Strange thing spotted in the river.

Yep, this will sound nuts, but gonna post it out of interest as I have never seen anything like this. I live opposite a river and was today sat looking at it as I do quite often as I watch the birds etc amongst other wildlife, anyway, there was great big swirl in the middle and out came what I can only describe as long serpent type body exit the water then curve under again, no head visible or tail, just the 'body' which was a greenish yellow colour to my eyes, this was only about 40 ft away and I was at an elevated position from upstairs, oddest thing I have seen in 5 years here. From the distance I estimate the section I saw would have been around 4-5 ft in length and as I said, didn't see a head or tail end, but was quite obviously a living thing in my opinion, I have observed all kinds of wildlife here, otters, large diving birds, cormorants etc, loads of branches and trees floating down after floods, even a seal on one occasion, so no, it wasn't any of those, just wish I had a picture, I have been staking out but doubt I will see it again, the river here is tidal so we get the sea water coming quite far inland so I won't rule out anything from the sea possibly being up here but struggling to define anything that looks like a 5 foot snake with a girth that must have been at lease 1-2 ft and I'm pretty sure it wasn't any kind of small whale. Anyway, just thought I would share it!

Thanks.

I was browsing through aquatic life from your area of the world (Lancashire), and you do in fact have eels that match the colour description you gave and they can grow quite large.

a reply to: aquiel

Eels or whatever there’s no way I’d be stepping foot near that river ever again

That would be some eel at 4 feet.
North West England doesnt have many other 4 feet long yellowy greeny fish so - possibly a pike- as they can be anything from dark green to very yellow dublinpikeanglers.com...


Wouldnt expect to see pike energetically break the surface in the winter though....

a reply to: aquiel

The first thing that ran through my head by your description was the Eel Cousin "The Lamprey".

When I use to dredge for Gold on the Klamath River (California) you'd witness these enormous Salmon and Trout jumping out of the river with what looked like tentacles attached to them. Turned out it was these Lamprey that would attach themselves to the fish (and in some rare cases humans) and proceed to suck the lifeblood out of them (like a parasite).

The fish would jump high out of the river shaking violently trying to get them off. Some of the Lamprey I've seen 20-25 feet below the surface were 3 and 4 foot (+) in length and damn scary as hell to see up close with those teeth in a circular array....... C R E E P Y !

We have a sea lamprey problem here in Lake Michigan but not as bad as it used to be and not 4' Long. Just over a foot at the most that I've seen.

4' The beaches would close!!

a reply to: aquiel

Go fishing with a camera see what you can find. Sounds interesting.

That girth of 1-2 feet pretty much rules out eels and lampreys. It would be a damn big pike to be that thick and they don’t look snakelike when breaching the surface.

And this is why I stay out of rivers and lakes!

We have some gar and catfish around here that could get to the size (and color) you're talking about. I've seen them "roll" at the surface of the water so that all you really see is the hump of their back out of the water (not the head or tail). No idea if they would even live near you though.

a reply to: Weagle

Good call! OP, I bet this guy's post is your answer. Either this or the lamprey thing.

a reply to: JohnnyAnonymous

Freaky!!!!

An ex-boyfriend of mine is a diver and so I got to tag along around the world and snorkel in the places he went to dive. He got into a thing where he would find big eels on every dive and take pictures of them facing him and looking like they are smiling. Pretty hilarious photos really.

Also one of the reasons I'm fine with staying on the surface of the water looking down.

a reply to: aquiel

It caused a swirl which caused you to notice before it even came out. Sounds big.

a reply to: Weagle

Well, I think we found the missing link between fish and alligator! A little evolution humor. For believers and non believers alike.

Can you give a bit more info on location etc ..... bet it was a chubby drinker from Wigan that had lost it's pie.

a reply to: aquiel

logs can do strange things - a curved branch - with a section of trunk being churned below the water - and hitting obstacles - can roll and seem to undulate as it goes through an eddy

PS - which river - i is " somewhere " up the ribble valley [ cannot see the river from house ] - but spend a bit of time on ribble // hodder - and visit wyre // lune a bit too

A Wels cat fish maybe they grow to some big sizes and are known to UK waters. There's a few waters where I fish in a essex that have been known to produce cat fish 100lb+. This photo is from an old article in the daily mail. This fish was around 7 foot long. Catch the light right on the fish and they can look yellow or green


www.dailymail.co.uk...

Hi, Thanks for the reply's,

I live opposite the River Ribble in Preston, Lancashire, not far from The road bridge at Penwortham which is a very tidal section, the Pike suggestion was something I hadn't thought of even though i used to go Pike fishing quite often, the girth was only an estimation, could have been less, difficult to tell from the angle, I also like the suggestion of maybe a large Eel, Not sure if there are big Lamprey around here, heard they have just been re introduced but probably quite small ones, the large ones look horrific! I get the suggestion of a tree branch swirling etc but I did see it move in a very animal like slither and could definitely make out the slimy appearance, Catfish is another good shout, not sure if they are in the Ribble though.

Cheers guys.

www.lacfs.org.uk...

interesting info on above site, some pretty big barbel in the ribble, www.anglingtimes.co.uk...

maybe a catfish?? or a sturgeon -neither impossible

www.lacfs.org.uk...

interesting info on above site, some pretty big barbel in the ribble, www.anglingtimes.co.uk...

maybe a catfish, there have been sightings and a few caught near London Road ?? or a sturgeon, aparently a huge one was caught around Avenham in the 1920's

Sturgeons are another possibility, I've know a few people I use to work with who have landed sturgeon weighing over 90lb in UK waters by they have been in lakes and not rivers. They are extremely powerful fish. Going back a few years now I had only been fishing for about 6 months so still learning but I managed to hook and land a 38lb Sturgeon. It put up a massive fight and once out the water I received a almighty whip from it rear fin. Not the greatest of pictures but here's a pic of the one I caught. I've cropped myself out of the image. It even felt like a monster it was just pure solid muscle