An old WW2 ammunition ship off the south cost of england was full off brass topped shells. Most had been taken by divers over the years and it was now very rare to see them, apart from a pile in one corner of the ship.

This pile of shiny brass metals was miraculous untouched and remarkably clean after spending years underwater and you only found out why if you swam near then.

Out of the murky darkness the largest eel i have ever seen snakes forward, without exaggeration this thing had a head the same size as a horse’s head, full of jagged teeth. I could not see the body as it looped into the dark and deeper into the ship. No one got near those shells.

Turns out for years this thing had been guarding the shiny brass shells, slithering over them making them shine. We found out at the bar later that he was famous in the area and many people went to the wreck just to see him. No idea why this giant creature was guarding them like a dragon and its horde, but some said eels are like magpies and like shiny things.