mrmoshe Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Does the Hawkesbury have a Loch Ness-style monster of its own? Imagine a monster living on the borders of the upper north shore. An aquatic beast which lurks in the depths of the Hawkesbury River. A creature related to the Loch Ness monster. For cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy, the fledgling legend of the Hawkesbury River Monster is real and he’s determined to prove it. Since 1965, he and his wife Heather have been gathering information on a creature he believed still lives in our major waterway, or once did. After years of ``patience, field trips and stake-outs’’ along the shores of the river, Mr Gilroy, who is also known for his research on the Blue Mountains Panther, hopes to finally obtain photographic evidence. ``Sooner or later, I’m hoping to get the shot of shots,’’ Mr Gilroy told the Advocate. The Gilroys say they have compiled hundreds of sightings reports. ``They tend to be seen around (Mooney Mooney and Long Island),’’ Mr Gilroy said. ``There are stories of houseboats being lifted up at one end when something underneath tried to surface over at Jerusalem Bay. ``A lot of the inlets here have stories.’’ The most recent sighting was by fishermen near Wisemen’s Ferry, in March. ``(One of them) momentarily saw a serpentine head and about 2m of long neck rise above the water before submerging,’’ Mr Gilroy said. He also referred to a sighting by Rosemary Turner in 1975, who reported a monster swimming upstream from a lookout at Muogamarra Nature Reserve. Robert Jones, a palaeontologist from the Australian Museum, said that as far as science is concerned, the existence of the Hawkesbury River Monster has never been proven. ``It’s impossible for them to live in the Hawkesbury River; they just don’t exist,’’ he said. But according to Mr Gilroy, the monster is part of Aboriginal folklore, with stories of women and children being attacked by the ``moolyewonk’’ or ``mirreeular’’ both indigenous names. They also feature in ancient rock art on the banks of the river. ``There’s got to be something to it,’’ Mr Gilroy said. Descriptions of the Hawkesbury River Monster liken it to the prehistoric plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur 70 million years extinct. The Loch Ness monster is also said to be related to the same extinct creature. How the Nessie myth is similar to our own. Mr Jones said plesiosaurs did exist in Australia, but ther was no evidence of them inhabiting the Hawkesbury River. However both Mr Gilroy and Mr Jones describe the aquatic dinosaur as grey and mottled in colour, with a large bulky body, two sets of paddle-like flippers, a long neck and serpent-like head and thick, eel-like tail. Sighting reports describe it as about 24m long. Mr Jones said the plesiosaur grew up to 10m long. Mr Gilroy said he and his field assistant Greg Foster may have sighted the creature last August, from a high bank near Wiseman’s Ferry. They described seeing a dark, bulky shape with a long neck about a metre from the surface. Its movements caused surface disturbance which appeared to suggest a marine creature with two sets of flippers and a tail, Mr Gilroy said. ``It was encouraging,’’ he said. ``I’m hopeful that I’m going to get some sort of evidence that satisfies me ... and when I’ve got that, I will be pleased to put it on the desk of some scientist and say `well there you are!’’’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarraone Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 LOL.. good luck to him ... BUT, maybe it is just a huge HAIRTAIL...???? i amgoing to try and catch it this weekend.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cut_loose Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 I'll yet you know if i spot it tomorrow LOL. Finally going Hawkesbery tomorrow. Might see you out there Yarraone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SZ1 Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 Wonder if takes lives??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnv Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 hhhhmmmmmmmm only comes out at nite time if your around the hairtail spots lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVZ350 Posted July 9, 2010 Share Posted July 9, 2010 gona need a big big baitrunner lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FISHARK Posted February 9, 2011 Share Posted February 9, 2011 Well tell him to bait it and catch it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevefish Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 i didnt think there was anything in the hawkesbury river. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steze Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Nothing my Stradic can't handle. hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveyb Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 lol at the whole report!hopeing my 4lb braid with 6lb leader would do the trick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musty Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 i didnt think there was anything in the hawkesbury river. Ur not far off the truth there. If there was anything untoward in that waterway im sure the nightly professional trawlers would have found it by now. Musty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I saw it one night from the riverbank at my van park. It was bobbing along, dipping and weaving. Quite mesmerising, really. It was a big log with a thick branch on top that kept rolling over. Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil D Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 so we going after it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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