The area of the Monterey Peninsula coastline between Monterey Bay and the scenic village of Carmel is noted for several picturesque promontories. One such headland is Point Joe, named after a squatter who lived there for many years. In addition to its rugged beauty and pyramid-shaped rocks, this outcropping of land is also known for the ships that have come to grief there-particularly the St. Paul in 1896-and the conflicting currents that meet off its craggy shore. In a westerly direction from this treacherous point, at a place old-time fishermen refer to as Codfish Bank, the sighting of a mysterious sea creature was made in September 1930. With varying reports and descriptions coming from different members of the purse seiner crew who made the sighting, perhaps the only safe thing to say is that something quite large-and difficult to identify-was spotted on that long-ago day.

One aged fisherman . . . told me the creature had a neck that was three to four feet across. The beast's body was "sort of peaked," he reported, and its head was slightly smaller than its neck. Most startling of all, from a distance of 70 to 80 feet, which was as close as the vessel was able to get, the creature looked "like an enormous human being"! Not only did its body (at least the portion that appeared above the water) look "almost human," but its head and face also had human-like qualities-except for its huge, protruding eyes.