In early spring 1987, a professional analog wildlife photographer named Derek and his wife Gabrielle (Gabby) set up duck-hunting photography blinds near a large pond in a vast marshland just west of the cabins located at the confluence of the Mulchatna and Koktuli Rivers near the Jack Rabbit Hills. Having left general equipment behind at the site during a multi-day blind construction process, Derek arrived alone at 4:00 AM in the dim pre-dawn silhouette light to swap film canisters. While fumbling with his analog camera, he heard a low, gurgling growl and snort from the pond that resembled a deep sea lion sound.
Looking out over his natural grass blind, Derek made direct eye contact for several agonizing seconds with a buckskin-colored humanoid with pitch-black eyes and water-flattened dark hair that was chest-deep in the water. The creature stood up further, letting out a heavy, ground-vibrating growl that rippled through the marshy terrain like a waterbed before reaching out an arm to place its hand on the pond's edge—less than five feet from the blind. Terrified, Derek lit a small fire inside his blind using waterproof matches to serve as a distraction before sprinting and falling through the marsh.
He stopped midway to scream warnings to his wife, who spotted the creature actively inspecting Derek's abandoned blind. The couple fled to their cabin, abandoning close to $60,000 worth of photography gear, a firearm, and bear spray. Returning the next morning with an armed, initially skeptical videographer from their group, they found Derek's expensive tripod toppled, his camera shoved face-down into the tundra mud with the back left wide open, and Gabby's floating equipment bag completely stolen, despite her actual blind remaining untouched.
