The Loch Ness Monster
Nessie: Fact or Fiction?
If you type "loch ness monster" into the search box on Google, you get over 1 million hits. "Nessie", as she is affectionately known (for some reason, I think of Nessie as female), even has her own fan club. Thousands of tourists visit Loch Ness every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary creature.
Loch Ness measures 23 miles in length and is one mile wide. The average depth is 700 feet. The peat content in the water makes for little visibility.
Traditional Scottish folklore speaks of water kelpies. These were thought to lure children into the water by offering them a ride across the lake. If the ride was accepted, the unfortunate child's hands would stick to the kelpie and the child would drown.
At first glance, it would appear that the idea of a lake monster might have originated as a way to keep young children away from the water for their own safety. Having said that, consider the first recorded sighting of Nessie: In 565 A.D. St. Columba was visiting Scotland. He stopped by the loch and observed a lake monster who was about to attack a swimmer. The lake monster abandoned its pursuit of the swimmer on Columba's command.
Fast forward to 1933. Construction of a new road in the area meant that the Loch could now be viewed from the north side. In April of that year, "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface" was seen by two witnesses. Nessie has also been seen on land. George Spicer and his wife were driving by the Loch when they observed something crossing the road in front of their vehicle. They noticed that the animal had a large body, with a long neck. Its movements were described as being "seal-like". It was difficult for them to estimate the creature's size but they did note that it was wider than the road.
Skeptics have dismissed Nessie sightings as being either hoaxes or explainable as floating logs, boat wakes, ducks, and the like. Still, the sightings continued, with witnesses reporting seeing a large animal with humps above the water (similar in shape to an overturned boat). Some accounts include a long neck or flippers being seen.
What is going on in Loch Ness? The story will continue in my next article.
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