An interesting underwater video has been published filmed in
the river which serves as an entrance to Loch Ness. It shows what looks like a huge
eel. This news broke as I was in the middle of last Thursday's HPANWO Show,
see: http://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2019/09/programme-339-podcast-no-feature.html.
The idea that the Loch Ness Monster might be an eel was proposed by Jonathan
Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, see: http://www.cfz.org.uk.
It is an extremely big eel, and this is because it might be a "eunuch eel".
These are eels born with atrophied genitalia, hence the name. Because of their
deformity, they don't travel vast distances to breed and then die, so they grow
to abnormally large sizes, up to thirty feet long. The photo was published at
this time when an environmental DNA study of Loch Ness has just been completed.
Scientists led by Prof. Neil Gemmell collected water samples full of skin, fur
and other debris left by living creatures. They identified fifteen species of
fish and thousands of microbes. However, they found nothing unknown. Source;
the article includes a comment by Richard Freeman, also of the CFZ: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9957303/real-loch-ness-monster-giant-eel/.
The most popular theory about Nessie, for those who believe it exists, is that
it is a reptile. The so-called "surgeon's photo" shows what looks
like a plesiosaur, an aquatic dinosaur that supposedly became extinct
sixty-five million years ago, but might not have. The surgeon's photo is very
controversial and most experts claim that it is fake; although this has never
been proven. I am convinced that the Loch Ness Monster is real, but I am open
to the possibility that it might be a fish or shark. It seems more likely to
remain illusive that way. Reptiles breathe with lungs, just like mammals, and
so would need to surface regularly and would probably be seem more often. Fish
and sharks have gills and so can remain submerged indefinitely. However, many
of the photographs and eyewitness descriptions of Nessie do not resemble eels
of any variety, either in form or behaviour. The monster is often reported to
raise part of its body well clear of the water; this is often thought to be a
long neck. It also has humps on its back; sometimes these are interpreted as
coils like a giant snake. There are too many credible reports to ignore, even
if some of the photographs are faked (Of course nowadays that could potentially
be any of them, see here for details: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2016/12/car-ghost-photo.html.)
This does not mean that it is in fact a snake or dinosaur. We won't know for
sure unless we get more evidence of what it is. It might still be a fish or
shark; but if it is, then it is an unknown and highly unusual species.
See here for
background: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2018/05/programme-281-podcast-andy-mcgrath.html.
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