Name: Andrew (last name kept private at request at the witness)

Age: 22

Number of witnesses: 3-4

Location of sighting: Outside of Leona Vicario, Mexico

Date of sighting: September 2012

What you believe the creature was: I have no idea

Message: “Towards the end of Summer 2012, my family went on a trip to Cancun. Altogether it was a pretty standard family vacation; we lounged by the pool, saw Chichen Itza, ate a ton of room service. One of the things we did on the trip was going to an adventure park somewhere between Cancun and Leona Vicario ( I can't remember the exact location). One of the major features of this adventure park was its cenotes, underwater caves, one of which they had even converted into a lazy river. It was in that lazy river that I had my encounter.

My family and I were about halfway through the 45-minute swim. My mom was swimming ahead, my sisters behind. I felt something a little bit like a hand grab onto my left foot. My natural and immediate response was to turn around and berate my older sister for trying to scare me, but when I did I saw that she was at least ten feet away and whatever had a hold of my foot was still there. That's about the time I began to realize whatever it was felt less like a hand and more like something with a chitinous shell. I understandably freaked out and started kicking, the creature dislodged from my foot and disappeared into the darker waters of the cenote. I looked, but couldn't find any signs of it. 

My family more or less wrote it off, but the encounter sticks with me to this day. One of the weirdest parts of the whole thing is that the creature actually left a mark on my foot. It was a dime-sized patch of skin on the top of my foot that looked a little like a second-degree burn. The, I guess I'll call it a bite mark, didn't hurt at all. In fact, there wasn't really any sensation in the area within the bite mark until about a week later. The bite mark didn't even begin to heal for about a month, then it was gone.”

Information received after further communication with witness: “I'd definitely describe it as something close to a crab or a spider. I'd describe the sensation of having it on my foot more like a claw than tentacles or a mollusk's foot.

I distinctly remember mistaking it for a hand at first, but there was no one close enough to me that could have held on, even after I turned around.”

Andrew, first and foremost, thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your sighting! We at the PBI love hearing about any and all unknown creature sightings, but we must be honest, unknown aquatic creature sightings are by far our favorites. In our opinion, there is just something much more mysterious and frightening about a creature that you cannot see lurking just below you in the deep dark water. You can blame our love of these encounters on classic monster movies such as The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Jaws, and Piranha. But where those are just Hollywood creations that can seamlessly shift from reality to fantasy, the encounters people share with us are anything but. And your’s is no exception!

When we first read about your encounter, one of the first creatures that came to mind which could have possibly been responsible for your encounter was a squid/octopus of some sort since you described the feeling as if a hand was grabbing onto your foot. But, due to the location in which you were at during the time of the encounter being freshwater (revealed during email communication), this was quickly ruled out since no squids or octopus are able to tolerate freshwater.

After a cephalopod was quickly ruled out, we started focusing on how you described the creature as feeling as if it possessed a chitinous shell. Now for those of you who are unaware of what chitin is, it is simply a molecule which can form into solid structures. Chitin can be found in insect wings, exoskeletons, cephalopod beaks, and mollusk “tongues” which are known as the radula. It also means that the bodies of crabs are comprised mostly of chitin. And this is where we came up with a wild theory.

Now, before we share our theory as to what you may have encountered that day in the river, we have to stress that this is just a theory. We are not saying that this is without a doubt the end all answer, we are just letting you know where our minds went as all you had to go off of what you encountered that day is what you felt below the surface. With that said, here is our theory: a hermit crab.

Yeah, it sounds crazy but hear us out. Imagine a common Mexican land hermit crab such as the Big Claw Purple Hermit Crab (Petrochirus californiensis) just out walking around the caves near where the river is located when it is attacked by a predator. In this scenario, lets assume the predator is a bird. The bird manages to pull the crab out of its shell but for whatever reason, it ends up dropping the crab either into or close to the river where it then tumbles in. Now just free floating along within the slow current, the crab is tumbling over and over when it eventually meets your foot dangling in the water. Your foot allows the crab to slow down just enough where it is able to wrap not only its legs somewhat around your foot, but also manages to curl its soft abdomen/tail around your foot as well. This we feel could explain why the object felt both like a hand, but also like it had a noticeably hard shell.

Since it was only loosely holding on, once you shook your foot it easily slipped back off into the water and got taken by the current yet again. When it was back at the mercy of the current it was pulled away and was unable to be seen. As for the “burn” mark it left behind, this may be a result of the crab simply trying to find a suitable place to latch onto. The friction of the chitinous body against your foot may have been just enough to leave a subtle yet noticeable mark. Again though, this is all just a theory and in no way are we saying it actually happened.

To further give credence as to why we feel this could be viewed as an acceptable theory though, the Big Claw Purple Hermit Crab can grow to lengths of over 7 inches without a shell. They can be found within the area in which you were located at the time of the encounter and they are most often seen in darker areas void of direct light which are reasonably cool and moist. So needless to say, these crabs thrive around cave systems in tropical environments.

Regardless though on if our theory is correct or not, you did truly encounter something that was unexplained that day. Whether or not it was a known animal or something else entirely, that we may never know. But when it comes to personal encounters such as these, it’s always fun to take a moment to think about all the what-ifs and wild theories surrounding the truly mysterious creature lurking just below the surface.

Thanks again for reaching out Andrew!

-The Pine Barrens Institute

Image Credit: Shutterstock

If you have a sighting to share or a piece of folklore to tell, make sure to get in touch and let us know! Remember: It’s your story, so why not share it in your own words!

Want more monster stories in your life? If the answer is yes, then make sure to check out our book ‘Monsters In Print: A Collection Of Curious Creatures Known Mostly From Newspapers’, available from Amazon!

Make sure to also check out our shop for official PBI shirts, totes, buttons, and stickers!