Monster in the River Medway ?

From the Medway Messenger 7th July 2008:

Monster Mystery: Could there be something fishy going on in the river ?

Does the River Medway have its own Nessie ? A strange creature has been spotted swimming against the tide near the Esplanade, Rochester. On Thursday (3rd) the Medway Messenger newsroom received calls from Rochester residents who said they had seen the strange sight in the water. Some believed it was a pod of porpoises but one woman thought she had spied a single animal.

She said: "It was about 30 ft long, dark brown and mottled grey in colour. It was undulating like an eel and swimming towards Amadeus nightclub."

The sighting is similar to descriptions of Scotland's famous Loch Ness monster. Medway monster-hunter Neil Arnold who researches mystery animal sightings said, "I can only assume the witnesses did indeed see a large creature, possibly an eel, or misidentified several creatures together. Eels don't grow to 30 ft in length, so maybe a whale ? Seals have been spotted locally but they do not reach such a length."

Photo by Neil Arnold of stretch of water where a creature was seen.