3- What was it?
Conclusions on the video from Paul Leblond 2009
To Nash and his crew, experienced fishermen familiar with the creatures of the sea, they were like nothing they had ever seen before. Neither did they to me.
"In my years of assessing reports of supposedly new marine creatures, I have relied on two criteria: 1- Is there no doubt that what was seen or reported was actually an animal, and not inanimate objects or waves? and 2- Is there no doubt that the animal reported was not an already known animal, unrecognized by the oberver(s)? When dealing with eye-witness reports, one has to rely entirely on the accuracy of perception and fidelity of the observer’s memory. In your case however, the video makes direct examination of the evidence possible. "
"First of all, there is every reason to accept the authenticity of the video: I could see other fishing boats across the sandbar, I could hear the candid comments of the observers, I caught occasional glimpses of the fishing boat itself. "
"The movement of the objects seen leaves no doubt that what is seen is not just waves but a number of animals swimming together more or less in a line. Although there is a wavy-like appearance to the line of creatures, as their body partially emerge above the surface of the water, the occasional emergence of a head well in front of what might be a wave makes it clear that there is an animate creature making the water disturbances. "
"Could the animals seen be some known animal? Sea-lions for example travel with their head leading above water at an angle to the surface. Could this be a pride of sea-lions? Clearly not. First, what is seen of the animal is much longer and thinner than a sea-lion; second, there are a few clear examples of blowing, from a top-of-the-head blowhole, as the animal brings its head out after swimming with its head under water for some time; third, prominent, bulging eyes seen on the head are not at all like a sea-lions’. Whales have blowholes but do not have such an elongated body and certainly no such bulgy eyes. "
"There are many features of these animals which are reminiscent of observations of Caddy, the animal seen but never captured, further south, off the Pacific Northwest and BC coasts. A serrated back, as seen in your video, was a feature of Caddy as noticed in its early appearances off Victoria. The bulgy eyes are very apparent in the sketches made by Cyril Andrews of the animal he saw at close hand off Pender Island.
Conclusions on the video from John Kirk
There is no doubt that what Paul and I witnessed on video was a species that fits under the umbrella term Cadborosaurus. No ifs or buts, this was a Caddy. The only reason I allow that the footage of the swimming creatures is of Caddys is because of the head and neck footage. There does appear to be some physical differences between the small and larger animals that could be the result of stage of growth or potentially sexual dimorphism.
In addition/ both John Kirk and Paul Leblond commented on the appearance of the animal that when clearly viewed out of the water was the "spitting image" of the Naden Harbor carcass.
*Location Sketch Copyright 2025 WK Nash/Nash Family.
