The Lituya Bay Anomaly

One of her greatest fears; the sea. The source of so many tragedies, of so many mysteries. The mere thought of the sea, as a concept, as a primordial entity, made the very fibres of her being tremble. It was not, however, just the concept of the sea that scared her, it was the untold, inconceivable creatures that lurked beneath that struck horror into her soul. Those dreary creatures of which her father, a local fisherman, told stories when she was but a young child.

Yet despite Gia’s fear and aversion to the ocean, these feelings made her want to know more, she sought to know, to conquer her fear. She would never have ventured out onto the unpredictable waves or dived into squalid coves until an unexpected and tragic series of events led her to being part of team which would investigate an anomaly in the northeastern area of the gulf of Alaska.

Nervous and tired, she arrived at the port of Sitka in the early hours of an April morning. The clouds were thin and wispy in the sky, floating delicately on the breeze. The sunlight was barely reaching over the horizon, leaving the sky glowing in mesmerising hues. During the night she had tossed and turned, anxious about being on the sea; however, the beauty of the sky in the morning eased her spirit momentarily. She was met with the captain of The Bull Shark, a rugged gentleman who went by the name of Saxton. Despite the lack of hair on the top of his head, he sported a long bushy beard that hid his mouth, and rested triumphantly beneath a pointed nose. His eyes were small, weary, through them Gia was able to see the experience of a well-lived life, yet his expression was welcoming.

Along with Saxton were Hugo, a marine biologist who was invited along with Gia to take samples and assess the environment, a young man who had long black flowing hair tied up untidily and scraggy hairs that resembled a beard, he held himself confidently and spoke with conviction, eager to get out into the field and get to work; and Ivy, who was quiet and rather timid it seemed. According to the paperwork, she worked for a research facility in the area of Lituya Bay towards Yakutat, and regularly commuted to Sitka due to a partnership between the facilities. Gia had never heard of the institution, though knew the area had quite a substantial spiritual community which had a profound effect on local customs; her father was from Yakutat. She had a gentle smile, though her eyes seemed empty, dark brown eyes contrasting with her pale skin. Reddish-blonde hair sprouted from the edges of a wooly hat.

With some simple introductions and preparations completed for the journey, they were soon on their way to Lituya Bay. As the group of four were climbing onto the boat, decorated with a drawing of a shark on the side, which Hugo noted wasn’t even a bull shark, Saxton pulled Gia aside. He reassured her of his experience on the sea and that he had managed to keep The Bull Shark running for over 15 years, he had replaced each faulty part over the years. After some initial concern once the boat started moving, Gia started to feel a sort of comfort as she accustomed to movement of the boat and the sensation of the sea, the scent of her fears floating away on the sea breeze.

The reports came suddenly of animals dying in the area started two weeks ago. Fisherman who came back spoke little of what they saw. Each interviewed seemed to have a look in their eye, that of weariness. Though it was soon gathered what may be the cause of their temperament. For miles it seemed were dead animals; turtles, sharks, octopuses, floating in gelatinous unison. Reporters surmised due to the sheer amount of dead wildlife that not only were animals in the area being killed off by something, but they were being brought to the area for one reason or another. The scale of the issue was toned down in newspapers to a mere natural anomaly.

It was Gia and Hugo’s job to perform tests in order to ascertain a cause to what could be a mass migration of wildlife, hopefully to shed light on new phenomena that were as of yet unknown. Although it was unclear what Ivy’s purpose was with regards to the investigation, under ”Role” in the introductory paperwork it simply stated “Assistance”, and that made Gia believe she was a trainee of some sort. Hugo’s lecturer had a good relationship with Ivy, she told them, and was sent out in order to gather data for an independent study project, she would not mention any details of her assignment though.

It was a long journey to Lituya Bay, during which Gia’s thoughts lingered with her father initially; a naive hope to find him. The boat moved steadily amongst the calm, brooding waves. Away from the land The Bull Shark slowly drifted. The next time they would join the land would be after their stop at the site, towards Elfin Cove in over 7 hours. This thought awakened a sense of dread in Gia, however the sight of Saxton reassured her. While Gia and Hugo attempted to made idle chatter on the way, about nothing and everything at once, Ivy sat alone, looking through the various notepads she had brought with her. Happening to glance towards her notes for a split second during a break from the frantic scribbles, Gia caught sight of strange diagrams and untidy notes. What stood out though was one word in English towards the end of a large paragraph of scribbled handwriting; effigy. She caught the eye of Ivy, who quickly snapped her notebooks shut and put them back in her bag.

For almost the whole journey, Ivy seemed to be in her own world, either poring over notes or staring into the distance.

