Ningen

A Ningen is a cryptid deeply rooted in Japanese myth and folklore. It is described as a humanoid creature with features that resemble that of a whale; it is most notably represented in its enormous size and eerie emotionless stare. Though the Ningen is believed to inhabit the cold subantarctic oceans, the following story depicts, what is most likely, a Ningen in Oslob. Irwin, a marine biologist, shares his story during one of his research expeditions. He claims that as he and his team were traversing the waters of the Cebu Strait, they encountered a whale shark that was bobbing up and down near the water's surface. Being a relatively slow morning for them, he and his team decided to dive in and take a few photos of the shark. The shark, he recalls, was quite photogenic, and he could not stop getting enough pictures of it. He dove deeper and deeper into the water as he followed the shark. But as he did, he recalls seeing something strange: (Sorry, Irwin's messages were a mix of Cebuano, Tagalog, and English. I had to piece together my translation hehe) "Parang biglang uminit yung tubig sa paligid namin at nagkaroon ng malakas na current. Kahit nga yung butanding parang nahirapan lumangoy." "The waters suddenly got warmer, and then there was this strong current. Even the whale shark seemed to have trouble swimming.' Irwin looked into the vast emptiness of the water to see a large creature slowly drifting towards him. "Hindi maproseso ng isip ko noon yung nakikita ko. Napakalaki niya parang balyena na may braso. Parang higanteng taong lumalangoy." "My mind couldn't process what I was seeing. It was huge, like a whale with arms. It was like a giant human that was swimming" Irwin panicked and quickly surfaced as he fought the current that seemed to be dragging him towards the creature. As he approached the boat, he heard his team already shouting at him to get on board as the waves around their boat suddenly got turbulent. His team dragged up Irwin up on the deck, but just as quickly as the waves swelled, they died down in a very unnatural manner. Gasping for air, Irwin asked if the rest of his team saw what he did, but they claimed to have only observed Irwin from afar as he was taking pictures of the whale shark. To this day, Irwin has told only a handful of people about his experience to save his reputation as a professional.