Antarctic Godzilla

 Antarctic Godzilla

By Cole Herrold

In the Wake of the article, I did on Kabagon I stumbled across this other giant aquatic cryptid reported by another Japanese vessel. Japan seemingly is the master at chronicling the strange colossal cryptids that exist on our planets from the Pinniped like Kabagon to the humanoid like Ningen they seem to be ahead when it comes to chronicling unique marine cryptids. Specifically, those that seem to be mammals as in this case which might be the oldest of the mammalian marine monsters. The cryptid here in question was not imaginatively named but it does get the point across that what the crew certainly saw was huge.

During the ships second Antarctic expedition at 7 o’clock pm on February 13, 1958, The Antarctic Research ship Soya was out near Barton Island when they noticed a large form in the open icy Antarctica waters. The ships captain Matsumoto and at least 4 other individuals who were aboard the vessel noticed a large form bobbing in the open water. This object was about 500 meters from Barton Island and 300 meters from the Soya and extremely large so it drew the attention of several members of the ship namely the chief navigator, chief engineer, the officer on duty, and the helmsman all of who were on the bridge at the time. One of the members of the crew was unimpressed by this thinking that what they were seeing was a barrel that had come from Barton Peninsula. Yet Matsumoto dismissed such a claim as whatever this object was it clearly was living as if this was a barrel or can how could it stay upright in the water when the wind was blowing so severely. Yet Matsumoto was surprised for if this was an animal it seemed much too big to be simply that. As the Soya approached the creature or vice versa all those aboard noticed that the object began to turn and as it did so there appeared a giant face staring back at them. This is when they knew for sure that what they were looking at was some sort of colossal unknown animal. The officer aboard the vessel lifted his binoculars and stared at the being and confirmed that indeed this object had large eyes and a noticeable face as well as two large ears. An exact size of the creature was never precisely specified, and some sources claim the creature to be 70-80ft long. The creature though while size was unspecified was clearly something mammalian in form it had features similar to a cow from the front, but the top of the head was round and reminded the crew of that of a monkey’s. The creature was covered in dark brown hair which seemed to cover the full body. The crew could also see that the creature had large noticeable shoulders that reached out from the form indicating that whatever this creature was it was definitely strong. Outside of these shoulders, the creature had a set of large, serrated fins on its back. During the time of the creature’s frolic into the sea, the chief engineer remembered he had a camera in his cabin and ran to go grab it as a way of documenting the strange animal they bore witness to. The rest of the crew watched as the creature approached the ship and looked as the creature began to submerge under the ship much to the chagrin of the engineer who returned camera in hand. After the creature vanished from sight the crew proceeded to run to the man who they felt would certainly know the answer to what they bore witness to, a biologist by the name of Dr. Yoshii. Upon telling the story the doctor was skeptical of just what the crew was telling him but at the same time wished he was up there at the time to see the marvel but clearly had no idea as to what his fellow crewmembers had seen. Yet he did have one pull away that the crew shared and that was whatever this creature was based on its morphology it appeared to be as ridiculous as it sounded terrestrial in origin. The account of this creature stayed among the crew until Captain Matsumoto released his book Antarctic Transportation wherein he coined the beast uncreatively Antarctic Godzilla. Matsumoto obviously named the creature after the classic Kaiju which was released on the world some four years prior yet it bore only some similarities in appearance.  Since then, the creature has appeared in a multitude of books in Japan as well as been made into a toy/statue that depicted the creature in more of a classic Godzilla/Baragon style as opposed to just what the witnesses reported.

Now with all this said what are we to do with this case. Instinctively I want to call this whole case a joke or some fish story and there’s no reason to totally dismiss this. The fact that we have a colossal creature called Antarctic Godzilla seems to point towards some sort of tongue-in-cheek reference to begin with it would be to me like calling saying the Pensacola Sea Serpent the Pensacola Jason Voorhees. It immediately draws the attention of away from the encounter and to this pop icon that were all familiar with. Now, this added with the few details of the creature one could imagine a colossal kaiju that’s more realistic than whatever they say or however ambiguous.  Now with that said while this could straight away being a hoax my problem with this much like many ambiguous cryptid sightings is why not go all out or describe it more realistic or wackier. This case has the right amount of ambiguity with the description that seems to imply that they were seeing something but just what they were unsure of.

Now with the possibility of a hoax being unlikely perhaps what the crew was seeing was some sort of misidentification. As experienced Seamen, it seems unlikely that they would misidentify say a whale yet a whale in a state of decomposition could appear monstrous. This hypothesis was used to explain away the hair reported on the Trunko carcass which was merely collagen or other tissues that gave the appearance of hair. Perhaps this is what the crew was seeing some whale carcasses badly deteriorated either blue or grey whales that due to decomposition gave off the appearance of having hair or were so mangled that it seemed to have ears. Now for a skeptic, this might seem like a nail in the coffin yet there are obvious problems with this. For one thing, this creature was seemingly intact it was not mangled or led to interpretation like a globster or the Zuiyo Maru Carcass plus there were obvious signs of intelligence with its ability to submerge and turn seemingly on its own accord.

