A police artist’s drawing of the creature divemaster Lee Helm claims to have seen in Blacktip Island’s booby pond Wednesday morning. (illustration courtesy of Faustian Fantasy)
Sightings this week of ‘Blessie,’ a large aquatic creature purported to live in Blacktip Island’s landlocked booby pond, have island residents on edge, island authorities say.
“Past few days there’s been multiple reports of a large creature in and around the booby pond,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette. “Blessie sightings are nothing new. Difference is, this time it’s sober people who’re seeing her. That has folks scared. And keeping an eye on their pets and children.
“Started with Lee Helm seeing something splashing way out in the pond,” Marquette said. “Then Rocky Shore saw something crawling out onto the mud, and last night Ernestine Bass almost ran into some big animal with her car. There’s evidence something’s out there, but not precisely what. And how dangerous it is.”
Residents are divided over what the creature is.
“There’s been tales about Blessie for years,” Antonio Fletcher said. “Looks like a big log, but with a long neck. Grampa almost caught her once with a cast net. Figure she’s a dinosaur that survived. Got one like that in Scotland. Why not here?”
Others had different descriptions.
“Folks say she’s a manatee or a giant salamander,” Wade Soote said. “That just proves whatever Blessie is, she can change her appearance. Nobody knows how deep that pond is, or if it has an outlet to the sea. Most likely, she eats fish out there, then comes back to the warm pond to rest. Only a matter of time before she runs out of fish and switches to people.”
Local scientists refuted the claims.
“That shallow pond won’t support any creature that large,” Marine Parks spokesperson Val Schrader said. “Something that big would have an obvious environmental impact. What does it eat and where does it poop?
“The Booby Pond Monster’s a charming wives’ tale passed down through generations, but she has no biological basis,” Schrader said. “Blessie looks like a log because she is a log. Seen by people who’ve been drinking. Or what have you.”
Eye witnesses stuck to their claims.
“I saw Blessie, plain as day, on my way to work in the morning,” divemaster Lee Helm said. “I reckon she’s the last of the Caribbean fur seals, hiding out in the pond. All the poop and stink in that pond, you think it’s all from birds?”
Fletcher concurred.
“Blessie’s out there, folks just scared to admit it,” he said. “You can find Blessie teeth and scales by the pond all the time. they just look like rocks. But she’s not dangerous—never been a verified attack on people or scuba divers. Only a threat to pets and feral chickens. And small children.”
The Blacktip Times 