Researchers Cast Doubt on a Popular Loch Ness Theory

Score one for the mystery of the Loch Ness monster. A popular theory emerged in recent years suggesting Nessie is merely a giant eel, not some elusive creature of the deep. But a new study all but rejects the possibility, per Science Alert. In the journal JMIRx Bio, data scientist Floe Foxon writes that he examined data from more than 20,000 eels caught in Loch Ness and other bodies of water in Europe. The European eels he studied maxed out at about 3 feet in length, though Foxon says it's possible they could reach 4 feet. But even that maximum length could not account for Nessie sightings that translate to an animal of around 20 feet in length.

"The chances of finding a large eel in Loch Ness are around 1 in 50,000" for a specimen of about 3 feet, he writes. Those odds are actually "pretty good," notes Popular Mechanics when it reported on a preprint of Foxon's study, and it suggests that sightings of smaller unknown animals might be eels. "However, the probability of finding a specimen upward of 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) is essentially zero," writes Foxon. Thus, "eels probably do not account for sightings of larger animals." (Perhaps the most famous photo of Nessie is now widely believed to be a hoax.)