Comments on: Another Guess On Mystery Fish Photo

By: fly-chucker

fly-chucker — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 16:57:00 +0000

Had to comment on something. What strikes me as odd is that the creature is laying in what looks to be sand, yet there are no drag marks, or signs of struggle to get the animal into the position that it was photographed in. In other words, wouldn’t the service men’s feet dig into the sand near the head to pull it up from what looks to be the shore to where it is now?

One other thing is that the spot which appears to be an eye looks fake. If it were a dead sea creature of any kind, the eye would have dried out and sunk into the skull. That eye is “illustrated” as a bulging shiny black sphere. The reflection in the eye seems faked as well.

One of the most striking errors in the photo is the shadow on the shack that isn’t on the “fish”. Granted, the shadow is from the person who is out of frame who’s hand is visible at the top right, and the shadow would only fall across the tail of the animal. The shadow just doesn’t match.

The other issue is what at first glance looks to be blood splatter or some sort of injury behind the “mouth line” really looks like a plant upon closer examination. That plant is in front of the critter and is somehow undisturbed by dragging the several hundred pound animal to it’s resting place.

More to reinforce the “lack of dragging” concept is the shadow line under the animal. It looks like it was placed there or dropped there and the mass of the animal doesn’t match the way it’s laying on the ground.

Everything about this photo says it’s staged, faked or has been re-touched to look like it currently does.

By: Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:26:10 +0000

Purricat.

Thanks for the info, too bad e-bay didn’t have the specimen. It’s a real puzzle.

By: purrlcat

purrlcat — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:59:08 +0000

Bob Michaels - I obtained this card some time back and can’t remember exactly where, but I am thinking I bought it on Ebay. I know I did not get it in an antique shop. If I had known at the time what a mystery this thing would be, I would have asked questions when I bought it. Oh, well.

By: U.T. Raptor

U.T. Raptor — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:23:05 +0000

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v671/BlueMako/cryptofishedit.jpg
That’s still what I see when looking at the head. Also, I still think the “eye” and “mouth” look fake, like they were painted on or added to the picture later.

My opinion? Either a clever prop or a mutilated known animal (probably a shark)…

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:24:31 +0000

I tend to agree with what Ceroill said earlier about this being a possible known species with a little work done on it. A known animal that has been butchered, altered, or made into some sort of gaffe would be hard to recognize for what it truly is and we all know how a decomposed mundane animal can become a fantastic creature. Considering that we have no concrete information on what was done to this creature after it’s capture or any solid facts about this photo, and don’t have the benefit of multiple viewpoints, I think it is important to at least keep in mind that this is a possibility. I am personally hesitant to base too many presumptions on this one old photograph, and believe that a mundane explanation should not be ruled out at this point.

By: Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:56:48 +0000

My guess is a Shovel nosed Sturgeon, with a little surgery on the specimen.

By: Bob Michaels

Bob Michaels — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:30:11 +0000

The major unanswered question, How was the post card obtained? Was it found in an antique shop? Has to be a story somewhere on the internet.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:52:47 +0000

Thanks to Mr. Roever — I’m no expert by any stretch, but I’ve traveled extensively through the coastal regions of the Southeastern US, and had guessed that this was taken somewhere in that area. Nice to know that I wasn’t loopy, and that an expert sees the same things I did.

Not really sure I jump on the Asian wife theory, but it holds as much water as the rest of the ideas floated!

By: rackliff

rackliff — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:52:37 +0000

It’s clearly otters swimming in a row

By: skeptik

skeptik — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:50:34 +0000

Obviously it’s not one, but several otters in a formation giving the impression that it’s an unidentified species.