Monster of Monterey

Monster of Monterey is the third episode of the first season of the thriller horror docudrama found-footage television series Lost Tapes. It originally aired on January 6th, 2009 on Animal Planet. It was directed by Douglas Segal.

Plot
On July 17, 2007, journalist and outdoor enthusiast Sharon Novak entered the final day of her solo, three-month sailing trip around the world; her boat was rigged with several cameras so that her journey could be broadcast live over the Internet, which she also used to maintain contact with her boyfriend Charles who is also the co-author of the journal/paper they write together through live video chat. When she was about thirty-five miles west of Monterey Bay in California, the wind died down and Sharon took a moment to thank the people who had given her moral support during her trip. At about noon, Sharon's radio suddenly picked up a distress call via radio from another boat, but it cuts out before the other sailor can tell her what has happened. Sharon tries to raise the ship on her radio, but there is no response.

Using her ship's motor, she sails to the coordinates that were given out by the man on the radio before it cut out. As she heads in that direction, she decides to tell Charles about her plan so that he doesn't worry. As she talks to him, her boat is suddenly hit by something underwater with enough force to knock her sideways and kill the engine. As she goes outside to take a look, one of the cameras mounted high on the boat captures the figure of a huge, mysterious animal moving just beneath the surface of the water, just behind the stern of the boat. Sharon decides to go into the water to investigate what has happened, which worries Charles, but she assures him that nothing will happen to her. She tethers herself to the boat, as well as attaching a waterproof video camera to her lifejacket, so that she could broadcast whatever she found to her viewers. Minutes later, she re-emerges from the water, having discovered a chunk of flesh that she assumes has come from a whale which was stuck in her motor. Her current problem resolved, Sharon continues to the coordinates given by the distress call, which are located on top of the Monterey Canyon. As she approaches the other ship, she sees no one aboard. She sails around the boat to try to locate the captain, but instead finds blood spattered on the vessel, which apparently indicate a possible attack.

Now worried for her safety and the missing captain's, Sharon tries to call the Coast Guard, but fails. As she tries to leave the area--concluding that whatever happened on the other boat is in the jurisdiction of the Coast Guard, not her--she puts on a wet suit and her lifejacket again. Her boat is suddenly rammed again, killing the engine. Growing more and more frightened, Sharon contacts Charles again and confides in him everything that has happened since she got the distress call two hours ago; they both conclude that she must not go in the water again, just to be safe, and that Charles will call the Coast Guard himself while Sharon tries to sail out of there.

Just as she finishes setting up the sail, the boat is rammed again and she falls overboard. Fortunately, she is still wearing her lifejacket; Charles, who can see her in the water thanks to the high-mounted camera, tries to calm her down and tells her to get back in the boat, but she is unable to as the railings are out of her reach and she can't swim around because of her tether. Charles tells her to cut herself loose so that she can reach the ladder at the back of the boat. As she swims back, the high-mounted camera again captures the silhouette of a very large, plesiosaur-like creature swimming close to the boat. The wind picks up again and Sharon is unable to reach the boat as the monster's silhouette appears again, now very close to the surface, in full view of her the camera and heading straight for her. As the boat drifts away from her, Sharon is attacked by the creature, which pulls her underwater. The Coast Guard was unable to recover Sharon's body even after an extensive grid search of the area, though her camera was discovered; the camera's footage could not identify what had attacked her.