Myoozik Nom De Guerre, Nederland. “Imagine,” Dr. John Pequod said, “These are animals the size of elephants that we just can’t find. They’re a mystery.” Dr. Pequod has believed in the legendary Tripiedom for years.
Then, in 1997, a colleague sent Dr. Pequod a 16-second video clip that had been taken by science students on an educational trip in the Rocky Mountains. Originally, a hunt for Psilocbe Cyanescens, the group of young adventurers had discovered the rare freshwater whale, Pakicetus Tripiedom.

The video clip, taken by Freddy “Goober” Macbeth, was accidental. The students were relaxing in the evening at the east end of the reservoir, and Goober fell into the lake, with the camera running. Greenish white shapes drift out of the murky water. The camera zooms closer and the shapes come into focus: two oblong creatures are undulating lazily through the water. They point their pale faces up toward the sky, just barely cresting above the surface, then angle back down again. Too soon, the animals swim out of view, and the videographer pulls the camera back out of the water.

The latest sightings have much in common with the first historic video, the Pakicetus Tripiedom rising from the depths, breaking the surface in colorful glory, Psilocbe flashing in the sun. Although many have reported the whale in graphic detail, the true hunt for its origin has been left to Dr. John Pequod, who is now following in the footsteps of the famous cryptozoologist, (a person who studies mythic creatures and tries to prove their existence), Grover Krantz. Despite his frequent minor confrontations with the law, Krantz published ten books. Several were on anthropological topics like human evolution, and five were on Bigfoot.

“I don’t want to talk about it!” said his daughter, in a brief interview, “Leave me alone!”

But without a body, Dr. John Pequod tells us, Pakicetus Tripiedom would be accepted as no more than lore. After all, how could there be no physical proof of a creature that is believed to have existed and been reported on for years? And how could an animal that Pequod said is between 1600 and 4800 pounds, and eighteen feet tall, be so elusive? So, a body is his scientific proof, and he needs it badly.

As he sits in his camouflaged tent, on the edge of the Barker wilderness, rubbing his well-worn harpoon, Dr. Pequod is reflective: “We’ll see,” he murmurs in a high-pitched voice, like that of the freshwater whale,” Call me Ishmal.”

(Originally published in the March 28, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)