Mystery 'Loch Ness' Fish Sets New Orleans Fishermen Buzzing

A bizarre creature spotted splashing in a lagoon in New Orleans City Park has mystified locals.

A video of the aquatic enigma posted online by the local Early Partners preschool shows the animal floating at the surface of the water, initially still, before it's seen slowly swimming off into the distance.

"We looked into the water and saw a mysterious serpent-like creature. It is nothing I have seen before land or sea," Kim Frusciante, a founder of the school, told news station WGNO. Frusciante spotted the creature while visiting the park with her family.

"My children were a combination of terrified and excited as many children would be seeing a beast in City Park," she said. "It was quite long. I have a 4-year-old slightly smaller than it and it was weaving on the surface and [had] a lot of scales. The tail was red and it was swishing around aimlessly hanging out on the surface much longer than a normal fish."

New Orleans City Park's lagoons stretch for over 11 miles and contain a plethora of fish species that are available to be fished. Species living in the park's waterways, according to the City Park website, include largemouth bass, blue catfish, spotted gar, warmouth and black crappie, among many others.

In comments under WGNO's Facebook post sharing the story, internet users and local fishermen suggested that it could be a number of fish.

"Is an Alligator Gar, I see them my self, they casually come up to see what's around, they been there for decades," one said.

"Sturgeon?" said another.

The majority of comments agreed that the creature was likely a carp, however—and a dying one at that.

"Dying carp! Swimming upside-down," said one Facebook user, with another commenting, "Dying carp. They'll find its body shortly after."

One commenter claimed that they had seen the very same creature the week before in the same location, and were surprised that it was still alive.

"Saw this in the sculpture garden last week. Looked like it was dying. Tail all chewed up, and the body disturbingly crooked. Figured it was a carp of some sort, but very grotesque. How is it not dead yet?" they said.

Fish often swim upside down due to issues with their swim bladder. The swim bladder is a small pocket of air inside the fish that allows them to control their buoyancy, adding more air to move to the surface and less to sink further down. However, if the fish cannot control their swim bladder due to sickness, they may get stuck at the surface and float upside down.

For now, the mystery of the creature and whether it will survive for much longer remains unsolved. New Orleans City Park has not managed to identify the beast yet, WGNO reported.

Frusciante has seized the opportunity to teach her classes about the strange creatures of the deep.

"In our sea creature studies, and we haven't seen anything like this in our books. I am pretty well convinced that it is the Loch Ness monster of New Orleans," she told the news station.

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