Investigating 'Congo Dragon' Photographs

One of the most widely-viewed sets of photographs in online cryptozoology, these two pictures have gained notoriety as some of the most convincing and yet most mysterious photos of alleged living saurians. However, the true story behind them is not only very different, but equally as mysterious.

[VileHusk]

Just found the guy yesterday and already subscribed, the only cryptid channel I like besides bob Gymlan. Hope he uploads soon

[Kneon_Knight]

To be honest, I don't think that's a dolphin or any other aquatic mammal. When I looked at the thumbnail, the first thing I thought was "sturgeon."

[MamaPinks]

I'm not sure how or why this channel ended up in my feed, but I sure am grateful!
Your logic is so reasonabl, and the deep thoughts, theories, and possible answers are fun to think about, making a lot of these ideas possible! You make cryptozoology a real science rather than hooplaa! ❤

[chriswolfe]

I would throw out the assumption that the creature was some known dinosaur. It's been 65 million years. If a small mammal can evolve into a blue whale in that time, any number of animals could have evolved into this creature.

[julieshipman]

Where was the footage of walking through the forest taken? It's beautiful and really relaxing to watch. Like heading deeper into a magic forest

[wilmarbriones]

Bro you are one of thesy cryptozoology pages on youtube no cap. Keep posting great videos like this. Already subbed

[jointcerulean]

This is a really cool one, Great coverage on this, really superbly done job on the research and analysis. It’s a really fascinating case, I remember this photo being shown on photos on the internet in relation to dinosaurs, or dinosaur like cryptids in the Congo. Also it raises the questions that some lake monsters, or unknown aquatic animals species such as a kind of porpoise, or cetacean could have similar genetic features to this Amazon river dolphin that would give the impressions of back spines and paint a more prehistoric hypothesis for certain lake monster survivors perhaps.

[xaxservo]

I remember seeing this online in probably the early 2000s when I was researching sea serpents. It was definitely before 2005, I'm sure of that.

[qrfarchaeology]

​ @CrashCourseCryptozoology for a while I had thought it was a rather large grouper but now I'm not sure. I'm trying to remember when I first saw this image. It is pretty cool there is a second image and it does apear to be the same animal based on the the number and shapes of preaks. I'm not entirely sold on the dolphin identity because it doesn't seem to match healing patterns in cartilage and blubber. But I'm not a cetacean scientist.

As for intentional scaring, this could be for a religious ritual, but I have no expertise in that region but it is not outside the realm of organized activity. It could also be intentional for marking a known animal, creating a mystery to draw tourists (like Wade and the wounds may be be fairly fresh on an older animal), or just general animal cruelty.

It is unfortunate that the images that we see do not give a clear an idea of what portion of the animal's back are shown. My guess is the middle behind the pectoral fins. However I would expect cuts that deep to have significant impacts to locomotion even after healing, unless the dorsal fin and rigde behind it in river dolphins is not used for structural integrity, kinda like how an orca's dorsal fins can flop over and the orca swims just fine.

[jamesharrington]

I'm discouraged by most of the new shows and information trying to sensationalize old photos and I prefer the serious documentary style like that of Arthur C. Clarke and I would like to see progress with environmental DNA in places like this and according to Google, the only new creditable info is possibly the Tazel worm

[martifoddrill]

I respect Jeremy Wade but this does not look pink to me like the river dolphins?

[gabrielg.]

Great channel. I remember first seeing these a long time ago. It’s quite probable what you are suggesting.

[craigc]

I'm not buying Jeremy Wade's prognosis. I don't know what that is, but it is not a dolphin. The back looks too mottled and coarse. And those back spikes are way too evenly spaced for it to be some sort of cuts or propeller damage.

[leonidaspereirafilho]

17 minutes of pure kino content. Nice! Also, I can speak portuguese (brazillian here), but I can't understand what exactly you are pronounciating. If you could write it or provide a clip fo Jeremy saying it maybe I could be of some help?

[SaurianStudios]

When as a kid who was first browsing the internet for cryptids, I believed this was legit proof of a lake monster, a surviving dinosaur, or an unknown species.
As an adult, I’m gonna say this is mostly likely a river dolphin with a birth defect, or injuries it sustained from a boat propeller.
Still an excellent video, and I used to watch River monsters and Jeremy Wade a lot!

[chucktwnkid]

Obviously these are stills from a video. I'd like to see the original footage

[brockschannel]

I would also chalk it up to a deformity, it just doesn't seem to be the work of a boat propeller or any type of body manipulation. Also, if this trait is possibly common, it could be the origin of some south American lake monster legends like Lake Tota.

[alberttrevino]

I'm like 80% sure those pictures of the dragon in the water are from the Amazon area. And taken by non other than the great Jeremy Wade himself. He said he had missed taken a picture of it once or twice before. And was always at the ready with his camera after that. And that was how he ended up finally getting pics of it. I don't believe it was a regular episode of "River Monsters" or the "Dark Waters" show. I believe it was a questions and history type of episode. I had seen those pics circulating pretty regurlarly and had no idea of where they came from. Until I eventually saw those pics on his show. That was when he told everyone about them. And I highly doubt he'd make that up or lie about it. He said he never knew what it was. Hope that helps you out some.

[sullyway]

It looks like the back of a very large sturgeon. As being a dolphin, it could be a mutation.

[jogarthehutt]

I was that photo back in the 80s
It was in a book at school