The search for Bigfoot is on, and you can help fund it

The search for Bigfoot is on, and you can help fund it. Nope, it's not a joke. Bigfoot reasearchers Todd Neiss, Diane Stalking, Ron Morehead along with up and coming junior researchers like Gunnar Monson are going on the Sasquatch adventure of a lifetime!

"Despite its whimsical name, Operation: Sea Monkey is a very serious, professional expedition into the Canadian wilderness in search of Bigfoot or Sasquatch," the GoFundMe page reads.

A group of researchers and a videographer are asking for $5,000 to help them explore the Broughton Archipelago, a cluster of "mostly uninhabited" islands on the northeastern side of Vancouver Island.

The group will reside on a 68-foot ship during the trip, and plans to use the donations for fuel, provisions and equipment like generators and batteries.

As of Monday evening, the GoFundMe campaign had raised $1,225 since its creation Saturday. The expedition is set to begin Sept. 23 and go through Oct. 2.

The trip is sponsored in part by the American Primate Conservancy, a Portland group dedicated to finding irrefutable evidence of the legendary monster's existence, securing it official recognition, and providing legal protection for the creatures.

The Conservancy's co-founder, Todd Neiss, will help lead the expedition. Neiss had his first and only Bigfoot sighting while serving in the military in Oregon's coastal range in 1993.

While he was originally a skeptic, after he saw "three enormous bipedal creatures" across a ravine, he was forced to accept their existence as fact, his site says.

Since the sighting, Neiss has been featured in documentaries and has spoken at Bigfoot conferences throughout the country.

In an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, Neiss said he's more enthusiastic about this trip than he's been in a long time, and thinks the chances of another sighting are especially good. There have been sightings in the area before in late September, Neiss said, and he's hoping his team will be in the right place at the right time.

The group plans to use drones, night vision cameras and thermal imaging to locate the creatures, he said. The team will then try to get as close to them as possible, then shine spotlights on them while cameras record the scene, he said.

The hope is to return with solid evidence of Sasquatch's existence that can be used to a protected status for the animal, Neiss said.

He'll be joined by Ron Morehead, who recorded creature vocalizations known as the "Sierra Sounds" in the early 1970s; Thomas Steenburg, an author who has investigated over 100 sightings across western Canada; Tom Sewid, another eye-witness-turned-researcher; and Gunnar Monson, co-founder of the Tillamook Forest Research Group and co-host of the Monster-X Radio show.

The group will be accompanied by videographer Darren O'Brien, who plans to produce a documentary of the adventure.

Neiss likened the expedition to "Jurassic Park" – after all, the team is heading to uninhabited islands in search of a creature that, according to most of the world, doesn't exist.

"It's one of the last great mysteries of our lifetime," he said.

Read more about the expedition on the GoFundMe page.

Source: The Oregonian