A Whale of a Fish Tale

Growing up in the south and being a freshwater fisherman, large catfish are both folklore and reality to me. In the south, some large catfish can be found in secluded farm ponds or around dams, and stories abound of divers observing huge catfish, particularly blue catfish, around dams across the south.

However, folklore seems to have evolved into an extreme reality in India where large catfish might be preying on humans. Some type of creature, in the sacred Hindu Great Kali river, has allegedly pulled three teenagers under its waters. Locals believe that a type of catfish called the goonch has grown large enough, after feeding on partially burnt corpses from funeral pyres, to prey on living humans. more>>