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The Leviathans
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 22, 2025
Book by Tim Dinsdale, perhaps the best known Nessie hunter next to Adrian Shine (largely because of the film he took allegedly showing the monster) about lake and sea monster stories from elsewhere on the planet.
For example Dinsdale writes quite a bit about less well known Scottish and Irish lake monsters, the Irish ones often being reported by Catholic priests who suspected the creatures to be unusually large eels. This theory is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity in cryptozoological circles as the most likely explanation for various aquatic monsters. This book is as far as I can tell also the first English language source to mention various Russian lake monsters, in particular the infamous Devil of Lake Labynkyr reported to be unusually aggressive to the point of frequently attacking boats and eating the people aboard them. Other topics covered include stories of giant monitor lizards and crocodiles from South East Asia, as well as giant snake reports from South America, way bigger than any officially attested to by science - with Dinsdale noting that crocodiles and snakes continue to grow throughout their entire lives.
"The Leviathans" likewise seems to have popularised one of the all time most disturbing cryptid encounter stories, the Pensacola Sea Serpent, at least outside the United States. The Pensacola Sea Serpent was a plesiosaur-like creature reported by Edward Brian McCleary, the only survivor of an ill-fated skin diving trip on the 24th of March 1962 to a shipwreck near Pensacola in Florida, as having eaten all the other divers. (a sketch by McCleary depiciting the monster is included in the book's 3rd chapter) Dispute continues to this day over whether or not McCleary made the whole thing up (including the other divers), whether he really did encounter an undiscovered species of oceanic predator, or whether the other divers drowned and McCleary hallucinated the sea serpent perhaps afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt.
Something else I found interesting is that Dinsdale compiles quite a few early reports of the monsters said to inhabit Lake Okanagan and Lake Manitoba in Canada, popularly nicknamed "Ogopogo" and "Manipogo", and the descriptions sound very clearly mammalian to the point I suspect they're either misidentifications of known whale or seal species if not undiscovered rare species of either. His accounts of early sightings of Cadborosaurus or "Caddy", the sea monster reported from Canada's West Coast, sound like fish or reptiles often being compared (again) to giant eels whereas later generations of cryptozoologists have re-interpreted Cadborosaurus to have a most likely mammalian identity. It's interesting to read this book as a time capsule of what cryptozoology was like in the mid 1960's, the revised version from 1976 I read also included information about then-recent research into the Loch Ness Monster going into detail about the interest that mainstream science took in the LNM then (with respected figures like World Wildlife Fund founder Sir Peter Scott expressing confidence in Nessie's existence) - something that would be really difficult to imagine today.
My single favourite sea monster story I have discovered through his book, however, has to be the giant tadpole-like creature discovered beached near Orford Ness Lighthouse in Suffolk on the 18th of January 1962 (notice that the exact same lighthouse was later offered as a skeptical explanation for the Rendlesham Forest UFO encounter in December 1980) complete with a sketch of the creature from descriptions by eyewitness Mrs. Mildred Nye. In addition to the striking appearance of the creature, Dinsdale also argues for a possible explanation for the Orford Ness Tadpole being a misidentified badly decomposed blue shark (with the sketch containing a blue shark for comparison) - he comes down with skeptical explanations for more of the stories than I had expected.
At any rate this is book I can recommend to any cryptozoology enthusiast, or anyone with an interest in folklore surrounding various monsters said to dwell in bodies of water.
For example Dinsdale writes quite a bit about less well known Scottish and Irish lake monsters, the Irish ones often being reported by Catholic priests who suspected the creatures to be unusually large eels. This theory is currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity in cryptozoological circles as the most likely explanation for various aquatic monsters. This book is as far as I can tell also the first English language source to mention various Russian lake monsters, in particular the infamous Devil of Lake Labynkyr reported to be unusually aggressive to the point of frequently attacking boats and eating the people aboard them. Other topics covered include stories of giant monitor lizards and crocodiles from South East Asia, as well as giant snake reports from South America, way bigger than any officially attested to by science - with Dinsdale noting that crocodiles and snakes continue to grow throughout their entire lives.
"The Leviathans" likewise seems to have popularised one of the all time most disturbing cryptid encounter stories, the Pensacola Sea Serpent, at least outside the United States. The Pensacola Sea Serpent was a plesiosaur-like creature reported by Edward Brian McCleary, the only survivor of an ill-fated skin diving trip on the 24th of March 1962 to a shipwreck near Pensacola in Florida, as having eaten all the other divers. (a sketch by McCleary depiciting the monster is included in the book's 3rd chapter) Dispute continues to this day over whether or not McCleary made the whole thing up (including the other divers), whether he really did encounter an undiscovered species of oceanic predator, or whether the other divers drowned and McCleary hallucinated the sea serpent perhaps afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt.
Something else I found interesting is that Dinsdale compiles quite a few early reports of the monsters said to inhabit Lake Okanagan and Lake Manitoba in Canada, popularly nicknamed "Ogopogo" and "Manipogo", and the descriptions sound very clearly mammalian to the point I suspect they're either misidentifications of known whale or seal species if not undiscovered rare species of either. His accounts of early sightings of Cadborosaurus or "Caddy", the sea monster reported from Canada's West Coast, sound like fish or reptiles often being compared (again) to giant eels whereas later generations of cryptozoologists have re-interpreted Cadborosaurus to have a most likely mammalian identity. It's interesting to read this book as a time capsule of what cryptozoology was like in the mid 1960's, the revised version from 1976 I read also included information about then-recent research into the Loch Ness Monster going into detail about the interest that mainstream science took in the LNM then (with respected figures like World Wildlife Fund founder Sir Peter Scott expressing confidence in Nessie's existence) - something that would be really difficult to imagine today.
My single favourite sea monster story I have discovered through his book, however, has to be the giant tadpole-like creature discovered beached near Orford Ness Lighthouse in Suffolk on the 18th of January 1962 (notice that the exact same lighthouse was later offered as a skeptical explanation for the Rendlesham Forest UFO encounter in December 1980) complete with a sketch of the creature from descriptions by eyewitness Mrs. Mildred Nye. In addition to the striking appearance of the creature, Dinsdale also argues for a possible explanation for the Orford Ness Tadpole being a misidentified badly decomposed blue shark (with the sketch containing a blue shark for comparison) - he comes down with skeptical explanations for more of the stories than I had expected.
At any rate this is book I can recommend to any cryptozoology enthusiast, or anyone with an interest in folklore surrounding various monsters said to dwell in bodies of water.
December 21, 2010
It,s one of those reads were you sometimes find yourself lifting an eyebrow incredulously!Though if you are like me and believe the deep harbours a multitude of undiscovered beasts,then this book will certainly wet your whistle. A good read for the bedside table. I have the 66 fist edition I'm convinced that book binding in the 60,s reached a peak.Modern hardbacks aren't nearly as durable as they used to be!
Review by Richard.E.Craig
Review by Richard.E.Craig
October 15, 2017
4.5
"And when we do place the final piece of the puzzle in position perhaps men will stop momentarily to gaze at inscrutable nature, and wonder about the deeper natural truths" p. 208
"And when we do place the final piece of the puzzle in position perhaps men will stop momentarily to gaze at inscrutable nature, and wonder about the deeper natural truths" p. 208
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews