#DudowardsSquid (15/13)
The siren song of #SpeculativeZoology and #Cryptozoology lured me in — what would a hyper-literal interpretation of Dudoward’s #Squid look like? Pretty darn weird! The weird lumpy little body combined with humungous robust arms seems quite incongruous.
#DudowardsSquid #speculativezoology #cryptozoology #squid
#DudowardsSquid (14/13)
How can I forget #BernardHeuvelmans ? Everybody’s favorite wacky #Cryptozoologist speculated the Log Boom squid was an #Architeuthis with a 25 meter (82’) head and body judging by sucker size. Okay! That’s only 10 times larger than any known #GiantSquid
As for the Hotel Squid, he concludes the missing tentacle must have been lost in a battle. He invented a battle!
These are excerpts from his book, ‘Kraken & The Colossal Octopus’:
#DudowardsSquid #bernardheuvelmans #cryptozoologist #Architeuthis #GiantSquid
#DudowardsSquid (13/13)
As fun as the notion of Charles H. Dudoward having his own unique #cephalopod #cryptid is — especially if it’s a Kaiju-sized paralarvae — as with almost all cases in #Cryptozoology it can’t withstand even light critical thinking. I’d love to be wrong, for there to be a #ThunderbirdPhotograph of an ultra-huge squid in front of a hotel out there… but I wouldn’t count on it.
#DudowardsSquid #cephalopod #cryptid #cryptozoology #thunderbirdphotograph
#DudowardsSquid (12/?)
Not to dunk on Dudoward too hard, but he shared a third account featuring a TWO HEADED sea monster. This account was secondhand as well. It should be obvious to everyone that these are two whales up to… something… intimate…
#DudowardsSquid (11/?)
It really bothers me that in both instances the purported cephalopod seems to *only* exist as tentacles and arms — there is no description of a body whatsoever. Even in the illustration it seems utterly formless and vaguely jellyfish-like; however the copy is of poor quality. It makes me wonder if the encounters were with large jellyfish instead of cephalopods. Or perhaps they were of #globsters or some mix or who knows what else!
#DudowardsSquid (10/?)
… alas… Dudoward’s yarns come across as near-fantasy to me. The set pieces are dramatic and read as having an almost dream-like quality. The time between the events and this recollection is astonishingly long (5 and 8 decades) and of course the Log Boom tale was heard at least secondhand. From what I can tell, Dudoward’s communication to LeBlond and Sibert is the only record we have of these events.
#DudowardsSquid (9/?)
The Ultra-Thorough #Wikipedia article on #GiantSquid specimens purposefully excludes this case and, interestingly, it appears Dudoward’s observations are outside of their normal range. It would be REALLY NICE if somebody took a photo of — or saved specimens from! — the squid in front of the hotel so there would be a definitive first #Architeuthis from British Columbia… alas…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_giant_squid_specimens_and_sightings
#DudowardsSquid #wikipedia #GiantSquid #Architeuthis
#DudowardsSquid (8/?)
The #FreeCryptidIdea of a colossal 100+ foot squid LARVAE (to what? WHO KNOWS) is… eh… not likely. Drat.
LeBlond and Sibert give commentary on the case in their 1973 publication and conclude it was a #GiantSquid #Architeuthis and Michael Bright regards it as a likely Architeuthis in his 1989 ‘There Are Giants in the Sea’ — https://archive.org/details/therearegiantsin0000brig/page/140/mode/2up
#DudowardsSquid #FreeCryptidIdea #GiantSquid #Architeuthis
#DudowardsSquid (7/?)
Before getting all *critical* I’m going to engage in what #Cryptozoology does best… irresponsible #SpeculativeEvolution !
Now WHAT IF Dudoward’s #Squid really did have only one central tentacle, does any #cephalopod have such anatomy? The answer is — Yes! The #Rhynchoteuthion larvae of the family #Ommastrephidae do have such an appearance! Alas, the family does entirely lack hooks…
Image from Sweeney et al. 1992
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246653390_Larval_and_juvenile_cephalopods_A_manual_for_their_identification
#DudowardsSquid #cryptozoology #SpeculativeEvolution #squid #cephalopod #Rhynchoteuthion #Ommastrephidae
#DudowardsSquid (6/?)
The proceeding story was from LeBlond and Sibert’s 1973 ‘Observations of large unidentified marine animals in British Columbia and adjacent waters’ currently hosted by the amazing Tyler Greenfield at his Cryptozoological Reference Library:
https://cryptozoologicalreferencelibrary.files.wordpress.com/2021/01/leblond-sibert-1973.pdf
This is the only version of the story I’ve come across, and sadly, I have yet to see a better version of Dudoward’s pastel illustration of his squid/octopus.
#DudowardsSquid (5/?)
The “octopus” beached near Ridge’s Port Simpson Hotel and was dragged by 20 people even closer to the hotel. The animal had eight appendages 50’ (15.25 m) in length and one central appendage 100’ (30.5 m) in length armed with a 10” x 12” (25 x 30 cm) plastic-colored hook. The noisome carcass was later towed out to sea.
#DudowardsSquid (4/?)
Amazingly, this was not the only “great squid” around Lax Kw'alaams and Dudoward encountered one himself one winter’s day in 1922…
#DudowardsSquid (3/?)
… a colossal octopus larger than the boom itself, crushed underneath. One tentacle alone was over 100’ in length (30.5’) and terminated with a large hook. Suckers festooned the appendages and ranged from the size of saucers to basin plates*.
* So maybe 6”/15 cm to… 12”/30 cm+?
#DudowardsSquid (2/?)
150 workers in 50 canoes were towing a log boom >100’ (30.5 m) across when suddenly, it came to a halt. Hours of effort later, the boom moved again, slowly. Eventually the workers managed to beach the boom at dusk. The next morning they discovered…
Log Boom image from Lee Lockwood:
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GEORGIA_PACIFIC_PAPER_COMPANY_PULP_LOG_BOOM_IN_THE_ST._CROIX_RIVER_NEAR_COMPANY%27S_WOODLAND_PLANT_-_NARA_-_550338.jpg
The yarn of #DudowardsSquid (1/?) begins at Lax Kwʼalaams, British Columbia — then known as Port Simpson. One Mr. Charles H. Dudoward* tells the tale his elders told him, that in 1892 the Hudson Bay Company encountered something… unexpected!
* Apparently the Tsimshian Chief and notable carver!
https://moa.ubc.ca/2020/04/ask-moa-what-is-this-lamp/