Missing in Alaska: Vicious Arctic Mermaid - Full Episode (S1, E8) | History

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NARRATOR: In 2004, two men were fishing in the Gulf of Alaska, near Juneau, when one of them got a huge tug on his line. He stood to fight it, hoping to reel in a monster fish. But it might have been another kind of monster instead. ♪♪ His buddy continued angling for a catch of his own when he caught a glimpse of a green, webbed hand. And the fisherman was yanked overboard. ♪♪ The friend rushed to help and saw a tail disappear into the water. His description matched an Inuit legend of a vicious mermaid. Stories of similar creatures are known around the world, some more sinister than others. ♪♪ The missing man's body has never been found. Inside the vast frontier of Alaska is a mysterious triangle where, each year, 5 out of every 1,000 people go missing. [ Animal growls ] [ Animal roars ] Three investigators look for answers -- Jax, a former police officer... Ken, a specialist in strange phenomena... and Tommy, an expert on Alaskan legends. Together, they uncover mysterious sightings and ancient legends, exploring the possibilities of those who go... --<font color="#FFFF00"> Captions by VITAC --</font><font color="#00FFFF"> www.vitac.com</font> Captioning provided by A+E Networks The team heads into the Gulf of Alaska, northwest of Juneau, right on the southern edge of the triangle, going to the spot where the fishermen disappeared. They're looking for any signs of unusual marine life that could explain the disappearances in this area. They've joined a fishing crew that had a bizarre find in this location just two days ago. A fish was pulled up in their net that appeared to have a bite taken out of it. That's crazy, man. It was unusual enough that they recorded a video of the catch and alerted the "Missing In Alaska" team. Could it have a connection to the missing fisherman? The team will see if any potential culprits reveal themselves out here. One of the most famous mermaid sightings involve the famous British explorer Henry Hudson. JAX: Wow. And in 1608, he actually logged that some of his crew members had a sighting of this mermaid, and he described it as, you know, basically a beautiful woman with pale skin and long, flowing, black hair, and, then, from the waist down, a tail of a porpoise. And so, you know, just kind of makes you wonder when you're talking about a famous explorer like Henry Hudson. NARRATOR: Mermaid legends date back to the time of the ancient Babylonians. One of their deities, named Oannes, was portrayed as a half-man, half-fish being who imparted wisdom to mankind. The Greek god Triton is one of the most famous mer-beings of lore, believed to control the ocean's waves. Even today, modern Hindus are known to worship mermaid goddesses. Could there be something to these legends? What makes them so prevalent across cultural lines? You know, the natives in the Arctic up north have legends about this Qalupalik. It's a mermaid-like creature, and it's said to have green skin. Parents tell stories to their children about staying away from the shoreline, because these creatures will come up and snatch their babies away. NARRATOR: The Qalupalik is an evil twist on the mermaid archetype. This aggressive creature is said to have long claws and vicious teeth for attacking prey. She sports human legs, but also a tail to help her steer through the water, and she wears a garment with a pouch used to carry away the children she kidnaps. She's believed to steal their youth in order to stay young herself. This story, this legend's an Arctic story, though. We're in southeast Alaska, and it's a long ways away. How far? Well, if you draw a straight line from here to there, it's 1,100 miles. But to get from there to here, it's not a straight line. You're looking down around the Aleutians and back up and down to the Panhandle. JAX: Ken and Tommy are already doing the math on this mermaid theory, but so far, the facts aren't quite pointing there for me. KEN: Jeff, I got to ask, I'm all about the weird and the strange, so... Besides that wounded fish you found... What is the weirdest or strangest thing that you've ever caught out here? Um... that would be a wolf eel. You know what a wolf eel is? They're weird-looking fish. It looks like a person kind of, right? NARRATOR: The wolf eel is a reclusive species native to the northern Pacific Ocean. Although not truly an eel, this creature can grow more than six feet long. But its most prominent feature is a face that looks more like an