The journalist of the ORT channel Andrey I and his film crew are trying to find in the lakes of Yakutia a mysterious creature about which they make legends. What kind of inhabitant can live in the Yakut lakes? Can a giant creature survive in a Yakut lake? Why does the hero of legends overtake such fear on the inhabitants? What do Yakut scientists think about this? Who is lucky enough to catch the Big White Fish? "Searchers of Yakutia" intend to find out
BIG WHITE FISH
“Once in my childhood I heard the tale of the Eternal Nelma. It said that if you catch her, then time will begin to move the other way around, and not death will begin to approach a person, but birth. The more I live, the more I regret not believing in it …"
From the film story of Andrey I "Leather Carving".
Danil Mestnikov, ethnographer, employee of the Druzhba museum complex:
- According to the legends of the old residents of the Megino-Kangalassky ulus of the Doydu area, five kilometers from the Lena River in the Kordugen area there is a lake in which a mysterious fish lives - white, huge, they say, 5-6 meters. Where she came from, until now, no one knows.
The seekers of Yakutia go to Lake Deering to meet a large white fish. The lake is located in the Ust-Aldan region, located at the very top of a high hill.
The peculiarity of Deering Lake is that it is absolutely round. The water in it is clean and fairly transparent. The bottom of the lake is covered with fine white sand. Arriving at the place, a few kilometers from Deering, the "seekers" discovered another absolutely round lake of the same size. Locals call it Omuluku and claim that they also saw a large white fish in it.
Promotional video:
Yakut traveler German Arbugaev said that the water temperature in the lakes is quite low. In summer, about plus 10, 15 degrees. Therefore, first of all, to protect themselves from low temperatures, they wear neoprene suits, the so-called wet suit. It allows you to immerse yourself in water with temperatures up to plus 1 degree. There is an underwater lamp with which you can spy out the monster, there is also a special knife, blade-like. Pneumatic weapons are also in gear.
Alexander Kirillov, head of the laboratory of aquatic ecosystems at the Institute of Applied Ecology of the North, said that the largest size is reached by the whitefish family. In particular, nelma. There are cases when people caught fish weighing up to 80 kilograms. The fish reaches fifty kilograms at the age of 28-30 years. Large fish also include muksun, taimen and sturgeon.
- The fact that something unknown can be found in our reservoirs cannot be denied, since the reservoirs of our republic have not been studied enough. It is possible that there is something unknown, but, I believe, the monsters in our water bodies cannot evolve.
Tatiana Kornilova, specialist of the Department of Biological Resources, ichthyologist:
-A large white fish cannot exist in a small lake, because it has nothing to eat there. We have a big white fish? This is, first of all, nelma. But nelma lives only in rivers.
At one time there was talk that a large creature lived in Labynkyr, but Labynkyr is a poorly fed, cold lake, there is no such amount of fish that could feed it …
For a monster to exist, it needs to reproduce, that is, it needs a girlfriend or friend. Not only does it take half to reproduce, it also needs a population. The offspring from one pair degenerates. And the populations there simply have nowhere to live, nothing to feed on.
Yakut filmmakers shot a film based on the story of Vladimir Fedorov "Big White Fish". The piercing tragic love story of a young guy and a river maiden, shown in the cinema and on television, aroused the interest of many viewers. The story of a local writer is based on Slavic beliefs. Is there something similar in the mystical ideas of the Yakuts?
Valentina Atlasova, mistress of the ethnographic estate "Ytyk Khaya":
- The Yakuts have a spirit of water, an old man, bearded, covered with greenery, algae, there is a spirit of alaas, water and everything that is in the environment, this is an old woman, they have a daughter - Uu kyysa, she goes out on land and turns into a dragonfly. The water one, if angry, can do harm: raise waves, raise silt. To see the spirit of water is fortunate, luck, catch. Basically, only men talk to the spirit of water. Only men go fishing, they prepare the tackle.
Semyon Tellier-Ivanov, ethnographer:
- I have an old hair net. The floats were twisted from birch bark, sinkers from thin willow, stones were tied to them. Olonkho describes fish with scales located in the other direction, fins are the same. There are such descriptions. It can be assumed that these are mutants.
Raisa Shpakova, Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Economics and Management of the Branch of the Baikal State University, Candidate of Biological Sciences:
- I have not met any mystical monsters on the lakes. I think that due to ecology, we cannot have any mutants. As long as the ecology of the lakes of Yakutia remains normal, that is, no special pollution is noted, there were no influences of anthropogenic human activity, a fairly good natural background of the state of the lakes, of course, there is a slightly exceeded background of minerals, copper, zinc, but this changes little.
Andrey I
-The legend about the Big White Fish from Deering is not the only one in Yakutia. There are many places where people talk about large creatures living in lakes. In some areas of Yakutia - for example, in the area of Lake Khyyyr (Arctic fox), this creature is called "bull pike". Residents say that she is able to swallow a fisherman along with a boat.
Innokenty Mordosov, scientific director of the laboratory of lakes science at the Belarusian State University of the YSU, doctor of biological sciences:
- Pikes sometimes are really very big: I saw telecasts, there were shown two pikes of exactly the same size, they swam towards each other, and one of them grabbed the other by the jaws, the captured pike cannot open its mouth, and that pike swallows it, her eyes were already glazed. Swallows halfway, then to the end. Only the tail sticks out of the mouth. If such a strong pike grabs a dog or a swan, for example, it can easily swallow it. It really is a monster. The most real.
“Seekers of Yakutia” in search of an unknown creature discovered ancient rock paintings in caves along the Lena River. In the studies of the Yakut writings, there is an image of a certain monster swallowing the sun, perhaps the drawing will tell us who is hiding in the lakes of Yakutia?
Evgeny Kopylov
- Our mysterious beast clearly existed in reality, ancient people knew even its anatomy. From this it follows that they killed him during a hunt or during self-defense, because on the rock drawing we can clearly distinguish where his heart, lungs and even the bladder are … But it is quite possible that the image of the beast was used in a very utilitarian way, as a visual training a guide for young hunters, where to stick a spear, where to plant an arrow.
Andrey I
- The version about a giant pike sounds the most believable. But the climatic conditions and the lack of exploration of the lakes in Yakutia indicate that animals unknown to science can be found in them. So don't be surprised if a big white fish swims under your boat while fishing.