SAUGUS — Have you been on the lookout for a pair of eyes belonging to a dragon-like reptile that could be lumbering through Saugus?
Well, now you should be. Or, at least that’s what the Friends of Breakheart are saying.
The group of volunteers who run programs at the 652-acre state park is launching a campaign to advocate for water safety that plays off the tale that Breakheart Reservation is home to a toothy creature.
“Every year there is an issue with people swimming where they’re not supposed to,” said Peter Rossetti, chairman of the Friends. “Whenever you have a beach, people are going in the water. There are rocks, there are areas that you’re not supposed to swim in because they’re unsafe and they don’t have lifeguards. This is a way to make people more aware of their surroundings. Hopefully it will make the kids more aware and they’ll remind their parents.”
More than half a dozen accidental drownings have occurred in The Item’s coverage area in the past decade.
Last year, Roberto Martinez, 35, was found underwater near rocks at Breakheart Reservation. He had been swimming in an area where “No Swimming” signs were posted, according to the Essex County District Attorney.
Flyers will be posted today reading “have you seen Ali?” with a sketch of a fictional alligator peering at Breakheart visitors. Rossetti said the postings are intended to remind nature-lovers to pay attention to their surroundings and rules that are intended to maintain safety.
Six years ago the Department of Conservation and Recreation enlisted the help of a reptile specialist to track down an alligator spotted near the shore line at Silver Lake.
The Item reported a DCR spokeswoman said she believed the alligator was small and was most likely released into the water by a pet owner who no longer wanted it.
Similar reports were filed a month prior, prompting a search that included dogs attempting to pick up the scent of the animal.
Since swimming at Silver Lake has always been prohibited, the park remained open to the public and swimmers could still tread water at Pearce Lake.
This wasn’t the first time a creature sighting brought dismay to park-goers.
More than half a century ago, visitors were banned from using the reservation for several days at the end of May and beginning of June 1961 because of several reported bear sightings.
On June 8, 1961, The Item reported that Saugus Police caught two Schipperke dogs running loose in the park, which were believed to be mistaken for bears. A third dog returned home days later. The opinion of a local veterinarian confirmed the dogs could give off the appearance of bear cubs when observed from a distance, bringing the Breakheart bear mystery to an end.
But Saugus’ strange sightings haven’t been limited to Breakheart’s grounds.
A sea monster was spotted slithering in town in 1980 by former state Rep. Belden Bly (R-Saugus), who served 16 terms from 1949 to 1980, and his legislative aide Judith Coolen, who claimed to see a long, snake-like animal in the Saugus River.
“This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that — that large, in the river,” Bly told The Item in 1980.
He claimed he was able to watch the creature through his binoculars.
“It looked like a snake, but we estimated it was from 10 to 14 feet long,” he said.
The story states that residents had reported spotting a similar creature about four decades earlier. At that time, it was referred to as Saugussie — a takeoff on the Loch Ness’ Nessie. Bly suggested former Gov. Leverett Saltonstall had many of the species implanted in the area during his more than 20 years as a state senator.
Another theory stemmed from an old tale that an anaconda was accidently brought to the Saugus River in the hulls of pirate ships in the 1800s. When the pirate ships were scuttled and left to rot in the river’s tributaries, the theory goes that the snakes escaped to East Saugus where they live today.
