation success, an environmental group said on Friday. Numbers of the Pemba flying fox, a type of fruit bat, have risen to 22,000 since it was rated critically endangered two decades ago when "only a scant few individual fruit bats could be observed," British-based Fauna and Flora International said. In a release coinciding with Halloween, it said that the bat's maximum wingspan was "greater than the height of the average British woman."

Weird animals defy science: Strange But True?

Perhaps it is nothing more than a legend, as skeptics say. Or maybe it is real, as those who claim to have seen it avow. But the mere mention of the mapinguary, the giant slothlike monster of the Amazon, is enough to send shivers down the spines of almost all who dwell in the world’s largest rain forest. In some areas, the creature is said to have two eyes, while in other accounts it has only one, like the Cyclops of Greek mythology. It's said to be more than seven feet tall and covered in thick, matted fur. The folklore...