Extra-large, even giant-sized, eels are frequently cited as potential identities for all manner of freshwater and maritime monsters around the world, including Britain's very own Nessie. Down through the years, I've documented a fair few of these reports, from such disparate, far-flung locations as North America, New Zealand, and the Mascarene Islands. Now, another location, Vietnam, can apparently be added to that list.
Longstanding Loch Ness Monster researcher Steve Feltham hosts a very interesting and informative public Facebook group entitled 'Steve Feltham, Nessie Hunter, Interactive Collective', which acts as a forum for sharing relevant information relevant to this pre-eminent cryptid. On 13 October 2022, group member Mike Gavan from New Zealand posted the following fascinating account of what may have been a truly gigantic eel encountered underwater off Vietnam by one of his friends:
I’ve just had a visit from an older friend of mine, Tim.
Tim was a deep sea diver in the 1970s, working from a bell at an average depth of 200 m [656 ft], his work was in the area of undersea recovery, maintenance for the oil industry world wide.
Around 1974, Tim was diving on a recovery job at 220 m [722 ft] off the coast of Nha Trang, Vietnam.
His job was to recover a length of special purpose ducting that had been lost overboard, he was to locate it, tie it and await a winch.
About 10 minutes into his dive from the bell Tim saw what he believed was part of the ducting and proceeded towards it, [but] as he got close enough to touch it he realised that it was not ducting!
"It was soft and felt like an eel or fish, the girth was around 6 ft, when I did actually touch it a large head looking like a snake or reptile appeared in my lamps, I contacted the top and asked if they were seeing what I was seeing as I had a camera attached to my dive suit, yes was the reply. ”Go to the bell now Tim, repeat, go to the bell now!” was their reply, I estimated the creature to be over 100ft, possibly 120-130 ft in length, I turned and headed bell asap, which wasn’t quickly due to my dive suit and gear, it was terrifying and I never looked back, I’ve seen giant sharks, strange lights etc but that snake thing was the weirdest thing I ever saw in my tenure as a deep sea diver!"
Tim is now 78 years old, honest and trustworthy & also sound of mind.
He lives on a back country farm of 4000 acres in solitude now.
This was relayed to me literally 2 hours ago.
The creature that immediately came to mind when I read this report was a moray eel or muraenid, of which there are over 200 species found in tropical and temperate waters worldwide, often in coastal regions, and are famously serpentine in appearance. However, the longest known species, the slender giant moray Strophidion sathete, is 'only' up to 13 ft long, a far cry indeed from the immense length cited by eyewitness Tim for the elongate entity that he allegedly encountered at very close range (and even allowing for possibly a sizeable degree of over-estimation on Tim's part due to the extreme shock and fear that he'd clearly experienced).
But could there be exceptional individuals far greater in size than any recorded by science existing incognito in our oceans, their huge dimensions buoyed by their liquid environment? If so, they would indeed be veritable monsters. I wonder what happened to the film that Tim's camera recorded of this creature, as viewed by his above-surface team? That would certainly be well worth a watch!
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Adds some credence to the size of the Moray Eel depicted in the Peter Brenchley novel 'Deep'
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this recently. Correct me if I'm mistaken but, I think it's one of the most recent sightings that could likely be attributed to Heuvelmans' Super-Eel.
ReplyDeleteThe monsters of Crescent Lake (CA) are giant eels.
ReplyDeleteThis account validates a witness who told me his story. The man fought on the US side during the Vietnam War. At some point the South Vietnamese wanted to build a bridge and were blasting to clear rock so they could build the footing for a bridge. After the blast, a lot of fish and debris were hurled up. Among them was a snake or eel 80 to 90 feet long (in his estimation). It had been killed by the blast. No one said anything, but men were ordered to quietly push it back in the river. I can still remember the drawing he did of the head, which had slanted eyes and a beard-like appendage on the chin.
ReplyDeleteMonster sized freshwater eels are part of New Zealand folklore and I have heard many of my hunting and fishing friends relate accounts of eels well beyond the accepted 4ft maximum.
ReplyDeleteFreshwater eels prevented from spawning and migrating become "eunuch eels" and have been claimed to simply continue growing as long as there is plentiful food supply.
I agree about the New Zealand eels. However, the eunuch eel is merely a hypothesis, nothing more than speculation, because no confirmed specimen of such an entity has ever been captured and scientifically identified. On the contrray, one marine biologist declared that if such a creature ever did develop, the chances are it would be thicker-bodied rather than longer-bodied.
DeleteThere's definitely something to be said for the remark about eels getting thicker bodied rather than longer as I've seen old photos of such eels.
DeleteI also agree that no outsize eel has ever been scientifically confirmed, all I have is anecdotla evidence (eyewitness accounts) both firsthand and from old books relating the experience of early settlers and explorers.
The largest freshwater eels I saw in person were a pair swimming side by side in clear shallow water that i was only a couple of metres away from. They were about 6ft long.
as is all too often the case, I didn't have a camera handy. not that I would have liked to get any closer for scale reference!
The part about larger eels becoming thicker-bodied is definitely correct, as there is photographic evidence of such!
DeleteTrue that no "giants" have ever been officially caught and measured, but then NZ's department of Conservation are a very conservative bunch (and you won't find what you aren't looking for). The largest NZ eel I've seen close enough to provide a good estimate was about 2 metres (in shallow water at close range) but I'm assured, anecdotally, that there are larger specimens out there. Then again, it could be just the old "one that got away" syndrome at work, you know how fisherman are :)
Check out the photo at the link of a thick-bodied eel alongside the "normal" slender version (Both pretty big eels!)
Deletehttp://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/scientificname/Anguilla%20dieffenbachii/show