angry, old man than a fish. TOMMY: Animals like the wolf eel make you wonder if they might have inspired these mermaid legends. If you caught a glimpse of that face over the side of your boat, it'd be easy to see how it could look half-human, half-fish. KEN: So, Jeff, what do you think? What types of animals or predators out here would actually be capable of pulling a man under the water and holding it there? I think somebody got a line wrapped around their foot tied off to a crab pot, and he's at the bottom. You get a commercial -- My cousin was found in his bowline of his boat two years ago. Yeah, so you know what I'm talking about. Yeah. I mean, you get hit -- those dungy pots -- they're heavy. Yeah. Even that little, 50-foot lead line -- that could haul me off long enough, and I'm done. JAX: I'm starting to realize how many hazards there are in these waters. Obviously, there's predators like sharks and sea lions, but there's a ton of fishing equipment and the very cold temperature of the water. There's a lot of ways to die out here. Oh, man. Some basic kelp. Could a clump of that be interpreted as a claw? JEFF: Got the right color. When it dries, it dries black. Really? Maybe the guy that went overboard got wrapped up in a bunch of seaweed. Maybe that's why his friend couldn't find him. NARRATOR: The team was hopeful that whatever caused the strange injury to the fish two days ago might still be active. But without any leads appearing, the next step will be to check out that fish for themselves. Mysterious attacks in the waters of the Gulf have seen a small spike in recent years. Randy and Sarah experienced one on Kodiak Island in 2006. SARAH: It was really mild, summer weather, and I just wanted to read my book and just kind of enjoy the weather. RANDY: While she was camped out with her book, I went swimming in the water for a little bit. And that's when I felt something grab my ankle and pull me down. ♪♪ I heard him crying out, and I look over, and he's almost completely submerged in the surf. And then I catch this glimpse of something near him, and it was this green foot and a tail. So I run over to help him at this point, and I am completely freaking out. ♪♪ And I start to kind of tell him what I saw, thinking he would tell me that I was crazy. You know, 'cause I have no explanation for it either. ♪♪ The injured fish caught by the fishing crew was left with a local ichthyologist for examination. At this point, it's really the only clue we have. Ken and Jax receive word that he's completed his analysis. They head to the lab to find out what he's learned. KEN: Dr. Chris. Come on in. -Hey, there he is. -Hey. -How are we doing? -How's it going? -Good. Well, it's kind of interesting here. Now, what you've got is a really nice species of the keta salmon. But this salmon was, as you said, was net-caught. -Is that correct? -Correct, correct, yeah. Okay. You can see this crisscross pattern here. KEN: Yeah. That's from the gill net. And then the fish is caught in the gill net, so this part of the body, it's still trying to swim, and it's still alive at that point. When this injury hit, that was it. The fish was done. Is there a possibility that this animal could have injured itself somehow? Maybe a boat propeller or -- Well, a boat propeller is gonna slice across here. So if something had an injury like this and it was instantly dead, how did it end up in the net? Well, it would have sunk normally, but I think it got injured after it was in the net. So, what kind of predator could make that kind of bite? The bite here has a curved feature to it, even with this ripping here, and it's about 14 centimeters by 7 centimeters deep, which is quite a large bite mark. When you look at the predators that we have in these water, the orca -- they would have just taken the whole fish. You might have gotten a head left. We look at something like the salmon shark, they would have come in for the tail, and it would have been a very clean hit. This is a sea lion skull. Ah. This often hits salmon coming in, but I'll tell you, when they take something like this, they're gonna shred it. Have you seen any kind of bite like this before? I can't say I have, no. It's almost humanlike, just much, much bigger as far as how we would bite something. It's kind of interesting here. We've also got some really deep bruising on either side of the wound. You can see that in here, and you can see the scale loss, almost as if it was being grasped. NARRATOR: The ability to grasp and hold prey is limited to a few animals in this area, such as