When this local civilian filmed a fishing boat in his harbor, he had no idea that his life was about to change forever. He was already aimlessly pointing his camera when he suddenly spotted something sticking out of the water. At first, he didn’t know what he was looking at, but the giant object soon gave him the fright of a lifetime. Nobody would have believed him if he hadn’t been there with his camera.
Man films fishing boat. If this was not filmed, no one would have believed him. The local civilian who shot the exciting footage was Mato. He was just a normal guy who stepped out in the early morning trying to film some extra footage for a project he was working on. Little did he know that he would soon get much more than he bargained for when he entered the city’s harbor.
It was early morning, so the docks were quiet. But that’s when Matteo spotted something in the water. The object Mato spotted in the water was small, brown, and seemed scaly. The amateur cameraman had never seen anything like it, so he used this opportunity to inspect the strange object with his camera.
The object already captivated Mato when it appeared to him as a small floating thing. But Mato did not realize that this was just the tip of the iceberg because underneath the surface, there was so much more going on. This particular action of filming the bizarre floating object would later prove to be vital. But for now, Mato was just happy with capturing anything out of the ordinary on his quiet morning stroll.
He used the zoom function on his portable camera to get a closer look at the bizarre thing. But no matter how far he zoomed in, he could not figure out what exactly he was looking at. But then, a sound was heard. Right after Mato started his fascinating documentation of the brown blob, it came from the main cabin on the large fishing boat behind the object. Mato pointed his camera upward and saw that six fishermen had awoken from their slumber. They were probably ready to set out to sea to snare their catch of the day.
Mato greeted them while also pointing down at the object. The local fishermen acknowledged Mato’s presence but were clearly unaware of what he was pointing at. They saw his hand movements as just an extension of his greeting and continued with fastening ropes and packing equipment for their sea voyage.
But that all stopped in an instant when a loud bang was heard. The fishermen got an unexpected fright, but the curious Mato could already guess where the bang came from. Mato put the camera’s viewfinder back on his eye and searched the area for the brown object in the water. It didn’t take him long to find it, but he noticed something else. When he focused, the object was moving around. The movement seemed just minor above water, but it became clear to Mato that something more was going on beneath the surface because the entire fishing boat was rocking because of it.
The local fishermen got spooked by their boat moving. It started small, but after about a minute, the entire ship moved around tremendously. The fishermen scattered around the boat’s deck and tried to hold on to the vessel railing with gripped hands. Mato could see the confusion in their eyes as they attempted to remain on their feet.
“What the hell is going on, guys?” one of the men uttered. Mato did not answer at first. He pointed his camera again at the water, trying to identify what caused this commotion. But when Mato’s recorder’s lens focused on the water again, the 45-year-old cameraman got a major fright.
The small brown blob that stuck out of the water before had grown in size by at least 10 times. It was now a couple of feet long, which explained the bang; the little thing must have slammed against the boat somehow, which caused the vessel to move. Mato wondered if the brown blob that grew in size significantly had some more secrets below the surface. But he had to warn the fisherman before he could figure that out.
Mato lowered his camera and spoke for the first time, “Look overboard, guys! See what is floating in the water below.” The fishermen obliged and leaned in. “What is that thing?” one of the confused fishermen said. The men were at a loss for words and hoped Mato could answer them. But he was just as gobsmacked as they were, and whatever it was, it was not done with its spectators yet.
Because just moments after all the men started staring, the object moved upward again. The water around it started getting restless, and bubbles formed. Something was happening. The entire ship started to move from left to right, and panic occurred because of it. It was like something huge was trying to push the fishing boat to the side.
Mato redirected his camera so he wouldn’t miss a single moment of action. And the action was something his camera would not lack on this day. The turn of events that would come his way today would be life-changing. After the water finally stopped foaming and splashing, the crew and Mato were all shocked. That tiny thing that floated in the water moments before was long gone. It had made way for something much larger and was now fully above the water’s edge.
Open mouths and sweaty palms were present among all onlookers as they witnessed the object in its full glory. “This time it’s an animal,” the lead fisherman stated. “What kind of animal is it?” The fisherman could not say, but now that it was mostly above water, all spectators could see that the sea creature was at least 60 ft long. It was mostly brown but also bore lighter spots, and all across its back, it seemed to have small spikes sticking out.
Mato became more confused by the minute and asked the fishermen if they had ever seen anything like this before. The men looked down over the edge of their ship and inspected every part of the animal from up high. But unfortunately for Mato, all the men shook their heads. Most of them had worked and lived their entire life with that lifestyle, witnessing the most bizarre things. Yet this particular creature was something new for all of them.
Mato could see the confusion and fear on their faces. It was something the men didn’t want to touch with a 10-ft pole. But the fact that they wanted to get away from the creature was not something the animal took into consideration. It wasn’t done with the rusty old fishing boat just yet. Water started bubbling again, and this time it moved the giant animal forward. The brown mass made its way through the water and slowly circled the boat.
The sudden movement in the water caused the men on board to panic again. They were afraid and wanted to get away from the aquatic creature as quickly as possible. The lead fisherman, therefore, ordered his men to raise the anchor and set out for sea. The man called, “I captain!” as seen in the movies, and after that, they all sprang into action.
But there was a surprise waiting. While the fishermen were hastily getting ready to board the ship, Mato used his time to keep filming. His camera was pointed directly toward the animal, and through the lens of his trusty device, Mato tried to figure out what kind of creature this was. He was still on shore, which gave him a sense of security. The footage Mato shot was spectacular, and the curious cameraman awaited nervously for the next thing to happen.
