Loch Ness is the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. It was formed as a result of a great gash in the earth that splits the Scottish Highlands in two. A chain of rivers, canals, and lakes connect the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Among these lakes is Loch Ness, home of the most famous cryptozoological mysteries.
Loch Ness is 24 miles long and one and a half miles wide with a depth of 450 feet. It is cold and murky and has dangerous currents. It is a perfect place to hide a monster from the prying eyes of science.
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What Nessie looks like….
Greenish-Blue
180 feet long
Her skin is made up of scales
She looks like a dinosaur
She has a tail, a long neck, a large stomache and a small head
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Modern Sightings
Reports of sightings of an enormous animal rolling and plunging in the Loch began to soar in 1933 after a new road was built along the edge of the Loch. Alex Campbel, who regulated salmon fishing in the Loch, spent much time observing the monster. He described the animal as being about 30 feet long and having a long tapering neck and a small head.
Hugh Gray photographed the monster in 1933. Much movement came from the tail as he observed the monster.
In 1934 Colonel Robert Wilson made the “surgeon's photo.” This later was said to be a hoax. It was a photograph made from a model monster that was made by Christian Sparling.
Arthur Grant, a young veterinary student, almost ran into the monster crossing the road. His description seemed to match that of a plesiosaurus, a dinosaur which was thought to have been extinct for 65 million years.
The first moving picture of the monster was made by Tim Dinsdale in l960. He encountered two more sightings but was never able to gather proof of its existence.
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Rines Photographs
The American Academy of Applied Science began to study the monster in 1970. Dr. Robert Rines used automatic cameras and sonar to monitor the Loch. In 1972 he got four frames of what appeared to be a flipper six to eight feet long.
Peter Davies, a member of Rines' team, detected the monster under his boat with sonar. The size of the animal frightened him. Even though the photo showed looks of a diamond-shaped fin of a plesiosaurus, it still could not be proven.
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Sonar Searches
Various researchers have used sonar to find the monster with various results. In 1968 G. H. Tucker of the University of Birmingham used a prototype sonar at the Loch where he saw objects 20 feet in length moving in water but never surfacing.
A year later Andrew Carroll, a researcher for the New York Aquarium, picked up a strong echo of an object to be about 20 feet in length. Neither object found by Carroll or by Tucker were definitely identified.
A system of underwater microphones was placed in the Loch by Roy Mackal, a biologist at the University of Chicago. He had no notable results.
The most recent sonar exploration was in 2004 when sonar beams were used to probe the Loch from end to end. They could detect no sign of a large animal. Efforts continue to search the Loch but with no success
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Non-animal Explanations
Scientists wonder if the Loch Ness monster could be standing waves. Others suggest that logs of scotch pine have fallen into the lake, Bues, or a flipped over canoes.
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Hoaxes
People have been creating many hoaxes about the Loch Ness monster. Evidence of a large hippo foot and a gigantic tooth have been noted as well as appearances. But, man's curiosity cannot be erased, and there will be a search for Nessie for many, many years.