crabs, like the king and tanner crab. But their claws would leave much smaller marks. These are pretty big. [ Chuckles ] So I don't have an explanation for it. KEN: So far, this fish is the only tangible clue we have as to what could be hurting people in the waters of the Alaska Triangle, and it's not giving us many answers. NARRATOR: Missing-persons cases in the Alaska Triangle aren't limited to the rugged mountains and vast forests. A fisherman disappears in the ocean. A witness sees a green, webbed hand. Other similar reports, some including a green tail, have many thinking of an Alaskan legend of a mermaid-like creature called Qalupalik, which they believe could be roaming Alaska Triangle waters. The team is looking for any clues that could explain the creature at the heart of these reports. CHRIS: It's kind of interesting here. We've also got some really deep bruising on either side of the wound, and you see the scale loss. So are you saying that this fish looks like it was grasped by human hands? I wouldn't say that, but it's not impossible. Hmm. JAX: What other predator options do we have, then? Uh... I'm stumped. The ocean is obviously very vast and unexplored. Is it possible that we could be dealing with some type of invasive species here, maybe something that's not native to these Alaskan waters? All kinds of predators in our water, all kinds of new things being discovered in the ocean every day. And, Dr. Chris, this is some awesome information. I think it's definitely gonna help us along in our investigation. Yes, sir. Gentlemen, I've been glad to help you. NARRATOR: The possibility that an underwater predator could be part human has been hypothesized in the aquatic ape theory. This idea suggests that during evolution, primates went through a phase of living in water, at least part-time. Proponents of this theory say vestiges of this era remain. The ability to walk upright enables monkeys and humans alike to explore deeper sections of water while still breathing. And if we do submerge, humans' relatively hairless bodies enable faster movement, and our dive reflex allows us to hold our breath twice as long while submerged as we can on land. With such innate adaptations to water, could a strain of humanoid creature have gone fully aquatic and be haunting the ocean today? Without a known animal on which to focus the investigation, Ken and Tommy decide to gather more intel on the Qalupalik legend to see if it might correlate with any nonlocal species that could explain these incidents. TOMMY: Hey, Ossie. Hey, Tommy. Good seeing you, my friend. You too. Hi, Ossie. I'm Ken. Ken. To what honor do we owe your presence here? We're investigating a case of a missing fisherman. Very unusual circumstances. It's almost like something was dragging him straight down into the water. Almost a green-like skin, webbed hand is what he described it as. Yes. Okay. The Qalupalik -- it's an Inuit legend that stems from northern Arctic to discourage children from wandering off by themselves or to the shore. The Qalupalik is a humanlike creature. She has grayish-green-like color, and, you know, their teeth are going inward, so that once they bite, they will not let go. And her eyes, being really dark, the child can be drawn into those eyes like that, and then they're snatched. It's very sinister. Wow. That's a very chilling description. But, now -- now, this story is from the Arctic. Yes. Is it possible that the Qalupalik is migrating down from the Arctic down to here, southeast Alaska? It's probably due to lack of resources. You know, some of the villagers are migrating to cities for economic reasons, and so there's less children to go after. Predators follow the prey. Yes. Exactly. So, has anyone ever seen this thing in modern times? Are there any sightings? Yeah, yeah. It's been not just children, but also adults, as well. Ossie, we really appreciate your time. You're very welcome. Always good seeing you, my friend. -You too. -Take care. We'll see you again. NARRATOR: Almost all legends are based on some seed of fact. Even if the Qalupalik doesn't exist as described, could there be a living creature out there similar enough to keep the legend alive? A fisherman named Jamison Cantor says yes. On an outing in 2009, he experienced something bizarre. I was fishing off the coast of Yakutat, and I had just hooked a king salmon. I put my landing net in the water to try to catch it. ♪♪ And just about that time, I looked up, and I saw this shape moving towards me. It was like it was this baby seal or a porpoise. But as it got