The mystery of the Loch Ness monster

Mysterious prehistoric monsters

Loch Ness is a large lake with a depth of up to 244 m, stretching more than 37 km and at its widest place about 1.6 km. The lake's water color is pitch black due to the amount of peat and sediment washed in from the surrounding hills.

The presence of monsters in Loch Ness is a legend dating back to ancient times. Stone carvings made by the Picts who lived in the area represent a mysterious monster with fins. The first record of this creature dates back to 565 AD, in the notes of Irish monk Saint Columba when he first saw the monster Nessie. “This is a legend similar to the story of a saint fighting a dragon. It appears in most ancient books in Europe," biologist Eric Buffetaut, honorary research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) told AFP reporters.

However, it took a millennium for evidence of the monster we know today to appear. Scottish newspapers at that time published the testimony of George Spicer and his wife, two British tourists who visited Loch Ness. Accordingly, they saw a giant animal more than 8 meters long, with a 3-4 meter long neck similar to an elephant's trunk. The animal crossed the road before crawling through bushes and finally diving into the lake.

In the 1930s, testimonies recounting encounters with this unknown animal were widely published in the press. In 1934, the Daily Mail published the first image of the monster, which turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by British doctor Robert Wilson. Regardless, the monster Nessie still fascinates the world and its legend continues to exist. According to the Loch Ness Centre, there have been more than 1,100 official Nessie sightings to date and the monster contributes millions of pounds to the Scottish economy each year through tourism.

The story of the Loch Ness monster is quickly entering popular culture. Movies are dedicated to it, such as “Loch Ness” directed by John Henderson, released in 1996. While “The Simpsons” portrays Nessie in their episodes. Even the monster Nessie was adapted into countless other derivative products. However, so far there is no scientific evidence of a monster in Loch Ness.

The hunt for evidence

For years, scientists and enthusiasts have tried to find evidence of a large fish living deep in the lake, while some have suggested that the monster could be a reptile. The prehistoric sea resembled a snake-headed lizard.

In 1972, the Loch Ness Inquiry conducted its largest search to date, but to no avail. In 1987, Operation Deepsca used 24 boats equipped with hydroacoustic equipment to survey the entire lake. Campaign organizers claim to have found an “unidentified object of unusual size and power” at the bottom of the lake.

In 2018, researchers conducted DNA studies to determine what creatures live in the waters of Loch Ness. However, the evidence found only concerns eels. In 2019, scientists said that the mysterious creature under Loch Ness could be a giant eel.

Alan McKenna, founder of the volunteer research group Loch Ness Exploration, said he had been searching for the Loch Ness monster for three years and had never found anything certain. “I invested seriously in looking at Loch Ness for about two or three years,” says Alan McKenna. But I was introduced to it when I was about seven years old. I was at my grandmother's house, it was a really boring rainy day. I randomly found a book on the shelf, it was “The Story of the Loch Ness Monster” by Tim Dinsdale.

The cover of the book has a picture of a strange-looking animal. I sat with my dad by the fire and I think we read the whole book in one night. It was the first book I finished reading. That book is truly captivating. Today, I call myself a Loch Ness enthusiast. When I was young, I wanted to go there and find a long-necked creature that resembled or maybe even resembled a plesiosaur. But as you get older, you learn more about the history of the lake, the natural environment, the truth and the logic behind it.”

The biggest search campaign in 50 years

On August 26 and 27, the Loch Ness Center and the volunteer research group Loch Ness Exploration organized the event "The Quest" to search for traces of Nessie. The event attracted hundreds of volunteers around the world such as the US, Canada, France, Italy, Japan..., with survey equipment being used for the first time at the lake, including drones ( UAV) thermal imaging and hydroacoustic microphones. This is said to be the largest search campaign for the Loch Ness monster since 1972.

“There is no place in the world where people haven't heard of Nessie, but this remains one of our biggest questions: “What is the Loch Ness Monster?”, Paul Nixon - CEO Loch Ness Center's operations said. “I don't know what it is,” he insisted. All I know is that there's something big in Loch Ness. I saw a scanned image of an object the size of a truck moving deep under the water's surface."

Tatiana Yeboah, a 21-year-old French tourist, one of the few people who braved the rain on August 26 to join the search for the monster Nessie, said: "Nessie can be a legend, it can also be a myth." Real".

For Canadian Christie McLeod, he has been hunting this monster for nine years, but this is his first official hunting trip. “I used to hire my own boat, but now it's great because the search for Nessie is organized by the Loch Ness Exploration team with support from the Loch Ness Centre. I heard many stories from locals, all of which contradicted each other. In the world there are two opposing views on the existence of Nessie. I believe the monster in Loch Ness is real and finding it will open a portal that will lead me to another dimension in the lake," McLeod said.

During the above campaign, volunteers were arranged along 37 km of lakeside road to monitor the situation, others used boats to search on the water. A hydroacoustic microphone was dropped to collect sounds under the lake. Thousands of other people attentively watched images broadcast live from cameras to detect unusual traces. “We heard something. We heard four strange sounds and got excited, ran to make sure the recorder was working, but it turned out it wasn't plugged in," said Alan McKenna, who leads the campaign.

However, after two weeks of searching, the largest hunt for the "Loch Ness monster" in half a century has yielded no results. And the monster Nessie is still an unanswered mystery.