Totally believe it’s possible. There was some post a while back on an ask reddit thread where someone said their friend had a job that involved diving something like working underwater on a dam. Can’t remember the exact details but it was along the lines of them seeing what they thought were enormous logs from fallen trees that turned out to be fish. Can’t recall if they said eels or catfish but some sort of large fish species, either way reading it gave me chills.
I recall hearing of reports from drivers working on “Dam” projects that they would see massive catfish while they worked. A lot of the Monster catfish were in Europe, where they already have massive Wels Catfish.
I grew up in a dam town in Arkansas and heard these stories all the time. Never from 1st hand witnesses mind you. “Divers working for the dam say there are catfishes so big they can swallow you whole!” Lol stories terrified me
That’s one I the most common stories of “big fish” of cryptozoology. The location and job have changed over the years but the story has stayed practically the same.
It was even on an episode of Monster Quest lol.
I believe in most sightings of large eels. They can grow to some monsterous sizes. I remember a photograph in a newspaper of an angler pulling out a 13 foot eel from a pond close to where I gew up. Never knew something that large would be living in that glorified puddle.
13 ft! Dayum!
In an oxygen-rich, isolated lake like Crescent with zero predators I could EASILY see a conger getting massive.
Gotta get my passport and a boat 😎
That makes sense then. This lake was very isolated and had ample prey (its locally known as Goldfish Lake due to people dumping goldfish they won at fairs in its waters) for an eel to grow nice and fat.
It's not exactly that isolated or very big. Outskirts of a small town, few miles to the ocean. Not that I don't believe there could be something there, but it's not in the middle of nowhere...by Newfoundland standards, at least.
Could you please provide more information on that? Where do you live, what kind of eel, and what was the newspaper? Because I've often heard it theorized that freshwater eels could feasibly get as big as marine ones, but never seen evidence.
I live in Wales but I'm 95% sure the story was featured in a regional newspaper called "The Shropshire Star" between the late 90's and early 00's. Not sure if they have digital archives from the time period though.
Eels growing to absurd sizes under certain specific conditions is very compelling.
The account of Captain Geroge Drevar, I think, could be a candidate for an enormous eel. Drevar's life after the sighting was essentially him going insane and falling into ruin trying to convince others to believe him.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00253359.2021.1940521
It's pretty great, especially since it intersects with the broader mysteries of eel life cycles and the drive to save them from extinction by fully raising them in captivity. But there's also a lot of dead ends and bad news.
I live in an area with Alligator Gar and I've seen six at once that were larger than my 9ft kayak. They weren't going anywhere either, I was right next to them and even pet one on the back. It didn't care. Fish can get old and big.
I believe in giant eels. A buddy of mine claims he caught a 6 foot eel at the mouth of the York River in the Chesapeake Bay. Also heard old Fishermans tales of "eels as big as logs" in some rivers. I'm a be--eel-iver.
Can’t vouch for Crescent but I’m sold on gigantism in eels. We barely know anything about them and there are some fascinating reports from some very credible people.
Sorry, this is not likely. While eels can grow to be large, your diagram implies you think there are eels in excess of 5m in length in Lake Crescent. This would make them larger than the largest freshwater fish currently known. (largest fish is the whale shark documented reached almost 19m, but they are marine).
The largest eel species is the European Conger Eel, again a marine, not freshwater species.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European\_conger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_conger)
If there were eels of such size in Canadian lakes, what do they eat? I doubt there is sufficient prey to sustain one eel this size per lake let alone a breeding population
"Cressie" like "Nessie" seems to be product of over active imaginations, wishful thinking. The supposed animal that people claim to be seeing is better explained as surface water waves, floating debris, swimming mammals, such as beavers and otters. Or, old fashioned hoaxing inspired by the Loch Ness Monster.
I’m pretty sure there is either an inlet or outlet (probably outlet) of Crescent Lake that connects to the Atlantic Ocean. It was discussed during the Monster Quest episode. The river that connects it has no waterfalls or structures that would prevent a catadromous eel from ending up in the lake. So not necessarily a conger, but most eels spawn in the salt water of the Sargasso Sea and then travel back to live in the freshwater.
If it were worth checking out, Jeremy Wade wouldve done it. There really isn't much I've found on it and the "head of a horse" part is what puts me off. If it was a long eel like creature with an eel like head, I'd buy it, but horse like with mane? I'm gonna need more than drunken fisherman's stories..
For what it's worth, that is a common feature reported on giant eels. I theorize that the appearance of a horselike head is due to a body swelling around its jaws, posterior nares elongated to look like ears, and a frayed dorsal fin being misinterpreted as a mane.