closer, the proportions weren't right for a seal or a porpoise. Suddenly, it rammed my net. I struggled with it, trying to untangle it, but instead, it jerked the net away. ♪♪ Of all the weird things that have ever happened to me on the water, that was one of the strangest. NARRATOR: The team reconvenes to discuss their findings. Even if sightings do suggest the Qalupalik, there's a problem. The legend places this mermaid thousands of miles away from these incidents. But Ken has a theory that could answer this dilemma. KEN: You know, one thing I've been thinking about, guys, is migration patterns. We're talking about a huge distance from here to northern Alaska, where the legends of the Qalupalik are relevant, maybe thousands of miles if you were to literally go around the coast of Alaska. That sounds daunting, but, I mean, when you keep it in perspective, there are certain marine animals that migrate immense distances over the course of a year. NARRATOR: One of the more well-known ocean travelers is the humpback whale. They can cover up to 5,000 miles annually from their tropical birthing grounds to their polar feeding grounds. Leatherback turtles can swim even farther, some going more than 7,000 miles on their annual Pacific Ocean round trip. And Pacific salmon traverse up to 900 miles, plus a 7,000-foot elevation change, as they travel inland from the ocean as far as Idaho to spawn. Based on these facts, an animal swimming around Alaska is within reason. But what animal could it be, and why would it have made that journey? JAX: I've put together a list of similar incidents reported to the authorities. I want check and see if we can map out these sightings and see if we can see any correlations. Absolutely. TOMMY: A marine chart here. Okay, Tommy, first one's gonna be in Juneau, May of 2004, and the second one's gonna be on Kodiak Island. And that's gonna be June of 2006. And our third and final case is gonna be Yakutat, and that's gonna be July of 2009. A salmon fisherman said he saw a shadow in the water, and it appeared to take his net. It just got me thinking, what do these all have in common? Well, you mentioned the salmon fisherman. These dates on here are the peak of each region for their salmon migration. So you're saying whatever this thing is, it seems to be following salmon around the Gulf of Alaska. Possibility. Hmm. Tommy, when is the peak season for king salmon right here where we are? Right now. NARRATOR: In southeast Alaska, king salmon maintain a strong presence from May to July, with subtle variations each year. This year, July is the top month. KEN: Observing this pattern means that humans may not be the primary prey of this creature, as the mermaid legend suggests. Perhaps it's salmon. And that gives us an opportunity to track this animal down and find out what it is once and for all. Well, at least now we know what to use for bait. You guys thinking what I'm thinking? I think we need some chum. NARRATOR: Every year, thousands of people go missing in the Alaska Triangle. The disturbingly high number suggests there could be unrecognized phenomena at work. The team's search for answers has led them to the Gulf of Alaska, where a fisherman vanished at the hands of a mysterious creature. A wound found in a fish indicates a predator with sharp teeth that might have the ability to grasp its prey. Could it be a mermaid of north Alaskan lore called Qalupalik? The culprit appears to have a taste for salmon, following the different migrations around the gulf. The team is going to prep some salmon chum for another outing on the ocean, hoping it will draw the creature to them. KEN: All right. Nice and bloody. ♪♪ TOMMY: Here we go. KEN: Well, I sure hope this works. Well, looking at all the locations and then what happened to us the other day with the fish in the net, it all points back to salmon. So I'll be at a loss if this doesn't at least get us another clue. We're going back out with the fishing crew today. We'll do an overnight trip to maximize our chances to find this creature. I doubt it's a mermaid, but it definitely could be a creature that hasn't been identified before. NARRATOR: New ocean species are being discovered all the time. Just this century, animals like the ghost shrimp and flapjack octopus have been identified and catalogued. With less than 5% of the world's oceans explored, who knows what else could be out there? My theory is, you know, this predator has gone after humans on a couple of occasions, so I have a backup plan. While you guys were resting today, I went and gave