What is the monster of the Madeira Beach canals?”
MADEIRA BEACH — If you believe retiree Russ Sittloh, the canals around Crystal Island have their own version of the infamous Loch Ness Monster. After four sightings of the mysterious creature, he is so convinced that something’s out there that he has dubbed it Normandy Nessie. Sittloh and his wife, Betty, say they’ve seen the creature from their Normandy Road waterfront home once in the spring, again in September and twice this month. Nessie doesn’t have a regular routine, Sittloh says, but usually swims by in midafternoon. The couple used to watch dolphins frolic in their canal, but since Nessie arrived the dolphins have been a no-show. “At first, I was puzzled. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then in September I thought it might be a python or some big snake. But then this month, I saw a caudal fin. He looks like he is over 30 feet long and about 15 inches in diameter. We are talking about a big beast out there,” Sittloh said. When he told friends and neighbors about the first two