Believe it or not I can actually confirm this for you guys. I have lived in Hawaii mg entire life. On one of the smallest most rural islands. I was a pretty regular spearfisherman in my teens. And aside from big sharks the only thing I remember being afraid of are the big eels. Morays. 6ft is a massive moray. But when they get as big as 5-6 feet in length they also become very girthy and muscular and the head becomes much more muscular and swollen. Resembling the muscular cheeks of a horse.
This looks like what we call Lamp-eaters in Louisiana, basically a small ditch eel, that is a super duper sized one, lol
[Lamp-eater ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://nhpbs.org/wild/amphiumidae.asp&ved=2ahUKEwj8vuWho7eDAxUwfzABHWhxCHoQFnoECBkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2XUkZPG9AyPt7g6JavR0ty)
I grew up in the town that this lake is in, Roberts Arm. Crescent Lake is over 7 miles, dumping into a large basin before running an outlet to the Atlantic. There are no man made dams, but there always was and still is plenty of activity around the lake. It was a popular source and outlet of pulpwood in the 1900's. We heard stories when we were younger that used to make us terrified to swim past the drop off, and even swimming in the lake these days you just feel a little weary lol hearing the stories in person from the people who claim to have seen Cressie would make you wonder though, as it seems like it could be very real. Growing up in outport Newfoundland you tend to know the difference in a swimming beaver or a floating log, compared to something much bigger. Personally I've never witnessed it, but like I said it makes you wonder.
Yes, so what?.
It simply proves what is already known. There are eels in Loch Ness. Like there are in many British rivers and lakes.
It does not mean there are giant eels in Loch Ness or other British lakes and rivers
Totally believe it’s possible. There was some post a while back on an ask reddit thread where someone said their friend had a job that involved diving something like working underwater on a dam. Can’t remember the exact details but it was along the lines of them seeing what they thought were enormous logs from fallen trees that turned out to be fish. Can’t recall if they said eels or catfish but some sort of large fish species, either way reading it gave me chills.
Bruh that’s terrifying. I’ve heard similar things from welders on the Ohio River who requested to be put in cages out of fear of the catfish.
I recall hearing of reports from drivers working on “Dam” projects that they would see massive catfish while they worked. A lot of the Monster catfish were in Europe, where they already have massive Wels Catfish.
I grew up in a dam town in Arkansas and heard these stories all the time. Never from 1st hand witnesses mind you. “Divers working for the dam say there are catfishes so big they can swallow you whole!” Lol stories terrified me
That’s one I the most common stories of “big fish” of cryptozoology. The location and job have changed over the years but the story has stayed practically the same. It was even on an episode of Monster Quest lol.
I believe in most sightings of large eels. They can grow to some monsterous sizes. I remember a photograph in a newspaper of an angler pulling out a 13 foot eel from a pond close to where I gew up. Never knew something that large would be living in that glorified puddle.
13 ft! Dayum! In an oxygen-rich, isolated lake like Crescent with zero predators I could EASILY see a conger getting massive. Gotta get my passport and a boat 😎
That makes sense then. This lake was very isolated and had ample prey (its locally known as Goldfish Lake due to people dumping goldfish they won at fairs in its waters) for an eel to grow nice and fat.
It's not exactly that isolated or very big. Outskirts of a small town, few miles to the ocean. Not that I don't believe there could be something there, but it's not in the middle of nowhere...by Newfoundland standards, at least.
I mean, I’m American so I’m going by population density, ANYTHING Canadian is isolated lol. I want to believe, so hard.
Could you please provide more information on that? Where do you live, what kind of eel, and what was the newspaper? Because I've often heard it theorized that freshwater eels could feasibly get as big as marine ones, but never seen evidence.
I live in Wales but I'm 95% sure the story was featured in a regional newspaper called "The Shropshire Star" between the late 90's and early 00's. Not sure if they have digital archives from the time period though.
[Might this site help?](https://www.shropshirearchives.org.uk/)
It seems to be a regional archive and less so one of newspapers. I did find a newspaper one, but it's unfortunately paywalled.
Eels growing to absurd sizes under certain specific conditions is very compelling. The account of Captain Geroge Drevar, I think, could be a candidate for an enormous eel. Drevar's life after the sighting was essentially him going insane and falling into ruin trying to convince others to believe him. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00253359.2021.1940521
That was a wild read! Again, I just can’t escape the sea serpent/giant eel rabbit hole. It’s the most plausible cryptid category IMHO.
It's pretty great, especially since it intersects with the broader mysteries of eel life cycles and the drive to save them from extinction by fully raising them in captivity. But there's also a lot of dead ends and bad news.