a little bit of blood, and I thought we'll add some human blood in with the chum. Whoa! That's you, brother? That's me. Donating to the cause. I've really got to hand it to Jax. I mean, bringing his own blood -- that's a brilliant idea. It's been demonstrated that certain ocean predators, like sharks, for example, can detect scents as diluted as 1 part per 25 million. So if this creature really is drawn to people, a bag of Jax's finest should get its attention. NARRATOR: With their bait ready, the team joins the fishing crew and heads back out toward open waters. JEFF: All right! Everybody's on! The crew will help them put out nets, with an eye towards catching whatever's eating salmon and leaving these unidentified bite marks. As the boat heads toward a location where there have been multiple reports of king salmon. The team keeps a sharp eye on the water. -See them? -Nice. Hey, there we go. Look at those bait balls on the depth finder. KEN: Oh, yeah. That looks good. Oh, yeah, look. 1, 2, 3. Look, look, look, look. See those bait balls -- 1, 2, 3. We need to set the net. We need to set the net. GRANT: Heck yeah. Get her done. NARRATOR: With a swarm of salmon beneath them, the team feels this is the prime place to try to catch their quarry. JAX: This is the spot, guys. Everybody toss the chum? TOMMY: Yeah, I'm good. As the crew readies the net, the team starts chumming the waters, hoping to entice any predators to action. Perfect. Let me have that line. There we go. That's what we're looking for. That's perfect! Jeff, is there any chance that, you know, doing this chumming is gonna bring in other predators, like maybe seals? Oh, heck yeah. That's something we got to keep in mind, guys. That chum will bring all kinds of stuff into that bait. Hey, Jeff, if you don't mind, can you keep an eye on our line for us? And, then, Tom if you want to hit the bow... Sure. and keep an eye out there. Yeah, I'll take the bow for sure. And, then, Ken and I can be watching both shorelines here. Yeah. KEN: Okay. NARRATOR: With their traps set, the team settles in for some diligent surveillance. KEN: Got a lot of surface area to cover here, and this is kind of daunting. -Oh, yeah. ♪♪ -Do you see something? -I thought I saw something big. -It wasn't just a whitecap. -Yeah. I just saw it off -- Yeah, yeah. -South by southwest over there? JEFF: Yep. I do see it. Hey, Grant... Yeah. ...go ahead and glass that corner. There's something in the water over there, seriously. Yep. Yep. Something just popped out right -- right about -- See that? Right there. No, it was a black object that broke the surface twice. ♪♪ Just keep looking in that area right there. You see it? GRANT: Oh, big clumps of seaweed. -Is that what it is? -The two that I'm looking at. -Seaweed? -Yeah. This is odd. The amount of chum that we're putting into the water should be drawing in all types of predators. Instead, we're not seeing any. I'm wondering if there could be some other animal in the water that's scaring all the others away. [ Beeping ] Oh, that's the sonar. Wow. See that, Shelby? Oh. Big, huge thing in there. Huh. Whole bunch of stuff. GRANT: Hey, guys... What's up? ...there's something pretty big on this depth finder there. JAX: Go check it out, Ken. KEN: Oh, I see it, that shape right there in the middle? Yep. Can you tell what that thing is? We're not talking about a school of fish here. -That's definitely not -- -No, that's bigger. No, that's a big, solid, object. ♪♪ [ Bird chirps ] NARRATOR: The Gulf of Alaska has become a popular destination for vacationers, fishermen, and adventurers. But has it also attracted a new kind of predator? Northern Alaskan mythology describes a killer mermaid known as Qalupalik. A humanoid sea creature notorious for kidnapping children and carrying them away in a pouch. Is there a real animal that could have inspired these legends? The manatee is credited as the most likely suspect to generate mermaid legends around the world. With five finger-like bones in their forelimbs and tail-like vertebrae, their skeleton could easily be interpreted as a mermaid. And their ability to do tail stands and hold themselves upright in the water makes live ones appear very human-like from a distance. The extinct relative of the manatee known as the Steller's sea cow used to inhabit North Pacific waters, but these animals were herbivores. They would not have gone after people. The team is forced to search for another answer, and there's a chance they just found it. GRANT: See that, Shelby? Oh. Big, huge thing in there, yeah. Huh. Whole bunch of stuff. GRANT: Hey, guys... What's up? ...there's something pretty big on this depth finder there. JAX: Go check it out, Ken. Yeah. That's huge. KEN: Oh, I see it, that big shape right there in the middle? GRANT: Yeah. Yeah. -Yeah. -Yep. Can you tell what that thing is? JAX: Wow. Look at that. JEFF: That's a humpback whale. Humpback whales -- they come in here all the time. Observing the humpback was impressive, but disappointing in terms of our investigation. Obviously, this is not the animal behind the attacks on humans. The good news is we still have a long night ahead of us to continue our search. NARRATOR: The mystery of this animal is of particular interest to Amir Ghara, who was with a friend on a beach in 2007 when something tragic happened. I was out with my friend at Clam Gulch, which is on the Kenai Peninsula, and we were digging for razor clams. We were out there for about a half-hour when my buddy decides to head up the beach to see if he could find a better spot. ♪♪ It was kind of a foggy day, so it wasn't long before he was out of sight. But I was busy in my own area, so I wasn't really paying attention to him. Then, suddenly, I hear him yell really loud. [ Indistinct shouting in distance ] It was kind of freakish, because I couldn't see him, but it sounded horrifying. So I ran up the beach to see what's going on. ♪♪ And I can't see him anywhere. All I see is his bucket. My first thought was that he got too deep in the water and a riptide got ahold of him. But as I'm scanning the shoreline, I noticed these crazy prints in the sand. They looked humanoid, but larger, and the toes actually appeared webbed. I once heard about a mermaid legend in Alaska, and based on what I saw, I'm ready to believe it. ♪♪ NARRATOR: As night falls, the team puts more chum in the water, hoping that their quarry will partake in some nocturnal feeding. -Think that's enough? -That's good for now, right? Don't you think, Tommy? All right, guys, it's gonna be a very long night. I'm thinking we stagger some things here. I think if you take the bow first, I'll take the stern, you take a nap, and we'll just rotate. That way, we don't get too tired or complacent. There should always be two of us out here at one time, so yeah. -Yeah. Okay. -All right. NARRATOR: Ken agrees to take the first sleep break, while Jax and Tommy man their lookout positions. They'll have spotlights ready in case they hear any sounds in the water. ♪♪ How's it looking? JAX: It's all quiet. Feels like the wind's picking back up. This is probably the toughest surveillance I've ever done. We're trying to find an unknown animal in the ocean at night. We've set up everything we can -- chum, spotlights, sonar. I'm even taking thermal imagines of the water to see if there's any warm bodies. But spotting this creature is gonna be a tall order. [ Thuds ] ♪♪ Ken, bring the spotlight! What happened? [ Thuds ] Ken, bring the spotlight! What happened? KEN: You heard a thud? Yeah, no. As soon as he turned over, I hear this -- I had the camera down like that. Yeah. Jax, did you see it? No, no. I just heard it. I was so close. The noise just sounded like it was right next to us. Come on, come on, man. But you were rolling though, right? Yeah. I was rolling, and I saw something, like, white. So we can rewind it and see what you got? You want to do that? You want me out of the way? KEN: Yeah, No, let -- let's see it, man. I want to see it. MAN: All right. Well, here we go. Let's check it out. Yeah, okay. TOMMY: I've been on these waters most of my life, and a bump like that is oftentimes just a floating log. We call them a deadhead. We need to check the footage and see if that's all it is. You know what a deadhead is? They bob up and down, they bob up and down, and they -- I've hit them before on my boat. "Thud." I don't think that's what it was, but I can't say conclusively it wasn't. Mm-hmm. Well, I mean, I was right there with the spotlight, and we didn't see it again. So whatever it was, it went back down. -All right. -Okay? -Yeah. -Right there. MAN: Go ahead. Look at that right there. Right there. Huh. I mean, it's obviously something, but... Wow. That's weird. Pretty dark. I can't tell. MAN: Is it a fin? Yeah. I think -- yeah. I think it looks like it. That looks like a fin. But you can't really say conclusively, though. The shape on the video definitely looks like an aquatic creature, but there's so little of it visible and it's so dark that identifying it could be a real challenge. It looks like a fish to me of some sort. [ Sighs ] Obviously, it's