The Loch Ness Monster is NOT just a giant eel, study claims

It was a story destined for the headlines – a reclusive beast lurking in the waters of a picturesque Scottish lake.

Was it a crocodile, a fish or even a dinosaur? No one knew for sure, although many ignored the Loch Ness Monster as just an exceptionally large eel.

Now a scientist claims they’ve debunked the “eel hypothesis” altogether, with a new theory that adds to the decades-old mystery.

While it’s generally believed that Nessie was about three feet long, new analysis shows there’s only a one in 50,000 chance of encountering an eel this size.

“In this new work from the Folk Zoology Society, a much-needed level of scientific rigor and data is brought to an otherwise slick as an eel subject,” said author Floe Foxon.

WHAT IS THE PHOTO OF STURGEON?

In 1934, The Daily Mail published a photograph by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson of what appeared to be a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

For For 60 years, this celebrated photo of a long-necked creature helped keep the legend of the Loch Ness Monster alive.

It became known as the ‘Sturgeon’s Photograph’ because Lieutenant Wilson was a Harley Street gynaecologist.

However, this photo was actually of a modified toy submarine.

It is now alleged that he was part of a plot to perpetuate the myth of the monster, which began as a joke.

‘Contrary to popular belief, the intersection between folklore and zoology is amenable to scientific analysis and has the potential to provide valuable insights into anthrozoological phenomena.

“This work also advocates open access scholarship and non-traditional publishing – the future of scholarly publishing.”

As part of Foxon’s analysis, freshwater data was collected not only from Loch Ness, but also from a range of other freshwater bodies across Europe.

This included the size of 129 eels caught between 1970 and 1971 – nearly 40 years after Nessie’s infamous black and white photo was taken.

Although the “Surgeon’s Photograph” is widely known as a hoax, estimates suggest that the monster in this image was between 0.6 and 2.4 meters long.

Foxon acknowledges that it is not impossible that a three-foot-long eel may have existed in the lake.

For example, an eel measuring 1.05 meters in length was found in another lake by scientists from the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute.

She, however it claims it would take a Scottish eel almost 30 years to reach the one meter mark – assuming it grew at an unrealistically steady rate.

And to reach six meters in length, an eel would have to grow fast for nearly 200 years — an age close to the longest-living fish — the Greenland shark.

The new research provides groundbreaking evidence that contrasts with the beliefs of previous studies, including one published by the University of Otago in New Zealand in 2019.

For generations, Mrs. Foxon has believed there’s a slim chance that a three-foot-long eel once lived in the lake. As an example, she points to a four-foot-long eel found in another Scottish loch by scientists at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute

Ms Foxon’s study analyzed the size of eels caught between 1970 and 1971 – nearly 40 years after Nessie’s infamous black and white photo was taken (European Eel photo)

The scientist claims that it is virtually impossible to find an eel over a meter in size

Latest study believes Nessie may be a ‘wave phenomenon’, the ‘occasional stray mammal’ or something else

While geneticist Professor Neil Gemmell couldn’t verify their size, he said the possibility of “giant eels in Loch Ness” couldn’t be ruled out.

Scotland’s freshwater lake southwest of Inverness

He also added that catfish and bowhead sharks could be to blame for Nessie sightings in the past, but this created uncertainty.

While Ms Foxon acknowledges that Nessie may have been an eel, she claimed it was ‘not very big’.

Instead, Nessie is believed to have been a “wave phenomenon,” the “occasionally stray mammal,” or something else.

“While one European eel is reported (unverified) to have reached the ripe old age of 155, that specimen did not grow to a remarkable size because eel growth is non-linear and slows down in old age,” Ms Foxon said.

Furthermore, the “breaking” behavior attributed to unfamiliar Loch Ness animals (swimming up and out of the water) is not a behavior characteristic of eels during migration or otherwise, especially since such behavior would represent unnecessary energy expenditure in a cold environment with relatively little food.

“It could be an eel, but not that big.”

What IS the Loch Ness Monster?

Rumors of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded in recent decades, but little evidence has been found to substantiate these claims.

One of the first sightings, believed to have sparked modern Nessie fever, occurred on May 2, 1933.

On this date, the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claimed to have ‘seen a huge animal roll onto the surface and crash’.

Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.

It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the contestants, Chris Spurling, who revealed on his deathbed that the photos were staged.

Other sightings James Gray’s 2001 photograph when he and friend Peter Levings were fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray’s faint photograph of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.

Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London doctor, captured perhaps the most famous photo of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934

The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St. Columba when he encountered a giant beast in the River Ness.

But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings – although in 2019 ‘Nessie expert’ Steve Feltham, who has been watching the Loch for 24 years, said he thought it was actually a giant Welsh Catfish, native to the waters near the Baltic and Caspian Seas in Europe.

An online registry lists over 1,000 total Nessie sightings, made by Mr Campbell, the man behind the official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.

So what could explain these mysterious sightings?

Many Nessie witnesses have reported large, crocodile-like scales sitting atop the creature’s spine, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian is to blame.

Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ribbed backs, giving them an almost reptilian appearance.

Some believe that Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur – like an elasmosaurus – that somehow survived when all other dinosaurs were wiped out.

Others say the sightings are due to Scots pines dying off and falling into the lake, before quickly submerging and sinking.

Under water, botanical chemicals begin to trap tiny air bubbles.

Eventually, enough of them are collected to propel the tree trunk upward, as deep pressure begins to change its shape, making it look like an animal is coming for air.