WASHINGTON — A man who has spent nearly half his life trying to work out the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster says “my best guess” is that it’s a catfish.
A catfish?
Don’t feel too brought down — Steve Feltham tells Sky News it’s not just any catfish. The bottom of the Scottish lake, he thinks, is home to a Wels catfish, which he says is the biggest freshwater fish in the world, growing to about 13 feet. It lives up to 100 years and eats other fish.
The biggest creatures known to be in Loch Ness, Feltham says, are salmon and seals. There are one or two “monster” sightings a year.
“We get sonar contacts with things that are far bigger than any fish that should live in this body of water,” Feltham says. In fact, some are the size of a station wagon.
Feltham’s announcement could seem like trouble for the Loch Ness Monster industry, which brings in about 25 million pounds a year (nearly $40 million), but Robbie Bremner, the director of the Loch Ness Centre tells Sky News that “if you give a balanced view, which is what we do here … people can make up their own minds.”
Feltham, 52, gave up his job, home and girlfriend to spend the past 24 years staring at Loch Ness, and he says he has no regrets.
“I’m in my utopia living here on the shores of the loch.”
And he says the hunt isn’t over — even if the Loch Ness Monster turns out not to be something like the giant eel-like creature depicted in the famous 1934 photo now known to be a hoax, Feltham says, “I’m still looking … You can’t say Loch Ness has nothing to be explained. Loch Ness still has something to be explained.”
