Breaking Loch Ness News: Maybe It Was a Big Eel All Along?

Huge, and gross, if true.

The honest-to-goodness British Broadcasting Corporation just published an article suggesting the Loch Ness Monster could be real… just, not a monster.

Over the decades, there have been varying plausible theories as to what the Loch Ness Monster actually is.

Now, we finally have some concrete-ish evidence.

According to researchers from New Zealand who have tried to catalogue all living species in the Scottish loch where 'Nessie' was believed to reside, there is "no evidence" of any large animals having ever lived there.

The researchers also ruled out catfish, sharks, sturgeons and "prehistoric marine reptile" the plesiosaur.

What they did find was eels.

"There is a very significant amount of eel DNA," Professor Neil Gemmell told the BBC.

"Eels are very plentiful in Loch Ness, with eel DNA found at pretty much every location sampled—there are a lot of them. So, are they giant eels?"

Though conspiracy theorists will refute the findings for generations, this could end a mystery that dates back 1,500 years, when there was a first report of an encounter with a monster in the River Ness.

A purported photo of "Nessie", pictured at the top of this article, captured imaginations in 1934, but it was confirmed as a hoax 60 years later (it was just a toy submarine with a head made of putty).

Nonetheless, if there are indeed monster-sized eels out there in Scotland, I find that genuinely more terrifying than whatever the Loch Ness Monster was supposed to be.

Stay safe out there, aye?

Header Image: iStock.com/Matt84