Case file · Cryptid
The San Clemente Monster
Sport fishermen around San Clemente and Catalina islands reported a long-necked sea serpent between about 1914 and 1919. Angler and writer Ralph Bandini said he saw it himself in 1919.
1919 CE · 32.90, -118.50 · status: account
The account
Bandini told the story in Esquire in 1934 ('I Saw a Sea Monster'). Reports faded in the 1920s.
The sceptical view
Oarfish, elephant seals, basking sharks and lines of sea lions are common explanations for Pacific 'sea serpents'.