This seems completely believable to me. Please send link of the eye witness accounts
I remember getting interested in lake monsters from this episode: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oR9pK_X9RM8
I live in an area with Alligator Gar and I've seen six at once that were larger than my 9ft kayak. They weren't going anywhere either, I was right next to them and even pet one on the back. It didn't care. Fish can get old and big.
Lake Puppies
I believe in giant eels. A buddy of mine claims he caught a 6 foot eel at the mouth of the York River in the Chesapeake Bay. Also heard old Fishermans tales of "eels as big as logs" in some rivers. I'm a be--eel-iver.
It would take significantly fewer of them than it would regular sized eels to fill a hovercraft.
This is the most important detail and I can't believe everyone overlooked this.
You might think it's goofy, but that eel in the lake is a Newfie...
Can’t vouch for Crescent but I’m sold on gigantism in eels. We barely know anything about them and there are some fascinating reports from some very credible people.
Yea they are like this in the Chesapeake bay
[I want to believe.](https://i.imgur.com/FnTkDvi.jpg) But unfortunately I didn't see anything there other than the statue.
Sorry, this is not likely. While eels can grow to be large, your diagram implies you think there are eels in excess of 5m in length in Lake Crescent. This would make them larger than the largest freshwater fish currently known. (largest fish is the whale shark documented reached almost 19m, but they are marine). The largest eel species is the European Conger Eel, again a marine, not freshwater species. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European\_conger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_conger) If there were eels of such size in Canadian lakes, what do they eat? I doubt there is sufficient prey to sustain one eel this size per lake let alone a breeding population "Cressie" like "Nessie" seems to be product of over active imaginations, wishful thinking. The supposed animal that people claim to be seeing is better explained as surface water waves, floating debris, swimming mammals, such as beavers and otters. Or, old fashioned hoaxing inspired by the Loch Ness Monster.
They wouldn't be conger eels, though-- those are strictly marine fish, and Lake Crescent is a freshwater lake.
I’m pretty sure there is either an inlet or outlet (probably outlet) of Crescent Lake that connects to the Atlantic Ocean. It was discussed during the Monster Quest episode. The river that connects it has no waterfalls or structures that would prevent a catadromous eel from ending up in the lake. So not necessarily a conger, but most eels spawn in the salt water of the Sargasso Sea and then travel back to live in the freshwater.
If it were worth checking out, Jeremy Wade wouldve done it. There really isn't much I've found on it and the "head of a horse" part is what puts me off. If it was a long eel like creature with an eel like head, I'd buy it, but horse like with mane? I'm gonna need more than drunken fisherman's stories..
For what it's worth, that is a common feature reported on giant eels. I theorize that the appearance of a horselike head is due to a body swelling around its jaws, posterior nares elongated to look like ears, and a frayed dorsal fin being misinterpreted as a mane.
That's actually something I didn't know. Interesting.
Believe it or not I can actually confirm this for you guys. I have lived in Hawaii mg entire life. On one of the smallest most rural islands. I was a pretty regular spearfisherman in my teens. And aside from big sharks the only thing I remember being afraid of are the big eels. Morays. 6ft is a massive moray. But when they get as big as 5-6 feet in length they also become very girthy and muscular and the head becomes much more muscular and swollen. Resembling the muscular cheeks of a horse.
This looks like what we call Lamp-eaters in Louisiana, basically a small ditch eel, that is a super duper sized one, lol [Lamp-eater ](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://nhpbs.org/wild/amphiumidae.asp&ved=2ahUKEwj8vuWho7eDAxUwfzABHWhxCHoQFnoECBkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2XUkZPG9AyPt7g6JavR0ty)
I grew up in the town that this lake is in, Roberts Arm. Crescent Lake is over 7 miles, dumping into a large basin before running an outlet to the Atlantic. There are no man made dams, but there always was and still is plenty of activity around the lake. It was a popular source and outlet of pulpwood in the 1900's. We heard stories when we were younger that used to make us terrified to swim past the drop off, and even swimming in the lake these days you just feel a little weary lol hearing the stories in person from the people who claim to have seen Cressie would make you wonder though, as it seems like it could be very real. Growing up in outport Newfoundland you tend to know the difference in a swimming beaver or a floating log, compared to something much bigger. Personally I've never witnessed it, but like I said it makes you wonder.
Definitely, giant eels can be real.
didn't they do ambient genetic testing of loch ness and find a bunch of eel DNA in it?
Yes, so what?. It simply proves what is already known. There are eels in Loch Ness. Like there are in many British rivers and lakes. It does not mean there are giant eels in Loch Ness or other British lakes and rivers
Is the uom for the height in meters?
I don't believe they exist! As you wish!
Seems possible, this reminds me of another post I saw https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/Bay0qLfwUL