Cassie: The Sea Serpent of Casco Bay
WEIRD WEDNESDAY
Off the misty coast of Maine, where the waves crash against craggy shorelines and the fog rolls in like a silent specter, there’s a legend that has slithered through local lore for centuries. Meet Cassie, the elusive sea serpent of Casco Bay.
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Described as having an elongated, brontosaurus-like neck and a mottled black-brown coat reminiscent of a seal or flounder, Cassie has become a fixture of New England cryptid folklore. Her story begins way back in 1779, when a young sailor—none other than a future U.S. Navy commodore named Edward Preble—claimed to witness something truly bizarre in the bay. While stationed in the area, he reportedly spotted a strange, serpent-like creature gliding through the waters. It was the first known sighting—but certainly not the last.
Since then, whispers of Cassie have surfaced again and again, keeping cryptozoologists and thrill-seekers intrigued. One of the most prominent voices in the field is Loren Coleman, a veteran cryptozoologist and the director of Portland’s International Cryptozoology Museum. Coleman has investigated Cassie for years, collecting testimonies and sorting through historical accounts in pursuit of the truth.
One of the most compelling accounts came from Ole Mikkelson, an 81-year-old fisherman who shared his story with Coleman decades after the encounter. According to Mikkelson, it was a foggy day in June of 1958 when he and his first mate were fishing off the coast of Cape Elizabeth. Out of nowhere, a massive serpent-colored like a flounder appeared in the water, swimming directly toward their boat.
“And he said every time the fog horn would go off,” Coleman recalled, “the creature would turn its head oh so slightly and then it would go along. He was living it all over in front of me.”
Though the waters of Casco Bay have remained quiet in recent years, Cassie’s legend lingers—part local mystery, part maritime myth. Whether a misidentified animal, a relic from the deep, or a figment born of fog and folklore, Cassie continues to swim through the stories of Maine’s haunted coast.