The next option even though it seems both incredible and impossible is that what was reported was in fact a colossal unknown animal. Now the largest animals on this planet are blue whales which can reach up to 110 ft and over 190 tons. These colossal marine animals are larger than even the dinosaurs yet for the most part this can be debated as some of the largest dinosaurs can reach 90-100 feet like Argentinosaurus or Patagotitan. These prehistoric species most of which were related or are members to the sauropod group of dinosaurs are again much different to what was seen in Antarctica so for those hoping for a living relict this is not the case. Now the largest land mammal ever was Paraceratherium which bears some features similar to the Antarctic Godzilla namely its large ears and this creature was something around 21 ft in height with a length of about 25 ft. This creature had an extended muzzle which could be considered cow-like and large ears and eyes. However, there are several noticeable problems. The biggest problem is that this creature if it was a living Paraceratherium is the location. Most of these animals lived in Mongolia and China which is a far cry from the cold and southern Antarctic waters. Another problem is that Paraceratherium is believed to be built more like the rhinos which it is related to and therefore not covered in hair or semi-aquatic nature. While evolution seeks for organisms to fill and seek out every niche there is no evidence to indicate that Paraceratherium has entered or evolved to be semi-aquatic. Plus it can be said that no fossil evidence can indicate that the species entered this route so its from this that we are to indicate that Antarctic Godzilla is unique in its evolutionary history. Yet that’s a tricky subject as there are tons of new discoveries being made on the earth as well as in general how difficult it is to become a fossil an organism has to be in an ideal location at the right time.

Aquatic cryptids while not backed up by the fossil record are overly abundant. There are several cryptids are seemingly large whales or dolphins such as the 59ft Giglioli's Whale or even the Rhinoceros Dolphin. Yet one must acknowledge that such a cyrtid is more akin to what we have seen currently in our world and not some strange evolutionary fluke that one might point to as an offshoot of evolution. Yet evolution is a fickle mistress who chooses her own descendants so perhaps the creature was some species yet uncatalogued in the fossil record or some species so new so species was preserved.

Perhaps Antarctic Godzilla was a unique species. Evolution’s test to create a more terrestrial whale. Giving it more mammalian features to get the benefits of both a land-living organism and an aquatic one while still maintaining its colossal size. This could explain the seemingly more terrestrial build to a creature that could now only be at home in the water. There’s nothing truly like it and the fact that no one else has seen anything exactly like it seems to indicate to me that this natural experiment did not work and that the species that was Antarctic Godzilla is more than likely extinct or is the ancestor to the Ningen or other strange marine mammals reported that appear in the 70s and 80s.

I doubt that there is a Ufological connection to the creature, yet perhaps there might be a multidimensional one. Perhaps Antarctic Godzilla entered our world through a portal. Now many dismiss such possibilities especially when there is nothing to indicate that as in this case. One must wonder if the crew were accurate in their descriptions and that evolution did not spawn such a creature in our world then perhaps it did so on another plane of existence. Which be this another dimension or some unthinkable realm we have no scientific name for this creature somehow managed to make its way from its home to here. This could entirely explain just how it does not match with the fauna of our world. Yet again with theories like this, they are the cheap answer they require no deep thought as to what was reported for in the multiverse everything exists and it's just a matter of us finding our place.

Cryptids like Antarctic Godzilla really pull in a few ways either people declare them a hoax, a misidentification, a new species, or some entity beyond comprehension. There is truly no other possibility. Colossal Ufonauts for example while impossible make little to no sense so it literally leads to only a few outcomes. With Antarctic Godzilla, I’m at a loss the description of the creature is ambiguous enough for me to say that a hoax is unlikely yet just what they were seeing does not match any known or cryptid animal. It's from this that I tend to lean towards an evolutionary fluke.  A cryptid for certain but one that was a stepping stone to another one that either was not able to survive in its state or was related to the Ningen or Kabagon and proven to be inefficient. Yet perhaps I’m wrong and what was witnessed was some colossal cryptid creature completely unique to anything we’ve seen prior. It survived in small populations so elusive we rarely see it or perhaps mistake it for others. Time will only tell, and we can only wait and see if something similar might arise from the deep in the waters around Antarctica.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species:  Mammal

Location: Pacific Ocean, Barton Peninsula, Antarctica

Sighted: February 13, 1958

Works Cited:

