Migo

Migo or Migaua is an aquatic cryptid that is believed to inhabit Lake Dakataua in New Britain, Papua New Guinea. According to one person who conducted field research, “Migo” is the local word for lizard and is not used to refer to this cryptid, and the word used by locals to refer to this cryptid is "Rui". This cryptid is well known in Japan because Japanese are involved in many of the reports and investigations.

Description[]

It is described as 10 meters (about 33 feet) long, with barracuda-like tusks, a horse-like but more slender neck, a mane around its neck, a gently sloping hill-like back, flattened limbs like those of a sea turtle, and a spiny, pointed tail.

Location[]

Lake Dakataua is located 1 kilometer in a straight line from the ocean and is connected to the ocean by a river. The water in this lake tends to be highly alkaline, which limits the variety of organisms that can inhabit it. Many invertebrates and amphibians inhabit the surface layer, and waterfowl are frequent visitors, but no fish inhabit the area.

Timelines[]

Artwork depicting Migo trying to prey on a hunter.

In 1959, a German hunter visiting the lake to hunt alligators was targeting them from his canoe when a large wave came in and nearly capsized his canoe. When the hunter turned around, he saw a huge monster looming over him with its mouth open, and he ran away. This sighting report was collected by Shirai in 1971 from a local resident.

In 1971, when Japanese marine biologist Shohei Shirai was in Rabaul, he heard through an interpreter from 15 local residents from Talasea about a monster called Migo that lived in Lake Dakataua. This is said to come ashore from time to time and use snouts to dig up the mossy soil near the shore.

January 31 ,1972,(Michael Newton stated that it happened on February 1, which is incorrect.) Shirai's report appeared in The Mainichi Newspapers. He said in the article that the creature was probably Plesiosaurus or Mosasaurus, most likely the latter in terms of features and size.

In 1978, Japanese cryptozoologist Toshikazu Saitoh stayed in the village of Bulumuri and interviewed five people who had seen the monster in the summer of 1971. Two monsters, one large and one small, were about 9 meters long, with a long, pointed head like a crocodile, a small head in relation to the body, numerous sharp teeth, a long neck, a stout, streamlined body, sea turtle-like limbs with significantly larger forelimbs, a thin tail similar to a crocodile, and long black body hair, especially at the neck. The creature appeared to swim at a depth of 3 to 4 meters. He was also told by the local people that the name of this creature is massali, masalai or mussali, that it eats water plants and wild pigs.

In September 1983, Japanese explorer, author, and forest journalist Atsuo Tanaka went to Lake Dakataua in search of monsters and stayed in the village of Bulumuri, not far from the lake. He observed 6- to 10-foot crocodiles in the area and thought that the monster lore might have originated from these crocodiles, their new species, or dugongs. During his stay, he noticed that the monster was called Rui, not Migo, by the local people.

In January 1994, cryptozoologist Roy Mackal conducted a field survey and was accompanied by Japanese TV station TBS. During this survey, a creature was filmed swimming with the upper half of its body above the water. Although many Japanese TV programs on cryptids at that time were fabricated, the person who was involved in the filming at that time testified that the creature filmed was not faked. Darren Naish analyzed that the creature was a saltwater crocodile. The TBS interview was broadcast in September in a TV program titled “THE PRESENTER: Migo was real.” A recording of this broadcast exists, but it has not been uploaded to a platform where anyone can view it, and has only been viewed by a few cryptozoologists outside of Japan, including Karl Shuker and Darren Naish. Darren Naish also noted that another Japanese TV station, NHK, broadcast a program on Migo on February 13.

In September 2003, Waseda University conducted a field survey and found that Lake Dakataua had creatures at least 5 meters long; on the seventh of nine days of filming, they successfully videotaped a creature swimming in the lake, which skeptics say is a saltwater crocodile.

In September 2008, Nippon Television conducted a field survey and videotaped something moving on the surface of the water. The video was blurry, and it is unclear if this was actually showing a giant organism. Skeptics believe it may have been driftwood.

Explanations[]

Plesiosaurus[]

Japanese zoologist and cryptozoologist Tatsuo Saneyoshi testified that if Shirai's sketch is accurate, the creature seems similar to Plesiosaurus.

Mosasaurus[]

Many have given Mosasaurus as its true identity. On the other hand, Darren Naish and Bintaro Yamaguchi point out that the body hair and neck features present in the Migo report are different from those of Mosasaurus.

Crocodiles and their relatives[]

The most realistic theory is that it is a crocodile. In fact, some of the footage has been analyzed as saltwater crocodiles.

Bintaro Yamaguchi introduces some who cite Deinosuchus as the identity of Migo, while stating that it is geographically incongruous.

Saneyoshi, who advocated the Plesiosaurus theory, stated in another book that it may be a possible Metriorhynchus, although the features are different in parts.

Whale[]

Some believe that prehistoric whales, such as Basilosaurus, may be its true identity.

Another possible identity could be a modern whale that entered the lake, since the lake is located 1 kilometer from the ocean and is connected to it by a river.