Some time had past and the sun was climbing high in the sky. The searing heat was buffeted by a soft breeze as the boat glided over the waves. Saxton announced to his passengers that they were would be there soon according to his predictions. He shared a look with Ivy, a knowing look, as the boat came across a dead bird floating on the surface, mangled and bloody. The whole group looked around at each other and they had realised that they were close. They ventured further and a smell began to swell in the air, that of putrid flesh. Gia and Hugo peered around the sea and noticed the death and decay that lingered around them; fishes and birds of all shapes and sizes floated calmly, bobbing up and down on the waves. They stared in disbelief at the intensifying demise that stood before them, as the boat slowed down to a stop. Saxton and Ivy were less perturbed by such a presence of death, it seemed. For a moment they remained, staring, watching. The silence broken by Saxton turning the engine on once again:

“Be quick you two,” Saxton gestured towards Hugo and Gia. “We’ve got to get moving, we can’t stay here too long.”

He gazed around, a look of sadness in his eyes, contrasting with a sort of naive intrigue that lingered in the stare of Ivy as she scribbled in her notebook occasionally.

The fear and concern for herself was suddenly washed away in Gia as she took in the scene before her. Turning to Hugo, they nervously considered possibilities before deciding that they would need to gather samples in any case for laboratory analysis. Some animals were freshly dead they thought, the scales still intact and no sign of bloating, but others were certainly in the latter stages of decay. Samples of both were probably necessary Gia thought to herself as she braced herself, holding her breath while she collected samples of tissue from the nearby area, Hugo followed and collected a sample of seawater too. He held up the container of seawater to the sun and noticed small specks of what looked like dust in it. He disregarded it and put the samples away.

They moved onwards, amongst the rot of animals and other things, less describable but all the more gelatinous and tenebrous. It was as they moved further through the lifeless void, that they realised the animals took on more monstrous forms, fused together in unfathomable ways. The motor began to struggle as the water turned viscid. Around them there were fishes with tentacles seemingly draped from where fins should be, birds with strange fungal growths protruding from their beaks, some with… hands… and feet. The smell developed from a musty odour, that of fish left out in the sun for weeks. Now a sulphurous aroma that permeated the air, leeching itself to the clothes of the The Bull Shark’s passengers; who remained silent and in awe at the deformed carcasses that lay before them. Yet further they trawled through the masses of decay. The sky had dimmed from the hues of the morning, through a pleasant bluish green, now resting at a dull, ominous grey. The sun was no longer visible, yet it’s warmth, it’s presence, lingered and oppressed.

Amongst the carcasses, ahead of The Bull Shark, Hugo noted something shimmering in the sea, in stark contrast to the dark, mouldy remains, at which point Ivy’s expression lit up, and she rummaged through her notes to an earlier page.

Soon enough, they pulled up along the shimmering object to find a small wooden idol, charred and cracked. The engine spluttered to a stop.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Saxton muttered to himself.

Upon reaching down to collect it, Hugo noticed that all the fishes, all the strange amalgamations of creatures, were facing in the direction of the idol. An idol in the shape of man floated lay on the slime, with wide eyes of fire, of a deep violent red; with webbed hands and feet, and qualities similar to that of a squid.

Ivy rushed to push Hugo out of the way as he reached for this idol, insisting that he must not touch it, it could be dangerous. Before long, Ivy was explaining to Gia and Hugo about the Tlingit legends of a primordial deity who distorted matter; life and death; warping the two to form unnatural creations; Natsilane. Saxton gasped in response, fear in his eyes as he scanned the surrounding area.

The mere utterance of the name of that damned being caused the sea to come alive, the once motionless mass of rot before the boat began to undulate.

An amorphous globule of monstrous proportions congealed before the boat, swelling around a giant maw lined with teeth and fractured bones. It’s blackened skin, decorated with gills of all colours and tentacular growths protruding from all sides, glistened in the sunlight that broke through the clouds.

“Oh, my…What in…!”, Saxton and Hugo cried almost in unison, barely able to put a sentence together between them, as they stumbled backwards, tripping over the edge of the boat and tumbling into the ooze that now lingered on the top of ocean. Their screams stifled swiftly by a fetid slime. Ivy was left a muttering mess on the deck, hunched in the corner, knees to her chest.

The mere sight of it was maddening, a stain upon reality that had been forced through to our plane. Yet fear was swept away strangely as Gia gazed upon such a monstrosity. There she stood frozen.

Some three days later the boat was found floating off the coast of Yakutat. The public were told it was a freak fishing accident that tragically caused the death of two men and a woman with reddish-blonde hair. The state in which Gia was found was omitted due to the panic it would have most likely caused.