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Scottish Loch Monsters

The Greenock Monster?????

I remember reading about this somewhere many years ago and asking someone I knew from the area about it- they had heard the story and believed it was supposed to have been buried in Battery Park in Greenock.

I
 
I remember reading about this somewhere many years ago and asking someone I knew from the area about it- they had heard the story and believed it was supposed to have been buried in Battery Park in Greenock.

oh wow! OH WOW!!!!!!!! :D
 
oh wow! OH WOW!!!!!!!! :D

Done a quick Google search for 'Greenock sea monster', I find two other possible burial sites mentioned - St Ninians school playing fields and the former Gourock Juniors football ground. Not sure exactly where either of these are, but I have walked through Battery Park- it's pretty much right on the bank of the river, so might have been an easy and convenient place to take a dead sea monster. ..
 
On a related note, I read some time ago that there used to be a number of 19th Century gentlemens' magazines concerning the migration of giant eels and catfish in the UK, often across open countryside. It occurred to me that this might account for knights doing battle with "wyrms", and might be relevant to Loch monsters as well. Sadly I have never been able to verify this or track down one of the publications. I would suspect they might be in the British Museum. If anyone knows about this and can offer a link to it, I, and I expect other Forteans, would be very grateful.
 
On a related note, I read some time ago that there used to be a number of 19th Century gentlemens' magazines concerning the migration of giant eels and catfish in the UK, often across open countryside. It occurred to me that this might account for knights doing battle with "wyrms", and might be relevant to Loch monsters as well. Sadly I have never been able to verify this or track down one of the publications. I would suspect they might be in the British Museum. If anyone knows about this and can offer a link to it, I, and I expect other Forteans, would be very grateful.
That's interesting. It's long held belief of mine that a now nearly vanished species of large eel might have been responsible for such reports along with reports of 'horse-eels'.
 
On a related note, I read some time ago that there used to be a number of 19th Century gentlemens' magazines concerning the migration of giant eels and catfish in the UK, often across open countryside. It occurred to me that this might account for knights doing battle with "wyrms", and might be relevant to Loch monsters as well. Sadly I have never been able to verify this or track down one of the publications. I would suspect they might be in the British Museum. If anyone knows about this and can offer a link to it, I, and I expect other Forteans, would be very grateful.

I used to be a keen scuba diver and at the time my primary interest in diving was the aquatic/marine life.

I think it is well established that the common freshwater eel can travel like a snake through wet grass for some distance between ponds and rivers and the like.

The common eel as found in the UK can grow to a metre or, in exceptional cases, 1.5 metres long. However, this is based on examples that have been caught and measured.

As a diver who spent many happy hours in fresh water, I have only seen freshwater eels twice. Once was in Loch Lomond when I had a brief sighting of a small one. The other was when I was not diving, but standing on a bridge in Lincolnshire looking down at the shallow River Witham. I had a good sighting of an eel possibly 0.75 metres long.

However, it is common for certain types of fish to grow to meet the resources (food and space) available. Because they are completely immersed in and supported by water, they do not have all of the same "cube:square" problems that a large land animal would have. As they are cold blooded and spend large parts of their life just sitting still, their energy needs are fairly easily met.

There is no "engineering" reason why a common eel could not grow to twice normal size, or even more. Whether it happens in reality is another question. Biologists could perhaps make a prediction based on physiology, life expectancy, and so on, but the only way to be sure would be to catch one.

For comparison, two species of saltwater eel: the conger can grow up to 3 metres long and certain species of moray eel can grow up to 4 metres long.

However, the cube:square thing would come back into play to some extent if an exceptionally large eel came on land. To its advantage, it would be long and thin, so the weight would be distributed well and it might be able to survive for a period.

There are around 900 known species of eel. Most are nocturnal and most spend their time in hollows and crevices and under rocks, so sightings are rare. If you assume that a very large eel would be unlikely to be caught (not many people fish for eels, large eels might ignore bait suitable for small eels, a large and powerful eel might successfully snap a fishing line designed for a more typically-sized specimen, etc.) then it does not seem improbable that there are some specimens much larger than we know about. This really is a case where "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is a relevant and sensible point to make.

