Giant Eel Caught in Jersey, Dubbed Sea Monster, Turns Out to Be a Hoax

A photo of a giant eel has made the rounds online these last few days, racking up some 1.2 million views on Reddit.

Some researchers believe that the sea creature is a lamprey, a species of parasite living in northern Atlantic waters.

As the animal has been caught using a bow and arrow, in the photo on the right it is full of blood and looks enormous and completely terrifying. You can notice it has large lips and several rows of jagged teeth.

Daily Mail identifies the fisherman posting the shot as Doug Cutler of New Jersey, and a photo taken from his Facebook profile shows that the eel is not as large as it is made to appear in the other photo. It looks like the original shot was taken from a specific angle, making the eel look bigger.