“Godzilla in Antarctica” http://www2.plala.or.jp/daisinjitu/UMA/godzilla.html

“Strange Creatures Wriggling in Antarctica” NKD Scientific Research. http://ifs.nog.cc/nsrex.hp.infoseek.co.jp/documents/antarctic.html

“Large Antarctic Sea Mammal” Cryptid Wiki. https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Large_Antarctic_Sea_Mammal

Antarctic Transportation by Mitsuji Matsumoto

Kabagon

 Kabagon

By Cole Herrold

The oceans while beautiful are frankly a terrifying place. Since the dawn of time, there have been rumors of all sorts of colossal critters and haunting entities that have allegedly made their home in the dark depths. These entities range in description from the colossal multi-tentacled ship destroyer the Kraken to the long tadpole-like Hook Island Sea Serpent. Yet of all the entities reported in the ocean perhaps one of the eeriest is the ones that bear a strong resemblance to humans or mammals such as the Ningen. On July 18, 1971, the Mainichi Daily News would report a similar eerie humanoid or mammalian-type entity that would peer out from the water.

It was on August 28, 1971, that Captain Miyagi Kimura and 25 other crew members of the 28^th Konpira Maru, a 235-ton tuna long-line fishing boat from Onagawa, in the Miyagi prefecture were sailing in the Pacific Ocean near the South Island of New Zealand casting their lines into the ocean. Their exact position based on the ship’s logbook was 44.15 degrees South Latitude and 173.34 East Longitude, 25 miles SE of Lyttelton. The water they traversed reached a depth of about 40 meters. It was 12 o clock, and the day was bright, and the conditions were fine as a sweet northern breeze blew and the water was seemingly placid that was until their attention was drawn to a strange disturbance in the water near them. The crew watched in awe and confusion as a brownish-gray figure started to emerge from the deep. The figure a large mound of folded flesh some 5 ft tall was fitted with a pair of large eyes each about six inches in diameter and two large nostrils (or as some of the other art depictions show another set of eyes) located just below it. They noted that this ball of flesh was clearly the semi-submerged skull of some colossal creature and decided to attempt to capture the creature. The crew stopped their fishing adventures and began to man the harpoons. Some of the crew including the captain continued to stare at the creature which to them seemed very similar to a deformed hippopotamus particularly in the area of the nose yet they knew that this creature could not be one of those since they tend to dwell mostly in fresh water and live exclusively in Africa. The captain proceeded to draw the creature and even decided to coin the beast Kabagon after the Japanese word for hippo ‘Kaba’. The creature however, later on, would also be called the Bug-Eyed Monster or BEM They then altered the course of the boat and as they got within 30 meters of the creature it suddenly possibly sensing the danger it was in proceeded to disappear into the briny deep. The crew was left speechless and disappointed at the elusiveness of their quarry and kept the story to themselves until they returned home to Yaizu Port, Shizuoka prefecture where the crew proceeded to tell their account. However, before the crew returned to tell about their encounter a weekly magazine in New Zealand released that on the Lyttelton Peninsula that a strange series of footprints were found. The Mainichi Daily News would propose that these footprints were caused by the strange creature.

As with almost all Fortean cases, one needs to entertain that there is the chance of hoaxing. Outside of just making up a story, there’s not much to point in this direction. Yet there is an interesting parallel that could point to this being the case. Horror, Sci-Fi, and other Exploitation film fans might be quick to notice that Kabagon bears a strong resemblance outside of just its name to Japanese Kaiju films. The overall appearance of the creature is almost identical to Hedorah the giant smog monster that appeared in Godzilla Vs. Hedorah or as titled here in the US Godzilla Vs. The Smog Monster. To add to this the film was theatrically released on July 24, 1971. Four days after the sighting was reported however trailers for the film was certainly released before that day. It is very possible that members of the crew had seen the trailer and proceeded to create an encounter resolving around a beast similar in appearance to Hedorah. Yet this is all speculation.

Another possibility is that this creature could have been misidentified the eyewitness sketch does bear some resemblance to known animals even though it may seem goofy. The closest animal to the Kabagon in appearance would be a female walrus and even the original Pursuit breakdown of the case quickly pointed to this as a possibility. However, the article also says that this would be highly unlikely as walruses in general are found in the arctic and subarctic areas of the planet and not in the warm waters of New Zealand. Another problem is that the creature’s head was 5ft alone and the crew had no way of measuring the rest of the creature which clearly would have been at least 3x bigger than that, so an estimate of about say 20-30 ft, which would be bigger than any currently living walrus or pinniped. As walruses tend to have a max size of about 12 ½ ft and even then the females; which Kabagon is more similar in appearance to, are much smaller. Another thing is if the tracks found on the beach of the peninsula were caused by the creature and it was indeed a kind of pinniped it would not be so much as classic tracks as we would associate with a primate or cervine but that there would also be body drag marks or almost semi-destroyed tracks from the movement of the creature. It's from this that it would seem unlikely that what was seen by the crew was a known pinniped or pinniped at all.

