Water Monster reports in California
28 cases, best-documented first. Page 1 of 1.
We map claims, not creatures. A case is what some source says someone saw or heard, with the link to that source. It is not proof that anything was there, and a retelling counts once, not as a second sighting.
Water Monster · Mono Lake, California · 1867
Mr. [name] of Lake county reported seeing two monsters similar to the one described by Mr. [name] in Mono Lake.
Water Monster · Mono Lake, California · 1868
Mr. [name] and accompanying men observed a huge monster in Mono Lake rising from the surface and moving gradually.
Water Monster · Lake County, California · 1875
Witness reports seeing a dark object moving through the water that appeared to be a serpent-like creature approximately forty feet long.
Water Monster · Shasta County, California · 2014
Witness reports seeing a large, dark brown and tan hairy head with eyes staring at him from the water near the shore before it submerged.
Water Monster · San Francisco, California
Witnesses report seeing a large creature with an extended tail and midsection exposed above the water surface in San Francisco Bay.
Water Monster · Inyo County, California · 1868
Col. Stevens, superintendent of a mining company, saw the monster and described it as throwing water fifty feet high.
Water Monster · Venice, California · 1955
Witnesses report a 16-foot marine creature with a snake-like head and fin tail washed ashore in Venice, California, which they believe to be a sea serpent.
Water Monster · Lake Tahoe, California · 1880
Italian fishermen report encountering a large serpent in the lake that frightened them.
Water Monster · Lake City, California · 1882
A hunter claims a huge monster seized a wounded deer from Cook's Lake and was later seen swimming across the lake by one of the hunters.
Water Monster · Malibu, California · 1963
A 13-foot sea serpent or oar fish was discovered washed up on the beach at Malibu and preserved in formaldehyde.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California · 1881
Witnesses report a water monster in the Mokelumne River attacked and drowned a man attempting to capture it, with another death attributed to the same creature years prior.
Water Monster · Gulf, California · 1912
Officers and crew of a ship in the Gulf of California saw a sea serpent shaped more like an alligator with four turtle-like paddles.
Water Monster · La Jolla, California · 1937
Dr. [name] Barnhart claims the sea serpent is actually a king herring.
Water Monster · Lake Elsinore, California · 1934
C. B. Greenstreet reports seeing a large creature moving on the surface of Lake Elsinore with his wife and two children.
Water Monster · Inyo County, California · 1868
Two young men riding horseback observed a huge animal swimming rapidly in Owens Lake, followed by another monster, describing them as 100 feet long and grayish.
Water Monster · Marina Green, California · 1985
Witnesses report that two brothers observed a large sea serpent chase a sea lion onto a rocky ledge in Marina Green, San Francisco Bay, where it became stuck before escaping back into the water.
Water Monster · Lake Elsinore, California · 1934
C. H. Blake and family claim they saw a mysterious mammal-like thing at Lake Elsinore last spring.
Water Monster · Blue Lake, California · 1871
Witness reports that a private letter from Blue Lake states a fabulous monster was seen by picnickers and a brass band near the shore.
Water Monster · Stafford Lake, California · 1984
It was claimed that a "monster" lurked in Stafford Lake until the lake was drained in 1984.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California · 1881
A water monster is said to inhabit the Mokelumne river above Jackson, Cal., with Chinese people claiming it killed one of their number.
Water Monster · Lake Elizabeth, California
A monster stalked Elizabeth Lake in the 19th century, terrorizing ranchers and eating livestock before rising from the lake and flying eastward.
Water Monster · Santa Monica, California · 1927
Deputy Sheriff Harry S. Cole reports the sighting of a sea serpent with a fin three feet long sticking out of the water.
Water Monster · Vista Santa Rosa, California · 1926
Witness reports that a water monster lives in the springs of Santa Rosa peak and makes strange bellowing noises heard especially at night.
Water Monster · Costa Mesa, California · 1983
A group of surfers reported seeing a long black eel-like sea serpent near the Santa Ana River Jetty in Costa Mesa.
Water Monster · Oakland, California · 1861
Passengers on the Oakland ferry boat reported seeing an aquatic monster scudding through the water with a head like a shark and fins close to the gills, approximately fifteen or twenty feet in length.
Water Monster · Nevada City, California · 1862
Witnesses report a sea serpent appeared near the banks of a salt lake to investigate a slaughtered sheep before being frightened off by men.
Water Monster · Santa Barbara, California · 1922
Witnesses report a huge sea monster over 70 feet long was sighted off the coast near Santa Barbara and then dived.
Water Monster · Mokelumne River, California · 1881
Witness reports that a water monster inhabits the Mokelumne river above Jackson, California, and has killed one Chinese person.