The Altamaha River runs through the state of Georgia from the confluence of the Ocmulgee and Oconee all the way to the Atlantic. As the river reaches the ocean, it spreads out into a maze of creeks and runnels snaking among tall saltgrass marshes, mudflats, and ancient shell middens. This estuary is one of the most ecologically productive areas of the Altamaha, providing ample habitat and food for wading birds, mussels, crustaceans, fish fry, muskrats, otters, and more. And if the legends are to be believed, these twisting waters also host a population of unknown serpentine beasts.
Legends of the Altamaha-ha, nicknamed “Altie”, go back all
the way to 1830 when a “Captain Delano” of the schooner Eagle reported
seeing a monstrous snake-like beast in the river. In the 1920s loggers working
along the Altamaha also sighted the beast, but the first major modern report
occurred in 1981 when newspaper publisher Larry Gwin spotted it. After this,
more people came forward claiming to have seen the creature. The majority of
sightings occurred around the small town of Darien and the nearby Butter
Island. Altie eventually became the unofficial mascot of the town, and the
Darien Visitor Center even boasts a “life-size” model of the creature created
by museum exhibit designer Rick Spears.
In 2018 a strange carcass was discovered on a beach near
Darien. Pictures show a sinewy gray creature with front flippers and a short
head, leading many to conclude it was a juvenile Altamaha-ha. The body
disappeared before it could be examined, but skeptics believe it was either a
clay model or a decomposed shark.
Early reports of Altamaha-ha described the creatures as large
serpents, but more recent sightings claim they have rounded bodies,
alligator-like heads, front flippers, and sometimes ridges on their backs like
gars or sturgeons. They are described as being gray-green with yellow undersides. Some
observers have reported the creatures blowing out water and swimming with an
up-and-down undulation like whales or dolphins, rather than the side-to-side
movement of fish or aquatic reptiles. Based on this, it’s possible the
Altamaha-ha are a species of unknown cetacean or pinniped.
SOURCES
The website of Rick Spears, creator of the Altamaha-ha statue in Darien
An article from Jacksonville.com about the alleged Altamaha-ha carcass
An article from the Coastal Courier about Altamaha-ha
An article from Cryptomundo about Altie
