creature spotted by a swimmer has left scientists divided over what it could be.The mystery creature was captured on camera by Amy Wainman, 36, who was going for a dip in the sea at Simon’s Town in South Africa’s Western Cape when she saw it under the water.
The long transparent being can be seen swimming through the water — and doesn't appear to have any organs inside it. Recalling the moment she encountered the bizarre eel-like life form, Amy said:“When I first saw it, it almost looked like some floating plastic” “But then it started swimming.
It was like a dancing, clear ribbon. “I had no idea what it was, I had never even seen a picture of one before. It was an amazing, magical creature to see!”Bradley Stevens, a marine science professor who used to work at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, has offered one possible explanation for the mysterious swimming beast, claiming that it could be a large eel larva approaching the end of its larval stage.He said: “Its size and location suggest that it is nearing the end of its migration from the mid-oceanic spawning grounds, and will soon become a normal-shaped juvenile eel.”But Kevin Kocot from The University of Alabama says that one important detail means it's not an eel at all but a rare type of jelly creature, revealing: “Some baby eels have larvae called leptocephalus larvae that look superficially very similar. “But if you look closely, they have a head and mouth at one end whereas this animal’s mouth is in the middle of the body. “This is a cestum veneris, a very unusual comb jelly or ctenophore.
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