All around the globe, people trade stories about monsters lurking in the forests and lakes that lie just beyond the borders of civilization. Be it the Loch Ness monster in Scottland, the yeti of the Himalayas, or even Bigfoot prowling the Pacific Northwest—every place has a resident monster legend.
Usually these mythical creatures are just that: myths. But every so often, these bits of folklore turn out to be about very real animals that scientists just haven't come into contact with yet.
The giant panda, for example, was thought to be little more than mythology by western scientists until the 19th century. Ancient tales of giant tentacled sea monsters were thought to be the result of drunken sailors who were out at sea just a little too long—but modern scientists now believe those were probably the first sightings of the very real giant squid.
So, that leads us to an interesting question: What other real "monsters" are still out there? One man is on a mission to find out.
Paul Mungeam (who prefers the nickname "Mungo") is one of the world's premier adventure cameramen, including a long-time stint shooting on location with noted TV adventurer Bear Grylls (a relationship that continues to this day). Paul has traveled around the globe to some of the world's most remote and dangerous locations, but now he steps in front of the camera for the new series Expedition Mungo, which airs on Sundays on Animal Planet.
"The series is all about stories I've heard all around the world in my 20 years as a cameraman," explains Mungo, who stopped by PCMag's offices to shoot an episode of our Q+A series, The Convo. "Wherever you go there's always a bigger better story that you hear about. A local guide will tell you something interesting—usually when the cameras are off—like 'you should have been here three years ago when there was a 27-foot crocodile.' And then this fantastic opportunity came up through Animal Planet that allows me to go investigate these stories for real."
Basic cable is filled to the brim with "professional" ghost hunters and Bigfoot "experts," who manage to go multiple seasons without ever finding anything even partially resembling proof. These series still mange to draw an audience because they're less about any kind of payoff then they are about the what if suspense.
When I asked Mungo if he actually found anything resembling proof, he answered "I'm not going to give away any spoilers. You have to watch the series. But we did end up solving at least one of the mysteries."
This was a great episode of The Convo filled with amazing stories about his adventures in the world's most remote locations. Of course, we also talked about the tech he takes out in the field, including his favorite cameras (for the record, his crew packs 14 different cameras and his favorites are the Sony F5 and Sony F-55) and even his favorite drones for shooting (he's not the drone operator, but he's a fan of DJI's Inspire 2 and Phantom lines).
The Convo is PCMag's interview series hosted by features editor Evan Dashevsky (@haldash). Each episode is broadcast live on PCMag's Facebook page, where viewers are invited to ask guests questions in the comments. Each episode is posted on our YouTube page and available as an audio podcast, which you can subscribe to on iTunes or the podcast platform of your choice.