A mysterious underwater creature straight out of legend, or just your garden-variety marine life?

A biologist has suggested that the nine-meter fish dubbed “Illie,” which has been spotted several times in Lake Iliamna in Alaska over the last several decades, may turn out to be just a strain of sleeper shark, according to local news reports.

Bruce Wright, a senior scientist from the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association said that the size, shape and color of the elusive beast match those of a sleeper shark.

However, according to Wright, the animal does display unusual behavior for a sleeper shark.

Sleeper sharks are not known to live in freshwater environments or to break surface as often as the beast in Lake Iliamna

“That’s still something that hasn’t been determined,” Wright said.

Although it is a rather anti-climactic ending to a decades-long search for the enigmatic beast, Wright says he plans to lead an expedition to Iliamna this summer to confirm that it is, indeed, a sleeper shark.

But this is not the only legend he hopes to end once and for all.

After the trip to Alaska, Wright plans on visiting Scotland to put an end to the Loch Ness monster myth, saying he would like to be known as the man who ended the Loch Ness Monster stories.

The alleged ‘monster’ in the state was first sighted in the 1940s by pilots.

Over the next 30 years, a series of reports followed on Illie, prompting the local Anchorage Daily News to offer a $100,000 (115 million won) reward for evidence that it is real, though nobody has claimed the prize.



From news reports