Man says 30-foot 'monster' lurking in canals of Madeira Beach

"There's something strange and big swimming in the canals of Madeira Beach along the Pinellas County coast. Those who have seen it say it's no fish and think it could be a sea serpent."

www2.tbo.com...

Video is linked on the news page. Also a forum. Some people think it's just a manatee or an Alligator Gar. Hard to tell from the video. But I'm sure there is a rational explanation. Just the news media trying to sensationalize it by calling it a "monster".

I cant seem to watch it.Every time I try I get a message to download something.Could someone Embed it please.

I read some of the comments and one guy says

This is a Aligator Gar! Look it up. I have seen them in local rivers all my life. They are snake like or Serpent like. I have seen Aligator gars up to 30 feet long and super scary.

That's quite possably the silliest thing Ive read all day

[edit on 17-11-2009 by genius/idoit]

Fast Facts Type: Fish Diet: Carnivore Average lifespan in the wild: Females 50 years, males 26 years Size: Up to 10 ft (3 m) Weight: Up to 300 lbs (140 kg) Did you know? The alligator gar has become something of an Internet celebrity. Tales and photos of these enormous, fierce-looking fish are widely circulated—and sometimes dismissed as hoaxes. Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man:

If its a 30 foot Alligator Gar i would not swim there.

The 5-6 foot ones i caught on trotline in Texas were bad enough.
i have seen photos of 8 to 10 foot gars.
www.garguys.com...
www.garguys.com...
files4.tellmewhereonearth.com...


Took a chain saw and axe to clean them.

Though the fire ants did make fast work cleaning the scales to make
necklaces.

Texans hunt gar with bows as sport.
They are a white meat fish.
Smoked right they taste like smoked salmon

www.garguys.com...

If it is a Gar, which it seems to be, it goes to show how badly researched, shallow and sensationalised-for-the-masses modern day 'news' is.
Liked the post though

[edit on 17-11-2009 by and14263]

As far as I know the Gar in Florida are freshwater not salt..

My first thought was it had to be a few Dolphin passing through, besides Gar dont raise out of the water.

Could be Manatee also..

man thous gar are what i call a bigggggg fish
wanna gogar ishing anyone
look like monster fish to me franking fish
dont go into thje water. jaws better look out hel get ate

Originally posted by earth2
As far as I know the Gar in Florida are freshwater not salt..

My first thought was it had to be a few Dolphin passing through, besides Gar dont raise out of the water.

Could be Manatee also..

They are rarely found in brackish or saltwater, but are more adaptable to the latter than are other gars.
en.wikipedia.org...

It looks like a fairly big snake swimming around coming up for air to me. Its probably eating the mullet in the canal...

reply to post by ANNED


But that Wiki article also states that they are the largest "exclusively freshwater" fish. That's just a tad contradictory.

So...that's another Nessie....Genetic abnormalities may create larger snakes...As always variations are seen in species

Thanks
B???

reply to post by Behaviour???


How on earth can you say "another Nessie."

I am 99.9999% sure that all of the marine/freshwater cryptids are not the same exact thing.

It could be something like an anaconda. To reach 30 feet, an anaconda would not need to have a genetic abnormality. Specimens of 34 feet have been reported. But anacondas, and most large, aquatic snakes, are freshwater and found in South America. It would need to have escaped from somewhere, most likely, and I don't know how well it could survive in that salinity level. Probably not well.

If you couldn't watch the video it was posted on youtube.



I don't know what to think about this one.

What about the infamous "muck monster". I am not really sure, I just remember that there was quite a comotion over the muck monster. what ever it is it seemed pretty slow moving. My guess would be a seacow(or manatee for you lamen folk)

I live right by there.

I see alligators/etc. all the time - prob. nothing that is that big of a deal, oddly I have not heard about this though.

reply to post by Creeping Death


*nods*

I can see how a surfacing manatee could be confused with a snake rolling through the water. The movement is similar.

Tarpon.

They love to roll the surface and they get big..

wouldn't be surprised if we found a 30 ft gar, what with the 20 foot great white we just found.
just proves my favorite saying- Sea, The Final Frontier.

S&F,WOW! excellent find! I really don't think it's that easy to brush off with a quick explanation of a gar or snake or manatee. I really think it's something that hasn't necessarily been documented yet. I think it's silly to just assume we know of every species in existence on our planet.

reply to post by Solar.Absolution


Clearly we don't know every species on our planet. We're finding new ones all the time! Allllll the time.

But it is unlikely that a rather large unidentified species would be present in the upper oceanic zones of a highly populated region. That's just the truth.