Sydney Family Films Mysterious Creature in Hawkesbury River

65-year-old Fethi Ada and his family were fishing in mid-December on the Hawkesbury River near Patonga in New South Wales, Australia, when they encountered an unidentified creature near their boat.

Ada, along with his siblings, daughter, and grand-children, watched the creature for about 10 seconds after it surfaced.

“It looked human the way it lifted its head up,” Ada said.  “It was very strange, we saw it for about 10 seconds."

The mystery animal appeared curious, and did not seem aggressive before being seemingly frightened off.

“It looked over towards us like who are these people,” added Ada.  “My brother threw some bait in and then it just got scared off.”

Secretary of Hawkesbury River Rescue, Felicity Brownrigg, believes the creature is likely a mundane animal.

“It’s rare you actually get to see many (animals) as they stay below the surface,” she said after viewing the film.  “My guess would be that it is a seal."

Brownrigg noted that the river also sees the occasional bull shark and whale calf.

Rumors of a monster in the Hawkesbury River have circulated for decades, and cryptozoologist Rex Gilroy says he has collected hundreds of sighting reports over the years.

Gilroy believes that a plesiosaur population from the Jurassic period uses the river as a breeding ground.

"We'd have to have a breeding population of no less than 300 to 600," said Gilroy in a 2009 interview.  "We're dealing with ocean creatures coming into the river to breed. There are areas of ocean ... anything could live down there and you wouldn't know it.''