There are tales of exceptionally large eels in various UK lakes including Windermere.
 
I used to be a keen scuba diver and at the time my primary interest in diving was the aquatic/marine life.

I think it is well established that the common freshwater eel can travel like a snake through wet grass for some distance between ponds and rivers and the like.

The common eel as found in the UK can grow to a metre or, in exceptional cases, 1.5 metres long. However, this is based on examples that have been caught and measured.

As a diver who spent many happy hours in fresh water, I have only seen freshwater eels twice. Once was in Loch Lomond when I had a brief sighting of a small one. The other was when I was not diving, but standing on a bridge in Lincolnshire looking down at the shallow River Witham. I had a good sighting of an eel possibly 0.75 metres long.

However, it is common for certain types of fish to grow to meet the resources (food and space) available. Because they are completely immersed in and supported by water, they do not have all of the same "cube:square" problems that a large land animal would have. As they are cold blooded and spend large parts of their life just sitting still, their energy needs are fairly easily met.

There is no "engineering" reason why a common eel could not grow to twice normal size, or even more. Whether it happens in reality is another question. Biologists could perhaps make a prediction based on physiology, life expectancy, and so on, but the only way to be sure would be to catch one.

For comparison, two species of saltwater eel: the conger can grow up to 3 metres long and certain species of moray eel can grow up to 4 metres long.

However, the cube:square thing would come back into play to some extent if an exceptionally large eel came on land. To its advantage, it would be long and thin, so the weight would be distributed well and it might be able to survive for a period.

There are around 900 known species of eel. Most are nocturnal and most spend their time in hollows and crevices and under rocks, so sightings are rare. If you assume that a very large eel would be unlikely to be caught (not many people fish for eels, large eels might ignore bait suitable for small eels, a large and powerful eel might successfully snap a fishing line designed for a more typically-sized specimen, etc.) then it does not seem improbable that there are some specimens much larger than we know about. This really is a case where "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is a relevant and sensible point to make.

There are tales of exceptionally large eels in various UK lakes including Windermere.
The American eel lives in my neck of the woods (Northeast US - Great Lakes region). It's is actually quite common. Have caught quite them while fishing. They put up quite a struggle and god help you if you land one in a boat. You'd be lucky to ever get the slime cleaned up. Never seen another fish covered with as much slime as an eel. We've caught them up to 4', Estimate close to 20 pounds. They are also a bugger to hook, they have the nasty habit of pulling -hitting on the bait without swallowing it. The only other fresh water fish that's as hard to hook is the Whitefish (which is absolutely delicious), not so for eels.

The migration these eels go through is fascinating. A small lake I've fished contains a healthy supply of eels. To reach Lake Ontario these eels must navigate through no less than 12 different lakes and 18 different streams or rivers. Once in Lake Ontario they must then navigate into the St. Lawrence Seaway, from which they can reach the Atlantic Ocean to spawn.
 
Most are nocturnal and most spend their time in hollows and crevices and under rocks, so sightings are rare. If you assume that a very large eel would be unlikely to be caught (not many people fish for eels, large eels might ignore bait suitable for small eels, a large and powerful eel might successfully snap a fishing line designed for a more typically-sized specimen, etc.) then it does not seem improbable that there are some specimens much larger than we know about. This really is a case where "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" is a relevant and sensible point to make.

There are tales of exceptionally large eels in various UK lakes including Windermere.
I based my notion on the reasonable well documented long finned eels of New Zealand, where there are certainly some big eels, 2m and 40kg allegedly.



https://bassfishing-gurus.com/longfin-eel-fresh-water-monsters/
  • The largest Longfin Eel ever caught on record is 55 pounds.
However, there are several accounts of these fish reaching over 8 feet and as heavy as 130 pounds. These stories are backed up as being probable by local fisheries and universities.

Coming across something like that in a small body of water would be something of a shock and as you say, an angler would probably fare badly if 'only' tackled up for a 4-5lb anguilla anguilla.
 
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