May 15, 2015 — A photo of a gigantic conger eel reported as being 20-feet long—twice the size of the typical upper range of the species—created quite a buzz in England on Thursday. The problem is, the photo is an optical illusion.
The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Express, the Mirror and the London Evening Standard were among the British newspapers fooled by the deception, reporting that the conger eel was at least 20 feet. Some described it as being longer than a double-decker bus, and another said it was longer than the width of two soccer goals.
To be sure, it was bigger than a typical conger eel but not quite as huge as the photo makes it look.