Migo

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Migo Sketch by Shohei Shirai（白井祥平） from Hikyo New Guinea no tabi（1977） Category Lake monster Proposed scientific names Other names Migaua, Rui, massali, masalai, mussali. Country reported New Britain, Papua New Guinea First reported 1972 Prominent investigators •Darren Naish • Karl Shuker •Roy Mackal

Migo is a cryptid reported from Lake Dakataua, New Britain, Papua New Guinea. It has other names such as Migaua, Rui, massali, masalai, and mussali.

Timelines

1959

Artwork from Shirai's book depicting a German hunter being attacked by Migo.

In 1959, a German hunter was hunting crocodiles on a lake in a canoe and nearly capsized in the face of a huge wave. When he turned around, a monster he had never seen before was about to attack him, so the hunter threw down his gun and fled.

1971

In 1971, a man named Shohei Shirai, a resident of Mie Prefecture, Japan, went to New Britain to study natural resources and was staying on Rabaul when he heard through an interpreter the story of 15 local residents from Talasea and learned about a monster called Migo.　

It is said to inhabit between two islands on Lake Dakataua at the tip of the Willaumez peninsula. Many people have witnessed this because it surfaces in the water even during the day, crawls to shore, and dig up moss and soil near the shore by snout.　

The creature is 10 meters long, with a long head and neck similar to a horse but thinner than a horse, barracuda-like teeth, a gently sloping hill-like back, short, flat limbs similar to a sea turtle, and a pointed tail with spines similar to a crocodile. It has a mane on the back of its neck. They do not have scales and have grayish-brown skin.　

In 1972, his report was published in The Mainichi Newspapers, in which Shirai reported that the creature resembles Plesiosaurus and Mosasaurus, being closer in size and characteristics to the latter.

1978

Sketch by Toshikazu Saitoh

In October 1978, Toshikazu Saitoh visited Bulumuri and collected five eyewitness accounts of two creatures seen in 1971. They are about 30 feet long, covered with short black body hair, relatively small heads, with long pointed jaws like a crocodile, many sharp teeth, long necks, tough and streamlined bodies, thin crocodile tails, and two pairs of legs similar to a sea turtle with significantly larger forelimbs. He also reported that based on local accounts this eats water plants and wild pigs.

1983

In September 1983, Atsuo Tanaka stayed in Bulumuri to search for the Lake Dakataua monster. He observed 6- to 10-foot crocodiles there and thought the monster sightings might have originated from these crocodiles or dugongs. During his stay he noticed that the local population did not believe in the existence or sighting of this creature. Tanaka noted that the locals use the word Migo to refer to a three-foot monitor lizard, and that they use Rui to refer to the lake monster.

1994

In 1994, a Japanese television program filmed footage of Migo. Although this was controversial, it is likely that this is simply the Saltwater Crocodile C. porosus.