smaller than a whale, so, I mean [sighs] I guess it could be something like a seal, but it just -- it just doesn't -- no. It doesn't have the appearance of fins at all. The fin's not right. And Tommy's seen lots of seals. Lots of seals, sea otters. They flip in the water when they're up, and then they flip to go back down, especially sea otters. It's not doing that, that's for sure. I mean, it's frustrating, 'cause it's not definitive enough, but, I mean, we can't rule out the possibility that that is what we came here looking for. That could be the Qalupalik. ♪♪ The really weird thing is that we didn't get it on sonar, whatever it was, according to Jeff. I mean, but that should have shown up on sonar. That's a big footprint right there. The fact that this creature didn't show up on sonar means that it's probably swimming near the surface. So if we stay diligent and keep our spotlights ready, we may just have another opportunity to see it. I think we need to keep the watch going. Yeah, yeah. I'll take the next watch. Sounds good to me. All right. NARRATOR: The team remains on alert the rest of the night, but they don't have any other sightings. JAX: Sun's come up now. Why don't we sink a camera down there, see if we can see any kind of damage against the hull? And who knows what we might see at this point? Sounds like a good idea. Cool. All right. You ready? Yeah. JAX: Whatever hit us last night hit us pretty hard. There should be evidence left at the point of impact. This is based on a rule of forensics called the Locard's exchange principle. NARRATOR: Dr. Edmond Locard was a French pioneer of early forensics, so well-regarded he became known as the Sherlock Holmes of France. He established the idea that whenever a suspect makes contact with any item, there is an exchange of material. This trace evidence can be used to identify the individual. In the case of a creature ramming a boat, there might be more than just trace evidence left behind. TOMMY: Okay, going down. JAX: Aw, man, that's a good picture. How's it look? Good picture. Yeah. We're not seeing nothing yet. I think that's a good depth right there, Tommy, if we just move to the right. Go a little deeper right there. Hey, look at that. What is that? That's an obvious mark, man. I can't tell what it is. What the hell is that? We got to ask the captain. Those might have already been there. What you got? JAX: What do you think? What is that? Those three marks, yeah. See that? Was that there before? No. You hit some debris before there? Not like that. No? If we hit anything, that would be underneath. Wow. That's -- That's bizarre. ♪♪ What the hell is that? We got to ask the captain. Those might have already been there. What you got? Those three marks. Was that there before? No. Wow. That's -- That's bizarre. When I look at it, it looks like a scrape. I mean, are we looking at some debris? A mark like that, something hit it from above and maybe possibly trying to pull itself up. To me, that looks like claw marks. I mean, we have to consider the real possibility that these are the marks of the Qalupalik. I think it's time to step up the game. I think we start chumming again. We use some of my blood. Let's do it. I'll get the blood. ♪♪ Guys, we got to be careful, man. This thing could be dangerous. JEFF: Tie that line off on the stern corner. KEN: We're good. JAX: Ready to start chumming? Let's do it. This is it. This is the last of our chum. Let's get it all out. TOMMY: We good? You guys ready for the blood? Let's see how this goes. Our last shot at this. KEN: We're definitely gonna draw something in. It's all gone, guys. NARRATOR: The blood trail spreads along the length of the line like an underwater dinner bell that should draw any predators toward the net. Hey, Jax, how about go up on top? Yeah, bird's-eye view might work, huh? Right on, yeah. KEN: Perfect. You got that side, Tommy? Yeah. JAX: Hey, Tommy? Yeah? I can still see the blood out by the orange ball out there. ♪♪ [ Thud ] Hey, guys, there's something in the net. Feel the tension on it, Tommy. It's heavy. Something's in the net. Oh, my God! Oh [bleep] Jax, get down here, brother. I'm coming. This thing is big. Holy [bleep] We got to get this thing in. Open the door there. Oh [bleep] Got it? TOMMY: [ Groaning ] JEFF: What do you guys got going on? KEN: We got something. We got something heavy in here. Watch your hands. Ow! -Keep pulling. -Slow down. JAX: I don't know. We're almost dug in. There's nothing in it. -Wait. Wait. -There's nothing. -There's nothing in it. JAX: It's gone, guys. It's