The Altamaha-ha is a posited aquatic

Aquatic animal

An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...

 creature alleged in local mythology and folklore to inhabit the myriad network of small stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

s and abandoned rice fields near the mouth of the Altamaha River

Altamaha River

The Altamaha River is a major river of the American state of Georgia. It flows generally eastward for 137 miles from its origin at the confluence of the Oconee River and Ocmulgee River towards the Atlantic Ocean, where it empties into the ocean near Brunswick, Georgia. There are no dams...

 (after which it has been named) in southeastern Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, particularly around Darien

Darien, Georgia

Darien is a city in McIntosh County, Georgia, United States. It lies on Georgia's coast at the mouth of the Altamaha River about 50 miles south of Savannah, and is part of the Brunswick, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population of Darien was 1,719 at the 2000 census. The city is the...

 and elsewhere in McIntosh County

McIntosh County, Georgia

McIntosh County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Brunswick, Georgia, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of McIntosh, Glynn, and Brantley counties. As of 2010, the population is 14,333. The county seat is Darien.-History:McIntosh County was split...

. No physical evidence for its existence has been reported.

Appearance

The Altamaha-ha has been described as looking like a sturgeon (including a bony ridge on the back), swimming like a dolphin or porpoise, and having a snout like a crocodile. It is also said to be grey with a whitish-yellow underbelly.

History

There have been many stories of such a creature in southeastern Georgia (and a smaller number of similar reports in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

) going back to at least the 18th century. The local Tama Indian tribe has legends of a giant, snake-like creature inhabiting the waters of and near the Altamaha River that presumably pre-date English settlement of the Georgia coast.

In cryptozoology

Within cryptozoology

Cryptozoology

Cryptozoology refers to the search for animals whose existence has not been proven...

, some have speculated that the Altamaha-ha may be an oceanic cryptid which engages in reproductive spawning

Spawn (biology)

Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...

in the fresh waters in and around the Altamaha River. However, no physical evidence for its existence as a real creature has been reported.
Alleged sightings of the animal continue to be reported, with most reports involving swimmers bumping into the creature, which appears to be harmless as no accounts of it attacking humans have emerged.