Scientists kill off taniwha hopes

The trail seen in the Google Earth image could have been produced by a recreational vessel such as a catamaran travelling at about 7 knots. Photo / Google Maps

Millions of readers of the Daily Mail have had their hopes of seeing a taniwha in the Bay of Islands dashed by scientists, who say the mystery wake attributed to a sea monster was more likely caused by a catamaran.

The online version of the popular British newspaper reported yesterday that a "giant mystery sea creature" had been spotted in Oke Bay, east of Russell.

Hamilton man Pita Witehira spotted a "huge unexplained wake" while he was searching Google Earth for the property where he is planning to build a bach.

The newspaper said it could not have been from a boat because there was no white foam in its wake. It was too big to have been caused by a shark and turned too sharply to be a whale.

That left a taniwha measuring about 12 metres long as the only explanation, the Mail Online claimed.

However, the sighting was debunked within hours, before Britain's Nessie-spotters and cryptozoologists (people who study animals that are rumoured to exist) even had a chance to book flights to New Zealand.

Scientists quizzed about the image said boats did not always produce a wake with long-lasting foam, and the trail seen in the Google Earth image could have been produced by a recreational vessel such as a catamaran travelling at about 7 knots.

The Mail Online story also mentioned an aerial sighting off the English coast of a giant crab measuring 15m across, which appeared to be based on two superimposed photographs.