Extract from a letter to the Tampa Bay Weekly, Florida: ‘I must share this visual sighting with everyone since it has happened two times now on the Madeira Beach. The last time was a week ago and it came out of the water further than previously and I could estimate the girth that came out of the water at 12 to 15 inches in diameter. It continued its roll seemingly for a long time and it had to be 12 to 15 feet in length judging by the roll time. It was brown on top with mottled brown and yellow lower side. It finally flipped its tail before disappearing and it was a flat, lamprey like vertical caudal fin an estimated 9 to 10 inches maximum fl are tapering to a point. I never saw the head and there was neither dorsal fin nor pectoral fins visible. After the first sighting I thought it might be a huge snake that someone turned loose, escaped or whatever because it did not roll as high out of the water so the size (girth) was not real evident although it was the same colour on back and sides from what I could see. It did not flip its tail that time so the weird shaped caudal fin was not visible.’ (Source: Russell Sittloh Madeira Beach 8th October 2009).

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