Eyewitness Sketch of Kabagon as it appeared in Pursuit

A possibility most people like to go with when discussing this creature is the cryptid possibility. Obviously, there are animals slightly similar in appearance to the creature except that the form seems to be more pinniped or humanoid-like, yet none are an exact match. In cryptozoological circles, there are several entities and theories that could explain what we are seeing or are very similar to what was reported. Unsurprisingly most of these creatures were reported by Japanese sailors. The most famous of which would be the Ningen a colossal humanoid type creature that is human-like in its face and arms, but the rest of its form is like a white whale. Now a lot of the reports and images of this creature are hoaxes so there is some debate if this is a real cryptid or if this is some creepypasta-style creation. The other similar creature is a colossal critter reportedly seen in Antarctica and dubbed by the ship's captain Matsumoto in 1958 as “Antarctic Godzilla”. The creature appeared in his book Antarctic Transportation and was described as again a hippopotamus-type creature but again with other features as it was described as having a cow-like face, monkey-like head, large ears, large shoulders, dark brown hair, and a noticeable dorsal fin. The creature was noticeably colossal in size and originally was mistaken for a large barrel by some of the crew before they noticed its face. So large mammalian sea cryptids are not exactly unheard of and could be the same type or similar type of creatures.

A popular theory and one that I personally subscribe to in some reports is the Seal Serpent Hypothesis. This is a theory put out there as a more plausible answer to reports of cryptids that seem to be living plesiosaurs. In the theory, it is proposed that over time a group of seals developed a longer neck to basically fill in the niche that was left open after the plesiosaurs went extinct and therefore through convergent evolution developed a similar form. It’s from this I propose that Kabagon may have been some variation of this built for the warmer waters. It would have the hairless build of say a sea lion or elephant seal and could still have the large eyes and nostrils one would expect from a marine mammal but would simply be colossal in build. There are countless photos of seals and sea lions doing similar behavior as Kabagon and we can extend this as well to members of Sirenia like manatees and dugongs. Of course, this theory has never been proven and is more of a kind of thought experiment and therefore speculation.

Something that is not discussed usually with this case is the idea that this creature bears some resemblance to a particular Yokai the Umibozu. These entities are described as the spirits or ghosts of drowned Buddhist monks or manifestations of the ocean itself they often manifest as giant heads either human-like or monstrous most of the time bald or with some hair to the side, yet other forms and sizes are reported. Most of the depictions of them in art are of a giant dark-colored form with large eyes. This is almost exactly what the crew was witnessing. I am not here to claim that all Umibozu are actually misidentified Kabagon however I offer the counterargument. When immigrants from other countries enter a new location we often see in a short period of time that the faeries and creatures from their native countries start appearing in the countries where they now reside. The Trolls of Sorenson’s Woods are a prime example and the same goes for family banshees now seen in West Virginia or the Tommyknockers of Pennsylvania. Perhaps there’s something about these entities that will cause them to follow people to other countries and manifest only to them or there’s something about the people themselves and their beliefs that can result in these entities appearing whether any of the crew were Shinto believers is however unconfirmed and again this is all speculation.

Another possibility for this creature could be that it is an Undine or some other aquatic fae the image of the Kabagon is also very similar to a painting of the Nokken an aquatic faerie and aggressive water spirit from Scandinavia. The world has countless areas known for such spirit-like beings or paranormal entities that perhaps what the crew was seeing was not something from their own country or something that followed them but instead something that was an elemental for that specific area. Whether the area of New Zealand has folklore of something similar to Kabagon however or tales of something lurking in the area, however, I currently am unaware of any.

Just what Kabagon is we can only guess as currently, no one else has reported a sighting similar or in the area since 71’. Yet that does not mean that this is the last of it. Our ocean’s are colossal and are filled with tons of places to hide and are full of creatures we know we haven’t discovered yet. We are certain that there are more undiscovered creatures in our oceans than what are on land. Most will certainly be small and strange, yet some will be colossal, and perhaps if Kabagon is real, even stranger.

Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Mammalian Sea creature (probably a Pinniped or member of Sirenia)

Location: Pacific Ocean, 44.15 degrees South Latitude and 173.34 East Longitude, 25 miles SE Lyttelton, South Island, New Zealand

Sighted: April 28, 1971

Works Cited Page:

Pursuit No. 18 April 1972

“A Bug Eyed Monster Off New Zealand” Malcolm’s Cryptid Blogspot. malcolmscryptids.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-bug-eyed-monster-off-new-zealand.html. Accessed 2/12/2023