Case file · Cryptid
'Colossal Claude' of the Columbia Bar
In March 1934 crew of the Columbia River lightship reported a 12-metre animal with a long neck and an ugly head near the river mouth; the press called it Colossal Claude.
1934 CE · 46.25, -124.06 · status: account
The account
First mate L. A. Larson is usually named as the first witness. Fishing crews reported it again in 1937 and later, and The Oregonian revived the story in the 1960s.
The sceptical view
Sources disagree on the ship and date; sea lions, elephant seals, basking sharks or debris are the usual suspects.