Print, Photographic
Chestico Museum
All rights reserved.
| Object Name: | Print, Photographic |
|---|---|
| Category: | Graphic Documents |
| Material: | paper ink |
| Accession Number: | CMP 00-137 |
| Other Geographical Data: | [46.027875725431,-61.545513153469] |
| Earliest Production Date: | 1986-01-01 |
| Latest Production Date: | 2000-12-31 |
| Description: | Pictured are two men (Rob Spears on the left) holding either end of a long pole. Hanging from the centre of the pole is some type of sea creature. The men appear to be on the wharf and standing on crates. A young boy is between the two men (Edgar Spears). He is looking on with his hands on his hips. There is a fishing net in the foreground and sheds in the background. The photo is attached to a white piece of paper. |
| Narrative: | Rob Spears (1914-1964) was a Port Hood native who was a fisherman. A newspaper article is included with the photo because the photo may well document the story. The Will MacDonald mentioned in the story would be Willard MacDonald a brother to Ralph MacDonald of Port Hood. The article is from The Lethbridge Herald from Wednesday, August 4, 1948. It is entitled "Caddy, Ogopogo and Loch Ness Monster Strictly Mythology" and it reads as follows: Port Hood, N.S. Aug. 4 The West Coast Cadborosaurus and Ogopogo and Scotlands Loch Ness monster are strictly mythology in the opinion of fishermen Bob Spears and Will MacDonald. When we see monsters, we catch them and bring them home to prove it, said Bob and Will Tuesday. They produced a 100-pound whats it which has nine rows of teeth, two three-pointed antlers and four seal-like flippers. Its about five feet long and three feet wide and has a mouth 30 inches in diameter. They caught it off this west Cape Breton Island port. This picture was posted on the Chestico Museum's Facebook page on September 14, 2014. Port Hood native Greg Dobbin contacted Professor Jeffrey Hutchings of Dalhousie Universitys Biology Department to see if he could identify the fish. He had the following reply: Thank you [Greg] very much for sending me this fascinating photograph. I will weigh in with an opinion, although I truly must caution that this opinion might best be placed in the category of guess. 1. Although the photo is not as clear as it might be, I think I can distinguish fins on the organism (dorsal, pelvic, pectoral). If true, this would mean that it is a fish. 2. If I have correctly identified the pelvic fin and the pectoral fin (I stress if), the relative placement of these fins might be informative. When the pelvic fin (on the belly-side) is positioned in front of the pectoral fin (located on the lateral or side fin), this is usually indicative of a fish that is evolutionarily advanced (thus potentially narrowing down the species possibilities). 3. Assuming that the head (or jaws) of the fish is what is seen to be dangling from the pole the men are carrying, the bulk of the fish would appear to be relatively rotund when compared with the caudal or back portion of the fish, which appears to be relatively slender. 4. The fish appears to be quite dark in colour (black?). Given the above, I would tentatively identify the fish as being a member of the fish order called Lophiiformes (the angler-fishes). In Atlantic Canada, the most common lophiiform is the monkfish. But other species have been recorded, especially from deeper waters. Have a look at the images at Google when you enter humpback anglerfish in the search field. You will see some shapes that seem to have appearances similar to what is evident in the photograph. I am not suggesting this is a humpback anglerfish. But a species of anglerfish is a possibility. Thank you for bringing this interesting photograph to my attention. |
| Length: | 17.4 cm |
| Width: | 12.6 cm |
| Institution: |
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| Institution City: | Chestico |
| Institution Province: | Nova Scotia |