A local woman walking near the Des Moines pier on Monday evening (March 29) was the first to capture photo evidence of the recent string of sightings of the Des Moines’ sea serpent of legendary fame.

The elusive creature has been sought for decades by local fisherman.

“I was completely petrified, I couldn’t move, the first time this enormous thing rose out of the water,” said Marion Yoshino, who is a resident of Normandy Park. “I was walking the dog along the pier, we both froze – I think my dog was too frightened to even bark. It happened so fast that I didn’t have a chance to think about taking a picture.”

“But after I calmed down I pulled out my camera, hoping to get a glimpse of something in the water. Then it came back again! If I hadn’t gotten this photo I don’t think that I could tell the story, because, who would believe it?”

“It just makes sense that, as more people carry cell phone cameras, we will finally have photos of the sea creature that boaters have been telling us about for so many years,” said Joe Dusenbury, Harbormaster at the Des Moines Marina. “We have drawings from Captain’s logs 200 years ago of a giant sea serpent, so the history goes way back. We know that there are Indian legends. But we never had proof. Our boat owners told us that they hesitated to say anything because they thought no one would believe them. Now their stories are finally validated.”

Many of the eyewitness accounts have ended up on the desk of Police Chief Roger Baker.

“I have trusted members of the community who have seen it,” he said. “But every time we get a new report, and send our officers out there, it is long gone. One comment we always hear is that it is only visible for a split second, so it is a good thing that someone could finally get a photograph. The creature seems to be able to move like lightening.”

The Powell family, who have been business owners in Des Moines for four generations, also have had encounters with the famous sea serpent.

“My great-grandfather had the first official sighting in the town of Des Moines,” said Brooks Powell, who owns Powell Renovations, along with his brother Todd. “This is tremendously exciting for us. We have always hoped to get a photograph, it’s something that we have talked about for years whenever we are out on our boats. Now the rest of our family can finally see what it actually looks like.”

Students from Highline College’s Marine and Science Technology (MaST) Center in Redondo have been quietly diving in the area this week, hoping to find physical evidence to support these recent claims. If unidentifiable samples are found and tested, which could take weeks, this will be the first-ever proof of a new species of marine life in Des Moines, let alone of a real, giant “sea monster.” Speculation from students we spoke with is that it could actually just be a “lost, giant squid.”

The Waterland Blog has previously received numerous emails and phone calls about “Moinsey” from local residents, but experienced a sudden surge of fresh sightings over the last few days.

“The fact that we are able to break the story of the first known photograph is an exciting day in the history of the Blog,” said Publisher/Editor Scott Schaefer. “Newspapers all over the Puget Sound are going to be calling us to get the story.”

Here’s the stunning photo Yoshino took: