Nahuelito
The Nahuelito is a supposedly unknown aquatic creature that, according to popular belief, inhabits the waters of Lake Nahuel Huapi, a body of fresh water of glacial origin notable for its 557 km² surface and 464 m maximum known depth, shared by the province of Neuquén and the province of Río Negro, both located in Argentine Patagonia.
Like Nessie, its Scottish equivalent, it gets its name from the lake body it supposedly inhabits, although its existence has never been confirmed, despite systematic searches and the occasional appearance of photographs and videos of dubious origin or source. published in regional media.
The legend is well known in the country and is a reference in classic books and articles on cryptozoology.
History
The term nahuel, which gives its name to both the Nahuel Huapi National Park and the homonymous lake and the supposed creature, comes from the Mapuche language nahuel, a language spoken by the indigenous of the area, and that means jaguar. However, the word was translated by the Spanish who had recently arrived in the New World as "tiger", who confused both animals due to characteristics they possess in common.
When referring to the monster, locals historically used the article before the name, calling it "El Nahuelito".
The origin of the current legend is believed to go back to indigenous accounts prior to the period of the conquest of America. The first explorers obtained from the natives of the place legends about occasional encounters with aquatic monsters.
Starting in 1897, Dr. Clemente Onelli, director of the Buenos Aires zoo, began to receive sporadic reports about a possible strange creature inhabiting the Patagonian lakes.
Among the inhabitants of the Nahuel Huapi region, there is a frequent rumor of the existence of a monster that they usually call the dreamer, of which they say: “It comes out of the lakes of night, it has a body the size of a cow and leaves footprints like those of a giant duck». They also say that the so-called monster is carnivorous, often feeding on cows. Although such rumors seem more like a Creole elaboration of the Mapuche myth referred to "the leather".
The first possible recorded sighting of the Nahuelito dates from 1910 starring George Garrett, who made it public much later. Garrett worked for a company located near the Nahuel Huapi, which after navigating the lake and about to disembark, was able to spot a creature about 400 m away whose visible part was between 5 and 7 m long and stood out about 2 meters above the sea. above the water. Discussing his experience with local people, Garrett learns of similar stories told by the indigenous people. But the sighting of Garrett in 1910 was made public only in 1922, when he told the Toronto Globe newspaper and echoed it in the international press, thus motivating himself to organize the first expedition to search for the Nahuelito.
In 1922 Dr. Onelli received testimony from Martin Sheffield, an American gold prospector, about a supposed trail of large footprints on the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi and having seen a huge unknown animal in the center of it. Convinced by Sheffield's report, Onelli decides to organize a search expedition. It was led by José Chiagi, superintendent of the zoo, with the participation of well-known hunters armed with rifles to hunt elephants and dynamite to mine the lake.
People reacted negatively to the participation of hunters, and Dr. Albarracín, President of the Association for the Protection of Animals, asked the Minister of the Interior to revoke the authorization for the search, since the laws prohibited the hunting of animals exotic. The permit issue was finally resolved and the expedition went ahead, but returned without positive results. The story had international repercussions, being commented on in publications such as the Scientific American magazine.
After several months without success, both in Lake Epuyén and in Nahuel Huapi due to supposed sightings, Clemente Onelli returned to Buenos Aires and that is when the information came from Bariloche: "The plesiosaur had been captured." He strongly impacted the news in different national and international media. But in reality it had been a joke by Primo Capraro, a businessman from Bariloche, who in the carnival of 1922 put together a float with the figure of a plesiosaur, parading it through the streets of the town. As an advertising strategy, an image was embodied in the story. That photo was taken by Don Rafael Soriani.
More recently, in 1960, it is said that the Argentine Navy chased an unidentified underwater object in the lake for 18 days, without being able to identify it, which some people related to this supposed creature.
The growth of the city of Bariloche, located on the banks of the Nahuel Huapi, as a tourist destination, increased the supposed occasional sightings, just like what happens in Loch Ness; but a conclusive graphic record has never been obtained.
In 1988, photos of the Nahuelito were published in a magazine of the newspaper Río Negro. These were taken at close range with an analog camera, in which the object was near the coast of Bariloche. "It is not a trunk of whimsical shapes. It's not a wave. "El Nahuelito showed his face," said a man, who did not reveal his name, in a letter he left next to the photos. [citation needed ]
Hypotheses in favor of its existence
Various theories have been proposed to explain the myth, but so far none have received serious analysis to validate them. These theories would be the following:
- Prehistoric animal: According to its appearance (which is a striking coincidence with Nessie, the resemblance monster that dwells on Lake Ness), this hypothesis arises, the most popular one, which says that the Nahuelito would be a survivor of the dinosaurs' time, probably a plesiosaur. Others support the theory of an ictiosaur, based on the abundance of fossils of this animal found in the region. However, the Patagonian lakes formed in a geological period after the extinction of the dinosaurs, which would reflect the hypothesis. It has also been suggested that it might be a milodon, an extinct land mammal a few millennia ago, which, although might coincide with some descriptions, had no aquatic habits.
- A mutation: A more modern (and more fantastic) version suggests that Nahuelito would be a strange mutation of some local animal produced by the nuclear experiments that have been uninterrupted for 60 years.
- A submarine: Perhaps the last theory in reaching the public is the one that attributes the appearances to a small submarine of unknown origin, which many interpret as a modern cultural variation of the myth of the aquatic monster. But this last theory has not been demonstrated either.
It is very striking that the Nahuelito is similar to Nessie, from Scottish Loch Ness: in most sightings both were described as having leathery skin, two humps and a length of approximately 10-15 m, sometimes including a swan-shaped neck. Other accounts have mentioned a small head and, very occasionally, some propulsion fins.[ citation needed] From these descriptions it appears that these two monsters, but also others like Champ, may be plesiosaurs.
Hypotheses against its existence
- The indigenous accounts can hardly be cited as an argument, as the natives had legends about the existence of aquatic monsters in virtually all the lakes and rivers of Patagonia. The direct record of the Nahuelito would be the legend of the “cuero”, monster without head or legs that supposedly inhabited also on the lake. Thus, the being of this Mapuche legend would not really have the appearance that is associated with Nahuelito.
- It would actually correspond to stems to drift, organic matter accumulated in the state of rotting, gas bubbles that stirred the surface, or even terrestrial mammals that crossed the lake to swim. However, this explanation is defeated by the lack of explanation on the long neck or the movement of the head.[chuckles]required]
All observations can be explained in the same way as the Loch Ness monster.