The Sea Monster of Oyster River

Better known as Caddy by locals

The most famous citizen of Oyster River, British Columbia isn’t actually a person, but the fabled sea serpent that has been named Caddy by locals. Percy Elsey, who owned a hotel in Oyster River, first reported seeing the creature near Oyster River in 1933. He fired his rifle at it, apparently wounding it.

He said,

“Immediately the middle of the creature’s body came up out of the sea like a huge hump. Joe figured his body was five feet in diameter and the belly was orange-colored. He did not see the head, but the tail came out of the water and the flukes were each about six feet long.”

The sea serpent was said to be a Cadborosaurus. The name comes from combining Cadboro Bay on Vancouver Island with saurus.

The First Nations have oral histories of Caddy-like creatures, who migrate between Alaska and Vancouver Island depending on the season. The Inuit in Alaska have a picture on their canoes to keep the creature away.

To the Manhousat, Caddy is known as hiyitl'iik.

Through the years of The Great Depression and the Second World War, it was said that Caddy always appeared when the locals needed to be cheered up. It was said that Caddy did everything but breathe fire.

Jack Nord said,

“He was about 100 to 110 feet long. His body was about two and a half feet in diameter. His head was as large as a draft horse’s, hut it looked more like a camel’s. He had fangs in his mouth, six to eight inches long. His eyes seemed to roll in their sockets, changing from a reddish color to green. He had whiskers under his jaw and a kind of mane from his forehead to the back of his head, looking like the teeth of a dragsaw. A fin on his back was raised to about three feet. From the water to the top of his head would be about seven feet. He was an ugly thing”

Sightings of Caddy would continue for decades, although as time has gone on, sightings have been few and far between.

Various carcasses have been associated with Caddy all along the coast. These are often identified later to be pieces of a whale or shark. One of the most famous was the Effingham Carcass, found on Vancouver Island in 1947. This was later identified as a shark.

Twice, individuals have claimed to have caught Caddy, or a Caddy-like creature. Once in 1968 and another time in 1991. Both times, the individuals said they returned the creature to the water.

Several explanations for Caddy have come forward including that it is just sea lions traveling together, or humpback whales, basking sharks or Conger eels.

In 1943, two police officers, Inspector Robert Owens and Staff Sergeant Jack Russell, said they saw some sort of sea serpent with a horse-like head. They grabbed binoculars and quickly realized it was a bull sea lion leading a herd of six sea lions.