gone. The lead's gone. JEFF: No, something hit that. -Hey, hey, right here. -Whoa. -Look at that. -What the? -Holy cow. -That's huge. TOMMY: Look how big that hole is. You can fit two men through that. And that's frayed there. Sure is. What could do that, and this large? I don't know, Grant. What do you think -- a salmon shark? Had to have been something big. Well, a salmon shark would have the teeth to do that. Something just eviscerated this entire net. This didn't get torn as we were pulling in. It's not -- It's actually missing a section of net. It's like something cut it. Look. Yeah, when we started yanking that sucker in, it was really heavy first few pulls, and then it just got light. JEFF: That's crazy, man. That is absolutely crazy. I've never seen anything like this. Did you guys get anything on sonar? Were you marking? GRANT: I didn't see anything. -I didn't see anything. -Look at the size of this. -Look at the size of this! -Whoa! It's big. That's crazy. Plus, it's right in the middle, right? Holy moly. NARRATOR: The team secures the evidence and gets back to their hunt, but the rest of the day goes by without any more leads. As they make their long trek back to port, they consider the various evidence they found in this strange and mysterious case. Hey, guys, this has been a pretty bizarre set of circumstances when you think about it. Extremely. I mean, it started off with the disappearance of the fisherman, you know, and the account of a green, webbed hand... Yeah. coming up on the side of a boat. And then we pull up a salmon that's got a freaking bite right on the middle of it. Not just a bite, but the bruising and, you know, how it was grasped. All the missing scales in there. And the hull gets hit. What tops it all off is the net. The legend of the Qalupalik described this kind of knapsack that this creatures supposedly carries on its back and that it uses it to actually place small children that it's abducted. And at first, I thought, "Well, you know, maybe someone could misinterpret a bunch of seaweed kind of gathered around on its body." So now, after this event with the net, ho's to say that if this creature did exist that maybe it used things like fishing nets, woven them together to form this garment? And that could basically explain that aspect of the Qalupalik legend. Well, I'm not far off from you with that. I mean, we're talking about 5% of the world's waters have been explored. So there's lots of creatures, and they're constantly finding things. [ Sighs ] Man, a mermaid? Yeah. That's a stretch for me. Yeah, but krakens and leviathans were considered to be legends for a couple thousand years, but in the 1800s, a giant squid was discovered, proving there's a real basis to these legends. So who knows what could be down there? There are always things to be discovered. And, you know, admittedly, I am disappointed that we didn't get definitive proof of the Qalupalik, but if these things do exist and they're starting to make their homes in more populated areas and, in fact, starting to prey on adult humans, then it's just a matter of time before they are proven to be real. Who's to say that something like that couldn't exist out there? ♪♪ NARRATOR: For now, the mystery of what creature is behind these incidents remains unresolved. But there's no doubt there are far more life-forms under the ocean's surface than we know, and worldwide legends suggest mermaids could be among them. Is it possible that climate change and the shifting ecosystem have driven a mermaid-like beast from Arctic waters in search of more plentiful prey? And could that prey include the missing fisherman, among others? If the legends are true... ♪♪ ...this vicious Qalupalik may be one more reason... JAX: What the? NARRATOR: ...people continue to go... Missing in Alaska.
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Channel: HISTORY
Views: 3,573,618
Rating: 4.6719556 out of 5
Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, missing in alaska, history missing in alaska, missing in alaska show, missing in alaska full episodes, missing in alaska clips, Zombies of HAARP, Alaska, borealis, alaska triangle, Missing in Alaska season 1, Missing in Alaska Season 1 full episodes, Missing in Alaska episodes, Missing in Alaska Season 1 Episode 8, Missing in Alaska 1X08, Missing in Alaska s1 e08, missing in Alaska Se1 E8, Vicious Arctic Mermaid
Id: Wt9k4V1OoSU
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 42min 0sec (2520 seconds)
Published: Fri May 29 2020
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