But soon after Mato started his second captivating scene, something completely unexpected happened. There was something off about this giant creature, something Mato had not noticed before. He squinted his eyes and followed the animal’s movement closely. Every other ocean-based animal would have shot back into deeper water the moment the fishing boat turned on its motor. But somehow, this creature remained creepily calm, a bit too calm for Mato’s liking.
Mato stared at the creature’s odd movements with utter confusion. No animal could remain this calm in such an environment. Mato saw how it floated from left to right as if it had nowhere else to be right before the boat turned on its jets. So, it could leave the harbor. Mato intervened. He called out to the fishermen and asked them to stop what they were doing. He had discovered something.
“Stop! Stop with everything you are doing!” Mato shouted as loud as he could. His voice barely made it over the loud engine from the boat, but it was enough to reach the leading fisherman. The uniformed man turned his head and looked at Mato with large eyes. “Turn off your motor! I have to tell you something,” Mato called out. This time, the lead fisherman obliged and blew his whistle as a command.
The other five fishermen fell in line and immediately shut down the boat’s engine. Mato found it fascinating to see how this well-coordinated team operated and also tried to film the crew’s process. After the engine was shut down, all six men approached the ship’s edge and listened closely to what Mato had to say.
“What is it, mister?” the men on the boat asked. Mato invited the crew to watch the animal more closely. Mato pointed at the creature in the water and directed the crew toward its tail. Mato stated that the animal didn’t move in a normal way. “The back fin does not move from left to right as seen with a normal fish, but it also doesn’t move laterally. It just lies there still, yet the fish is still moving. That shouldn’t be possible.”
The crew agreed that this was weird and asked about Mato’s conclusion. Mato smiled and said that he had a small test he wanted to run. He reached into the backpack he wore on his back and pulled out an extendable selfie stick. He usually carried it with him but hardly ever used it. But today was different; today it was the perfect tool for the job.
Mato screwed his camera on top of the stick and lowered the waterproof device into the harbor’s water. The camera had captured some footage, that much Matteo knew for sure. But what it had captured was still a mystery. That’s why Mato was a bit nervous when he pulled his camera out of the water to inspect the footage. And rightfully so, because the moment Mato saw what his camera had filmed, he turned as pale as a corpse.
The fishermen noticed this too and asked Mato what was happening. But Mato did not respond; he was too busy staring at the images on his camera. After the recording ended, Mato finally snapped out of his trance. He gripped the edges of the recorder and moved from his spot for the first time since he encountered the creature.
With haste in his step, Mato made his way along the docks to eventually reach the fishermen’s boat. He had to show them something. The crew helped Mato climb the ladder that led to the deck of their boat. And when Mato got there, he wasted no time. He turned his camera around and showed the footage it captured to the lead fisherman and his crew.
At first, it was hard to see what the camera captured underwater since the device needed to focus. But when the image became clear, all men experienced the same shock Mato did. “We need to get in the water,” the lead fisherman stated. His crew agreed and ran to the back of the ship to get their captain’s wetsuit.
The entire crew helped Mato hoist the man into the latex gear, and afterward, the captain dropped himself down in the water. He dove down right next to the giant animal because, after seeing the footage, he wasn’t afraid anymore to do so. His crew watched nervously. The lead fisherman stayed underwater for a couple of minutes before resurfacing.
His face gave away a sense of sadness and defeat, and it seemed to Mato that the crew was already aware that their captain would provide them with such a face. The ship’s leader took off his mask and started talking. “It’s bad news, guys, awful.” The crew hung their heads, clearly knowing what this meant. But Mato was left in the dark.
The captain explained that the animal in the water was a small sperm whale. Mato looked at the captain with a confused look on his face. He knew what whales looked like, and that wasn’t it. Whales don’t have spikes and usually aren’t that color. But the captain assured Mato that he was right. He stated that the whale was unfortunately dead; the reason it moved was because air was trapped underneath its blubber.
The air bubbles moved the animal upward and pushed it forward because they made the whale buoyant. Mato understood that this could explain some of his questions, but what still bothered him was that the fishermen all seemed to know what was happening. “Why were you all this sad when you discovered what it was?” Mato asked.
The captain said that it wasn’t the fact that it died; they were sad because of how it died. The lead fisherman explained that the sperm whale did not die of natural causes. “If it did, we would not be looking at a spiky and brown animal,” the captain stated. He said that the whale died of an explosion. The man shared that the entire bottom half of the whale was blown to bits; even the top side of the animal is deformed and damaged. “That’s why we can see its bone sticking out.”
Mato couldn’t believe it. The horrifying news that the ship’s captain provided made Matteo’s stomach turn a bit. He looked down and saw the carcass floating in the water. “Who would do such a thing?” he asked the ship’s crew. The men looked at the confused Mato and said they had a decent idea who did this. “We wouldn’t believe it at first, but this proves that the rumors are true,” one of them said.
After this vague message about rumors, the crew sprung into action like they knew exactly what to do. Every man at his station on deck, and within minutes, the crew started working together to lift the giant sea creature out of the water. Mato did not understand why this was necessary, but he wasn’t in a position to question the fisherman’s motives.
“We have to hurry up,” one of them shouted halfway through. Within half an hour, the entire sperm whale was out of the water and onto the deck of their fishing boat. The men walked around the animal and inspected the terrible damage the explosion had caused. It was a sad sight, one that no man should ever witness.
Mato would soon find out the reason for these gruesome injuries. The crew also gave the water in the harbor one last glance. They stated that it was all clear, like the animal was never down
