Search for the Sea Serpent

Last week I put up a post about an old documentary on some aquatic cryptid I haven't seen in years. While doing some searching for suggestions from others I think I may have found it - and I think it is Search for the Sea Serpent, a Discovery Channel production from 1999.

So far the only places I've found it available online are DVDs in Europe and a VHS tape on Ebay…

The description of the doc is:

"For two hundred and fifty years, residents living around the small Seljord Lake in Norway have reported sightings of a strange, serpent-like creature. Reports began on the Norwegian coast in the seventeenth century, when sailors, terrified by the monster which rose up by their ships, cried out for help and plunged into the sea to escape the threat of death. An international group of investigators has arrived in Seljord to study the breath and length of the lake, trying to fathom exactly what it is that has been frightening local people. The mystery deepens when finally, a member of the team captures an extraordinary and unexplained sight on film."

Since I still haven't been able to find that much more about it online, I again ask, has anyone out there seen Search for the Sea Serpent? If you have, can you recall what happens in it and does it sound like the the documentary I described in the original post?

Comments

  1. DannySJune 5, 2017 at 8:59 AM

    I too had been searching far and wide for this, and finally was able to purchase a region 2 DVD last night from a UK website.
    This is the Jan-Ove Sundberg expedition to Lake Seljord in Norway - an ill-fated expedition I might add. Ill-fated, because of the bogus nature of it.
    But that's the reason I wanted it! My brother and I had both seen this on TV independently of each other and had found great humor in certain aspects of the expedition. So we've been looking for it for the last 2 or 3 years to no avail.
    Needless to say I was very excited to find it! I'll try to keep you posted when it arrives :)

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  2. DannySJune 5, 2017 at 9:13 AM

    Here are 2 really good accountings of the Lake Seljord trip by expedition members, both of which highlight the bogus nature of it:
    http://www.strangemag.com/serpentstale.html
    http://www.blather.net/theblather/1998/08/gubu_norge_lake_monster_expedi/

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  3. AnonymousJune 5, 2017 at 9:49 AM

    Hi Dan - thanks for the links. I don't think I've seen those articles before. Glad you managed to find the show too! I got an old vos tape of it from eBay...
    One of my favorite lake monster docs... Even though Sundberg just wants money

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  4. DannySJune 5, 2017 at 1:01 PM

    I'm really looking forward to watching it :)
    I've got a question: was there a scene in which Jan is asking for money for petrol, because the boatman had supposedly been dipping into his own pockets?

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJune 5, 2017 at 1:13 PM

      Yeah, I forget the exact reasons why but he did ask all the other people on the "expedition" for fuel and they weren't too happy about it.

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    2. DannySJune 5, 2017 at 5:18 PM

      OK, this confirms to me that this is the same documentary :)
      That "Kroner-for-petrol" scene - as we started calling it - was the thing that tipped my brother off we had both watched the same documentary. Boy, is he going to be excited!
      For some reason, Discovery seems to have removed this from their line-up. I couldn't even find it on a long, supposedly complete list of programs they have done in the last 20 years. Getting it from the UK was the only way to go.

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    3. AnonymousJune 5, 2017 at 5:52 PM

      Yeah, I find it odd that there is nothing about it anywhere too. Here in the USA when the Destination America channel was Planet Green they would air it sometimes w/ some other shows that they still air once in a while. But I haven't seen it on there in probably 5 or 6 years. And I really don't know why.
      When it would air it would always be very early in the morning (like 1 am) so I never really saw it. But I did see part of it once, and when I got it on Vhs tape, I knew it was the same one.
      Hope you and your brother enjoy it! :)

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    4. DannySJune 5, 2017 at 6:03 PM

      Thanks - and I'm glad you were able to get ahold of the show too!
      Best wishes :)

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