tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330795933539580290.post4799296553635958488..comments2024-03-08T17:05:32.361-08:00Comments on Malcolm's Musings: Cryptozoology: Antipodean Sea Serpents, 1932-9Malcolm Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00672612354161787023noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330795933539580290.post-76916690650464259902018-03-18T15:26:19.750-07:002018-03-18T15:26:19.750-07:00With reference to "I wonder why they took a g...With reference to "I wonder why they took a gun on a fishing trip".<br />The Hoppen brothers were professional fishermen on trawlers at Queenscliff. It would have been common practice at the time to have a firearm stowed in a locker on-board. Who knows when you would have needed it. Piracy, shark attack who knows?? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330795933539580290.post-17943854560429785372018-03-18T15:05:56.208-07:002018-03-18T15:05:56.208-07:00It was smooth and didn’t seem to have any hair or ...It was smooth and didn’t seem to have any hair or protrusions. He did say that it could have but it was wet and anything like that could have looked smooth. Definitely not scaly like a fish, more like the smooth skin of a dolphin or whale. <br />The creature didn’t make any sounds and they didn’t notice any panting or breathing.<br />They did not see the body or anything else come out of the water but it was creating a slight wake and a rise in the water in front of it as it moved along. I asked why he didn’t move to the edge of the boat to see what it looked like under the water. He didn’t think of it at the time and besides didn’t want to get that close to it. I remember him saying that it startled them and they were both surprised and a bit scared. <br />After a few minutes he said it peeled away and slipped back into the water and that was it.<br />I asked him if he made a sketch of the creature at the time. He said that he did to a local newspaper reporter in the coming days and he knows the sketch was passed on to government people. I recalled he said that when they told people the news spread quickly and created quite a furore for a little while. I think he added that they were hounded for more information for some time. That’s all he would say about that.<br />He also added that a number of other fishermen had seen it or something similar around that time as well, not just them. Conversation moved to his cousins over at Flinders who were out fishing and saw a serpent like creature a few weeks later. This was most likely the sighting by B Hoppen and J Mannix at Flinders who he was referring to at the time. <br />I slipped out of the room and came back with a book. I showed him a classic picture of a plesiosaurus. He looked at it and pointed to the head area and said that it was similar but not quite the same. The head was bigger and rounder. Then added again he didn’t know about the rest of it as it was under the water. <br />He never mentioned that H Hoppen apparently shot at it twice with a rifle (as reported in the newspapers), why I don’t know, probably because he didn’t want to suffer the stigma from the younger generation who generally wouldn’t have done that, it was a different time back then I guess.<br />I’m told H Hoppen was asked about the sighting later in life and he said basically the same thing. He mentioned that they were quite scared and it took them a while to process the information and get past it all.<br />I’m told the families at Queenscliff and Flinders had strong connections at that time. I would assume that A Hoppen and B Hoppen would have discussed the sightings at the time and probably over the years.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330795933539580290.post-5955943499765425502018-03-18T15:05:18.448-07:002018-03-18T15:05:18.448-07:00Hoppen Brothers Sighting - Tuesday, 30 July 1935.
...Hoppen Brothers Sighting - Tuesday, 30 July 1935.<br />In 1980, I asked my grandfather, A Hoppen, about the time when he saw the sea serpent down near Point Lonsdale.<br />At the time of the sighting in 1935, A Hoppen was 21 and H Hoppen was 26.<br />He didn’t like to talk about the sighting as they were criticised and ridiculed at the time.<br />I remember the story very clearly.<br />On the day of the sighting they were returning from a fishing trip in a trawler and about to make their way in through The Rip, which is the treacherous entrance to Port Phillip. They had just passed the Lonsdale Reef and were turning into the channel, just putting along, probably at about 5 knots. The weather was fine and the water slightly choppy but not rough.<br />He indicated the creature came up out of the water about 10-20 yards off the starboard side and moved closer to the stern of the trawler within a minute or so. He was standing on deck and its head was level with his, putting the head of the creature 6-8 feet out of the water. He said it had a big head and gestured with his hands what looked like a couple of feet in diameter. The head was sort of round and it had big black eyes. <br />He described the eyes as jet black and pointed to a saucer on the coffee table and said “a bit bigger than the little plate here” and indicated with his hands about 6-8 inches diameter, I think he even said at least 6 inches. He then stopped for a few seconds recounting the memory, sat back on the couch and said it was intelligent and was looking straight at them. I recall that he shook his head a little bit and said it was quite frightening knowing it was focused on them.<br />Being young and inquisitive, I asked for more detail. <br />The head was completely black and there was a slight rim around the eyes, also black but maybe slightly lighter around the rim of the eyes. It did not blink. He mentioned the eyes were convex just like a big fish. <br />I then asked him for more detail about the head and eventually we got it down to being a round shape looking at it from the front and more oval on the side view. The mouth was a slit that came around the side of the head a bit and remained closed so he didn’t know if it had teeth or not. He didn’t recall nostrils or any other feature but said it probably did but in the heat of the moment he didn’t study it that hard for details. <br />The neck was long and thinner than the head and gestured with his hands which looked like about 1-foot diameter. He made that classic gesture with his arm and hand that people associate with a snake about to strike, simulating the creature coming out of the water. The neck was thicker down near the water line. As it moved, keeping up with the trawler, the head stayed in one position and the neck seemed to move in a forward motion as if it was swimming along with them. Lower down the neck it had a few grey-ish round markings, sort of what sounded to me like a mottled appearance.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2330795933539580290.post-83757535380438412972018-03-15T01:51:02.038-07:002018-03-15T01:51:02.038-07:00Arthur Hoppen from Queenscliffe was my Grandfather...Arthur Hoppen from Queenscliffe was my Grandfather.<br />I remember interviewing him about this sea monster sighting<br />The Hoppen & Mannix story I know about too<br />Contact me if you want to know more details Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com