Loch Ness Monster
The mystery of Loch Ness is one of the most popular legends of modern times. This location is one of the most visited tourist spots in Scotland. The colorful tale of a large creature existing in this deep, cold lake in northern Scotland is centuries old but became popular in the 1930′s. Interest has peaked in modern times with expensive expeditions and constant surveillance to solve the mystery.
The main support for the creature’s existence is the thousands of eyewitness accounts. However, they are not consistent with the description of a single type of animal. And, the differences make it difficult for us to imagine just what the animal may really be.
Explanations for the enigma of Loch Ness are numerous and varied. The most popular is that “Nessie” is a plesiosaur (a sea reptile that lived at the time of the dinosaurs) that, contrary to fossil evidence, would have had to survive the dinosaur extinction event 65 million years ago – an extremely unlikely situation.
Many other animals have been proposed to be living in the Loch to account for the sightings – giant eels, sturgeons, primitive whales and seals. Also, certain ecological or geological conditions have been proposed to explain strange sightings. Most sightings could simply be misinterpretation of boat waves or floating logs. Several so-called authentic photos have been exposed as hoaxes. Other “evidence” from film has been too unclear and indistinct to be very useful. There have been some scientific investigations into the nature of the loch and its inhabitants over the past several decades. But, even after all this inquiry and study, experts have yet to produce any solid evidence of a “monster” living in the loch.
The photo shown above, known as the “Wilson photo” or “Surgeon’s Photo” is the most popular, iconic view of Nessie. Sadly, it is not that of a real animal. Besides the fact that we know of no animal that looks or acts this way, the photo has been cropped to focus in just on the subject. The original photo shows that the object is very small. Later, the promoters of the photo revealed it was a toy floated in the water to look like the monster.
Flipper Photo
Robert Rines, a patent lawyer and founder of the Academy of Applied Sciences, took this well-known and highly controversial photo from an expedition at Loch Ness in 1972. It is said to show the flipper-like limb of Nessie itself.
Rines reported that the image coincided with the movement of a large object detected by sonar equipment. He claimed this was evidence for the creature’s existence.
The flipper photo was even used to justify giving a scientific name to the creature of the Loch. (see below) The original photograph, however, was unclear and had been enhanced by computer. A later version of the image, which was widely published, was far clearer than the grainy original causing accusations that the photo was retouched. Rines admitted only various enhancements had been used. Other of Rines’ underwater images from the Loch, such as the “Gargoyle Photo” of 1975, showed objects that were also interpreted as glimpses of the head of the creature. But, more likely these were views of the lake bottom instead, said scientists.
Flipper photo - enhanced
Scientific professionals criticized Rines’ records of sonar contacts, as well as the pictures. In 2001, Dr. Rines returned to the Loch and was unsuccessful in capturing any more images. Dr. Rines died without finding his monster.
Nessiteras rhombopteryx
This is the scientific name given to the creature suspected of living in Loch Ness.
In 1978, Sir Peter Scott created the name in reference to a 1972 photograph of what appears to be a diamond-shaped fin in the murky water (It translates to “Rhomboid-finned Ness wonder”). His goal was that the name allowed for the creature to be added to the list of officially protected wildlife of the United Kingdom.
It hardly acceptable scientific procedure to give an organism a name only from a suspicious, unverified, computer-enhanced photo. Thus, this “official” name is not taken seriously by the scientific community. Curiously, someone later discovered that if you rearrange the letters of the name, you can make the words “Monster hoax by Sir Peter S”. That’s an interesting coincidence.
REALITY CHECK: As much as monster hunters would love to find a real, fantastic new creature responsible for this great legend, it is likely not going to happen. The loch and others like it around the world have been thoroughly searched. No biological evidence has been found to support the hype. It is quite possible that people see unusual waves, floating logs that pop up and sink back down, otters, or large fish. The people around Loch Ness and cryptozoologists make attempts to keep the mystery alive. Like Bigfoot, Nessie is one of modern human culture’s great legends. So great, that we refuse to let it go.
MORE INFORMATION:
Monster Science: A Review of evidence of living plesiosaurs and The Plesiosaur Hypothesis (download an MP3 file to listen to here)
Skeptic’s Dictionary: Loch Ness “monster”
Nova Online: The Beast of Loch Ness
Scotland Calling: The Loch Ness Monster
Tony Harmsworth Loch Ness Info Site
New Scientist: Why the Loch Ness Monster is No Plesiosaur
Is It Real? Loch Ness
YOUR TURN:
- What do you think is the best explanation for the hundreds of sightings of Nessie in recent times?
- What other spooky things are associated with Loch Ness?
- Why is this legend so popular?
- What does it mean to the people around the Loch if Nessie is no longer mysterious?
