Lough Shanaheever
53.50444,-10.00528
The position of this lough is interesting as Lough Auna lies to the top right (see previous post). A small, shallow tributary connects them both.
1950s
The most famous report describes how a local man, Michael Canning, checked on a pregnant donkey on his way to work. He saw an animal circling the donkey and presumed it was a new-born foal. In his words; it was long…rather a bit high. It was black. The neck seemed a bit long. He later claimed that the animal had ears and legs. When asked about the presence of a tail, he stated that he had not seen one and was convinced that what he had seen had not been an otter.
2005
In May 2005, 17 year old S.L. had a sighting at Shanaheever. He saw an animal pulling itself along the river bank which he at first took to be a fox chasing ducks. It was 3-5 ft. (0.9-1.5 m) long with a relatively long neck and two front limbs that looked like flippers. He continued to watch it for half an hour before it hopped into the lough and swam away.
Conclusion
Canning’s report is intriguing, He subsequently claimed that it was not an otter; it was too big and lacked a definitive tail. In keeping with all the accounts from Connemara there does not appear to be any large unknown animal involved the loughs are far too small. Therefore if it came from the sea the only explanation is a pinniped. However the indigenous pinnipeds of Europe do not have visible external ears and wouldn’t really be able to circle a donkey in the manner described. This has led the authors to speculate that it may have been an escaped sea-lion, a non-indigenous species to Europe, based on our research which has suggested that many of these creatures escaped form zoos, menageries and collections or were deliberately released. Such an explanation might also explain similar encounters from other areas during the same period of time. The 2005 sighting however does sound very much like an indigenous pinniped.
