Monster fish
killed after terrorising Swiss swimmersGENEVA (AFP) – Police divers have ended the reign of terror of a huge fish that was attacking swimmers in a Swiss lake.
The zander, which was 70 centimetres (two feet three inches) long and weighed eight kilos (17.5 pounds), was harpooned on Sunday after it bit six swimmers over the weekend, fish warden Fabio Croci told local media.
Two swimmers were treated in hospital for bite wounds up to 10 centimetres (four inches) long after being attacked on Lac Majeur, which borders Italy, he added.
Police divers at first tried to capture the carnivorous fish with a net, but when this failed they pursued the zander with a harpoon and managed to kill it.
The meat from the captured fish was served up to tourists at the lake.
"It is quite unusual for zanders to bite humans", Croci said, adding he suspected the fish was suffering from a hormonal imbalance which could be responsible for its aggression.
Yes, the story is a bit wierd but what I find even WIERDER is that after killing said poisson(poison?) which if story is true, had probably gone postal after possibly having had it's own fish-like northern "vacance" in one of the more chemically enhanced rivers in the 'fatherland". So--- WHAT TO DO!!?? I guess following the old " waste not -want not"idiom, the answer was-- feed the possibly toxic Minnow (by Canadian standards), to tourists, Preferably some poor schmucks from Hoboken who by reason of geography have a certain immunity to this kind of thing. I think the story is Bogus. Couldn't embiggen --but can't see any spear-gun hole in said critter. Also if bing retrived after spearing, where is said spear? and also it would just be handed up to the boat hoisted on said pttard .net not needed Also drawing on my youth when I did a lot of scuba - diving in and around the Great Lakes, (L.B.-- remember the wet-suit incident? another story.)The Lake would have to be about the size of a swimming pool (a well lit one), to actually find pinion said monster.The laws of physics dictate that Spear fishing is is actually actually a close-quarter pastime so the diver would actually have to be as fih-like as his prey to actually locate the offending beast.I would check the local fish markets to see if they are missing a "Zander" Possum, I think in the interest of journalistic accuracy, it's time for a SKEPTICAL 'letter to the editor".
ReplyDeleteAnyone else find this story a bit fishy?
Doubting Thomas- Ray.
I agree with Ray. This story - while fantastic - is a little, well, fantastic. How could they have found that one fish? Did it keep swimming around in the same little bay? It reminds me of the movie, "Jaws", when they catch one shark and the mayor tries to announce that the problem is gone and everyone can relax, but the marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) knows the *real* Jaws (read: Zander) is still out there!
ReplyDeleteAAAAHHHH!!!!
The Swiss are nothing if not persistent! I could totally see them swimming around in the lake for days on end, looking for one particularly angry fish to skewer. (I believe the spear is the blue-handled pole coming out of the net -- the picture from the paper is only so big, but I think I see a sharp point near Mr. Fish's jugular.)
ReplyDeleteAs for feeding it to tourists, yes, that is a bit unorthodox, but again, I believe. After all, what better way to vanquish your enemy than by eating him? This would appeal to the Swiss-French mindset. Perhaps we've opened a can of fish worms: there is always the chance that mad fish disease will spread to humans and we'll have bigger things than swine flu to worry about...
Does anyone have Richard Dreyfuss' phone number? I'd like him to weigh in here.
Note that this incident has now made it onto the "Zander" Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zander Therefore, it must be true!