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The Trip To The Loch:
You came here on vacation to visit your Scottish grandparents. You are now standing in their backyard, staring out onto the dark waters of Loch Ness. You had heard about the "Water Kelpies", or evil water horses. You also remember when before leaving, your friends would say: "Boy, you're lucky! You're going to see the Loch Ness Monster!" You would then laugh at them, saying: "There's no such thing." But now as you sit in the green grass, you wonder: is there really such a creature living in the Loch?
Suddenly, you squint at the sight of a small boat crossing the water. Is it a boat? You try to peer closer. The boat must be overturned, for the shape is convex. Suddenly, a neck stretches out of the water. You gasp, astonished at what you thought was a small water craft is actually Nessie! Welcome To Loch Ness Loch Ness stands as the largest body of fresh water in all of Great Britain: 22.5 miles long, up to 1.7 miles wide and up to 750 feet deep. Deep in the dark and murky waters of the Loch lives a creature that, in the past, struck terror in every man's heart. Perceived as a bloodthirsty beast, the monster of Loch Ness has somewhat changed over the years. Now it is regarded sort of a shy creature, shunning especially any good pose for any tourist's camera. Although many other lochs in Scotland have water monsters (Loch Tay and Loch Morar, for example), Loch Ness has found itself to be the lucky home of the world's most famous monster: Nessie. Is It So Hard To Find Nessie? Oh yes it is! Nessie (The affectionate name given to him/her/it) lives in water so murky that you can't even see a couple of feet in front of you. (It's always dark below about 60 feet, but you should be able to see 10 to 15 feet in the shallow areas, or with lights.)The murkiness is due to peat particles from the local bog. (Actually some rivers flowing into Loch Ness are peatier than others, and together they drain over 100 square miles-only some of it is bog. ) Even though the water is cold, it doesn't freeze in winter, so a monster like Nessie could rise to the surface to get air anytime (supposing that Nessie is an air breather). Even though there have been many expeditions like Operation Deep Scan (Consisting of twenty four 32ft long boats equipped with sonar that have scanned the Loch for 2 days), none have found definite proof of Nessie's existence. This is probably due to some much debated caverns that supposedly lie at the north end of the Loch. Nessie could easily hide in them or at the bottom of the Loch, which is a fault caused by two tectonic plates. Nessie could also easily hide during storms which cause waves up to 8ft high on the Loch, of which no one would see it's neck. And why haven't we found any carcasses yet? Well, unlike in warm temperatures that will cause the body to float because of gas build up, the cold water slows down the decomposition process and so gas has plenty of time to seep out a little at a time and in turn keeps the body at the bottom of the Loch. How Does Nessie Look Like? There is no sure description of Nessie, for he is described from a crocodile to humps in the water to a gigantic eel. But the majority of reports describe him as this: Nessie usually measures between 18 and 50 feet long, and is greyish-black to dark brown in color. It basically looks like a plesiosaur, a prehistoric aquatic reptile that supposedly went extinct 65 million years ago, along with the dinosaurs. It has a barrel shaped body with a whip-like tail, four diamond shaped flippers, a long neck, and a small head resembling a horse's head but without the ears, but having two small stubby horns. Some reports even state that Nessie has a mane and a beard! What Is Nessie, Anyways? Nessie seems to become even more ridiculous by the minute as new ideas come out about it's identity, like the theory that Nessie might even be a giant slug! Even though there are many candidates, here is a list of some possible things that the Loch Ness Monster could be: 1- A whale: Even though a whale might fit the description of the humps above the water and also fit most sizes reported, a whale doesn't have the long neck and small head that fits most descriptions. Also a whale would have been spotted a long time ago due to it's numerous trips to the surface to breathe. 2- A seal: Even though seals do occasionally visit the Loch, they are to small to fit the descriptions and are too noisy. If a permanent colony of seals would inhabit the Loch, they would have to go on land to have their pups. 3- A sea cow: It would be to small and would need to surface often for air, as well as not fitting the descriptions of the long neck and small head.
4- A turtle: Same as with the sea cow. 5- A salamander: Even though some grow up to 5ft long, with some ancestors that grew up to 16ft long, they don't fit the description- their big heads are mounted on a short neck. 6- An eel: It could fit the description, but it is too small, unless there is a large species that has not yet been discovered, reaching longer than 10ft long. 7- A plesiosaur or another prehistoric creature: It would be the best candidate, along with some other prehistoric creatures that swam the ancient seas. Of course, these creatures would have had to adapt to a fresh water environment, which is not impossible, for many freshwater species come from the sea. Also, many saltwater animals have been reported to have gone into freshwater, like a great white shark, a whale, turtles, and of course, salmon.
What Does Nessie Eat? Whatever Nessie is, it still has to eat. So what does he eat, anyway? Almost every scientists agree on this: Nessie can't rely on underwater plants, so it must eat fish. Well, that is exactly what Loch Ness provides, also to mention big fish at that! The Loch contains many varieties of fish, including pike, big brown trout, sea trout, eels, salmon that weights 30 pounds and over, char, and sticklebacks. Extra! Extra! Hoaxes Uncovered! Hoax #1: Nessie tracks. In 1933, tracks were reported to have been found on the shores of Loch Ness. Soon after the discovery, the Bronx Zoo in New York offered a \\$10,000 dollar reward to anyone who captured the creature and brought it alive in New York. Soon, though, the footprints were found to have been made by the same foot: a stuffed hippopotamus leg! Hoax #2: The surgeon's photograph. For 60 years, the picture of Nessie taken by Dr. Robert Wilson in April of 1934 had been printed in hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers. The photograph was now the most famous picture of the monster ever taken. But in 1994, researchers finally found out it had been a fraud. 90 year old Christian Spurling, stepson of the late Marmaduke Wetherell, admitted the hoax. He explained how Wetherell bought a toy submarine onto which Christian made a 12 inch plastic sculpture of Nessie's neck and head. Then they took several snapshots of the "monster" and found someone willing to admit that he had taken the pictures. That someone was Dr. Robert Wilson. Many thanks to Dick Raynor for his help in improving this page |
