Manta rays and sightings in lake Nahuel Huapi

Yesterday's post mentioned the movie "Bajo Superficie" (Under the Surface), which you can see online (full movie, in Spanish). After watching the movie, I looked for some additional information about it, and its director, and I came across an interesting interview, brief but revealing (Source). Below are some highlights:

The film's director, Miguel Ángel Rossi has lived in Bariloche for 35 years, while preparing the documentary, he interviewed many people over four years of research. They shared interesting stories, seldom disclosed in the media. Rossi said:

"What impressed me most during these years of research and gathering testimonies was the sense of awe for the phenomenon. Ninety-nine percent of them spoke to me without fear, wanting to see it again," Rossi said of the experiences he's received from people who claimed to have seen "Nahuelito..."

Two die colliding with the creature

But 1% of those who saw the creature felt fear. Rossi mentioned an incident:

"A woman told me the story of when they went fishing with her husband and son. The lake was flat and suddenly something came out of the lake, like the back of a whale, hit the boat, and they both died. Given that story, what can I say?"

I had never heard about this episode, so I looked it up. There are quite a few reports of small boats sinking in the lake (mostly due to wind, rocks, poorly maintained craft), and one is about a father and his son (online) about two men who drowned in June 2004, Rafael Sánchez (59 años) and his son Rafael Fernando (13), close to Gallinas Island. They had gone in a "precarious boat" with a small 5 HP motor to hunt deer on the north coast of the lake. The man's wife, and mother of the boy, called the local "911" asking for help, when they didn't return (her name is Celina Sánchez). The man's friends said he was an expert in navigating and new the area well, however they could not believe that he had set out in "a craft that was in such bad conditions". Coast Guard said the boat must have had some problem while crossing the lake between San Pedro Peninsula and Gallinas Island heading from the Castilla creek in Neuquén to Bahía Serena. Both men tried to reach the island swimming, but drowned. The bodies were found at a depth of 8 to 11 meters, wearing cloths and boots. The boat must have been overturned by the strong wind and 1 m (3 ft.) high waves. The boat was found on some rocks by the island, without its outboard engine, damaged by the stones, and an oar and three cork (!!) life jackets were found on the beach.

I have been fishing on the lake many times over the years, I remember my Dad have us take of our boots (it is cold in Bariloche, especially in the early hours of the morning, when we went fishing) and kept the lifejackets handy, even if the lake was calm. When the wind blows, it can get quite choppy. And even with a 90 HP outboard, it is rough navigating it. I can't imagine trying to cross the middle of the lake with one-meter-tall waves with a 5 HP outboard. They should have stayed in a sheltered spot. I don't believe they struck Nahuelito. They were caught by the waves, and being dressed, without a lifejacket, they were weighed down. Being June (winter!) the water is cold, and the wind chill-factor made hypothermia a deadly factor. They couldn't reach the shore and drwoned. No lake creature.

Stingrays

As expected, he also heard about the manta ray sighting, he mentioned it during the interview " The Coast Guard [Prefectura Naval] divers reported seeing fish shaped like manta rays" and they refused to get back into the water.

This "stingray" incident is shown in the movie (See movie segment: 1:17:05 in its timeline), reported by a man who was the commander of the Bariloche Gendarmería (Border Patrol) squadron. He mentions the incident involving a plane that crashed in Lake Gutierrez on January 27, 1986. The plane was a "scooper plane" that picked up water in the lake during firefighting missions. It had been leased in Chile, and was a Catalina CC-CCS/34, one of the crew died. The divers were sent to rescue the corpse. And in the movie, the person says they "saw giant manta rays and had to desist in their mission" he heard about this from his colleague, the head of the local Coast Guard division.

The plane that crashed in Jan 1986. Source

The director also mentionded that he had an encounter with the creature: "I'm certain there's something there, and we need to identify it ... One day I saw something shaped like a log, but it moved very quickly, sank, and then came up again. It was between 5 or 6 meters long (15 to 20 ft) and very dark brown.""

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