Nesski on the Loose?
Posted by: Nick Redfern on September 20th, 2012
Is this the Siberian Nessie…?
“Russian academics are calling for a scientific probe into claims of a ‘Siberian Loch Ness monster’ in one of the world’s remotest lakes.
“Researchers using underwater scanners have found evidence of ‘Nesski’ – measuring up to 33 feet in length – in the deep waters of Lake Labynkyr, says a new report.
“Intriguingly, the evidence is at a lake where native Evenk and Yakut people have long claimed an underwater creature lurks.”
Those are the words that begin a new article in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper, which you can find right here.
About Nick Redfern
Punk music fan, Tennents Super and Carlsberg Special Brew beer fan, horror film fan, chocolate fan, like to wear black clothes, like to stay up late. Work as a writer.
Fairly unconvincing going just by the photo and a close-up I previously viewed in another news link – looks like an upright nearly-equilateral triangle with similar round knobs on each corner. A buoy perhaps?
The image on the radar could be a huge sturgeon. Russian waters are known for their giant sturgeon. If one poked its head out of the water I could see where it would look monstrous because this happened to me on a local river. I was fishing off the back of my boat when this giant head popped up and then silently slid back into the water. It was only about 10 foot from me and it was clearly a huge sturgeon. That was about 3 years ago and I have not seen one again since. If I was just some guy with no fish knowledge out boating it probably would have scared the crap out of me. I have a 14.5 foot boat and judging by the head and the girth of its neck it had to be as long, or longer than my boat. The thing about this fish, like other sturgeon, is they look like they have a reptilian skin similar to a croc. They just don’t look like a fish. They have huge front fins that could be confused for legs or flippers. As matter of fact they are shaped much like flippers. This is probably the most likely candidate for many monster sightings but you never know. I’ve seen my monster and it was a giant sturgeon in a river where they are almost extinct.
Glancing at the photo accompanying the article my first thought was: Probably should’ve called it, “Siberian Yeti standing in a lake…?” However, after reading the Daily Mail article, I’m even less impressed.
The sonar equipment used – specifically a “PiranhaMAX 215” – is not, by any means, a high-tech unit. In fact, according to the manufacturer’s website, it is one of their entry-level “fish finders” with: 4.0″ diagonal 4-level Grayscale screen, featuring 160v x 132h pixel resolution and retailing for $130.00. Contrast that to Humminbird’s flagship 1100 Series which feature: 10.4″ diagonal 65,000-color, displays with 600v x 800h pixels and side-scan capability, cost:$2,800.00!
Given the limitations of her low-res equipment, I find Dr. Emeliyanova’s statement, “The object was very dense, of homogeneous structure,” to be unscientifically unequivocal, to say the least! First, the unit’s low power, coupled with the depth of the purported contact(50-55m), makes any conclusions regarding the object’s density/homogeneity open to interpretation. Secondly, Dr. E’s pronouncement that the contact was, “Surely not a fish nor shoal of fish…” is equally absurd. Why the large contact must be a unknown “monster” and not a large fish – the Sturgeon (max size: 24 feet & 3,460lbs) immediately comes to mind – makes me wonder if the good Doctor is not just simply trolling for additional funding! Finally, the aforementioned limitations of the PiranhaMAX 215 makes the purported “drawings” of the creature, featured in the article, downright ludicrous!
Further speculation (not directly attributed to Dr. Emeliyanova – or anyone else, for that matter!) that the creatures may be surviving ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs or, even, “relic killer whales” simply show the ignorance of the individual proposing those candidates; all were/are air-breathing animals and their frequent surfacings to breathe would not allow them to remain “hidden” for long! Oh, and those underwater tunnels supposedly linking the lakes; thrown in to, maybe(?), lend credence to other “monster” sightings in a neighboring lake? Well, please explain how anything other than a fish (OK, or maybe an amphibian), could possibly make the underground (and) underwater transit without drowning?
While there may be a large, unknown, aquatic species living in Lake Labynkyr, the knee-jerk conclusion that it must be some type of “Loch Ness Monster” (which, incidentally, has yet to be scientifically “proven” to exist) and not simply a large fish, such as a Sturgeon, escapes me.
Occam’s razor, people!
(To wit: All other things being equal, simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones.)
Oh my god yet more proof Grover the Muppet’s real!
Either that or it’s his cousin the Black Jelly Baby.
Or…
OR!
It’s an unknown relative of theirs Splashsquatch!
…all of which is to say Nick’s it doesn’t look very Nessie like to me but rather humanoid and since it seems to have three prongs on its head in some pictures not unlike the image which’s recently appeared on the surface of Jupiter it’d be intriguing to know whether the local mythology bears any resemblance to that of the inland San (unlike paradoxically the coastal San) of Africa where their ancient cave art depicts mermaids and mermen still apparently seen to this day but cavorting in lakes and rivers not the sea.