Final Presentation: Loch Ness Expedition

This is a short video, explaining my views on the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.
A tad silly, but informative. Your questions are encouraged.

Creation of Loch Ness

In the "Loch Ness" episode of How the Earth Was Made on the History Channel, the complete birth of the Loch Ness is described and explained. As a back story, their once was a strong physical bond between North America and what is now Scotland: they were joined as one. The evidence of this remarkable feat lies in the stone. The red sandstone of eastern America and western Scotland are identical, in age and composition. The explanation behind the splitting of these two countries is the lava flow under the Earth's crust which eventually caused an explosion that began the separation. As far as the actual Loch Ness, it was literally carved from ice age old glaciers that grind ed down the dirt and pushed it away. The U-shape valley of the Loch Ness area and the Great Glenn Fault continues underwater in the loch. This proves that the glacier cut the loch and supplied it with access to the ocean and freshwater.





I had read about the glaciers cutting away at the earth of Scotland and thought that it was intriguing, and the video from the History channel helped visualize this for me. However, the theory of America and Scotland being connected was new to me. This source was very helpful to me and opened my eyes to different theories. I was also relieved to learn about something other than skeptics hating on Nessie. I have exhausted every theory and source on her and it was a good break from that type of research.



Loch Ness: How the Earth Was Made. hulu.com., n.p., Web.

Loch Ness monster is real: former Scottish police chief

Loren Coleman, who is an expert on mythic animals, considers the belief of Nessie by a Scottish police officer to be significant. The officer is deeply concerned for the safety of the creature and so is the Scottish government. Unfortuneately for Nessie, "Newly publicized documents reveal that a former Scottish police chief believed that the existence of the Loch Ness monster was 'beyond doubt' but its protection could not be ensured (Coleman). Coleman was set to go on an underwater expedition adventure type thing with another expert Dan Taylor as a witness because in an earlier experience Taylor claimed to bump into what he was sure was the monster.






This article means nothing to those who have a closed mind. Those people read articles like this and say "Oh well their main source of income is the bloody beast of course they 'think' it's real; they know it's not they just do it for the money." Well good sirs and madams you're very correct. However, I believe that there are those who do it for the money and then there is the legitimate Scots who truly believe in Nessie and she is a part of their Scottish heritage and patriotism. Uncle Sam is to the U.S. as Nessie is to Scotland.


http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0427/Loch-Ness-monster-is-real-former-Scottish-police-chief

"Loch Ness monster is real: former Scottish police chief." csmonitor.com., The Christian Science Monitor. n.p. Web.

Nessie's Home

In The Loch Ness Monster, by Lynn Picknett, a section of the book refers to the actual loch, and its conditions. The loch itself is very unique, not only because of what may or may not lie in it, but because of its characteristics. It lies at the northern end of Great Glen fault line that cuts across the HIghlands of Scotland and is the greatest volume of fresh water in the UK. The loch is 24 miles long and one mile wide and connected to the sea by the river Ness. Loch Ness is immensely cold, very deep, and poor visibility of a few feet. Temperatures varies based on the water level, but the first 100 feet can heat up to a maximum of 54 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that temperatures don't go higher than 42 degrees. Most aquatic life live within the first 100 feet. However, in 1981 the Loch Ness Project discovered a population of Arctic char living at a depth in excess of 700 feet, "and if the peaty depths hold such unexpected secrets, what else may they be hiding?"(2). As far as the depth of the water, the actual deepest part of the loch is still under debate because of scientific sonar reasons.





I was interested to learn about the wildlife that was discovered at the lower, colder region of the loch. Char, after some research, is a fish closely related with salmon and trout that only lives in far northern areas like Scotland. After so much information on the monster itself, I was intrigued by these facts regarding this mysterious body of water.



Picknett, Lynn. The Loch Ness Monster. Singapore: Pitkin Publishing Ltd., 1993. Print.

Unexplained Natural Phenomena: Nessie

In the detailed novel Unexplained Natural Phenomena, by Keith Tutt, there is much evidence to the existence of Nessie, and greater details to some of the earlier mentioned experiences. Skeptics soon grew irritated with this legend and were craving to prove, or disprove Nessie's existence, "Doctors, lawyers, businessmen, even priests have testified to the creature's reality" (137). In an earlier post I mentioned the underwater photograph of "Nessie's fin". In this source it goes into greater detail about how this photograph came to be. Scientists were fed up with this myth so they brought sophisticated sonar equipment to the loch and a 16mm camera system able to capture time-lapse images with a synchronized flash unit. However, the sheer size of the loch and murkiness of its water were threats to their quest. At around 1AM the sonar started to pick up traces of a large object moving in the sonar beam. Later, a group of salmon showed up and the camera took time-lapse pictures. When the pictures developed there was clearly a flipper of a sea creature, and in the second clear picture, the head and neck of something. These two photos were of something scientists had never seen before; this was evidence that the team had dreamed of.




I enjoyed this portion of my research because it gave an elaborate description of the process of scientifically tracking down this underwater fiasco. I can only imagine the frustration of those who are searching for evidence and end up with such questionable results. As I read each new source and learn new things, only my desire to visit Scotland and Loch Ness for myself increases.



Tutt, Keith. Unexplained Natural Phenomena. New York:Orion Publishing Group, 1997. Print.

Interview

For the interview portion of my research I decided to interview my mother and grandmother who have visited Scotland and Loch Ness. When asked about the actual Loch Ness they explained that it was:

"a long, slender lake in a hilly, almost mountainous area of Scotland. Scotland in general is so far north that the light of day isn't the same as Alabama, and that it looks mysterious or from another world and has an eerie feeling to the whole place."

I also asked them if they were interested in Nessie while they were there.

"Yes, there's a road that runs right along the water and we watched for Nessie the whole way."
"Then we arrived at a museum dedicated to Nessie sightings and from the point of view of the museum the Loch Ness Monster is an absolute fact."
"I asked a resident while we were there if he believed in Nessie and was expecting a casual answer to a tourist, but what he said almost sounded angry; he emphatically said 'There is a monster in the loch, She's there.' I'll never forget him because he was so passionate about it.

To sum things up I inquired on their beliefs in Nessie.

"When you're there, when you see it, the way it looks, the atmosphere and the castles, you understand why people would believe it. It's just some other worldly place, and it's not hard to believe in Nessie when you're there.




This interview was extremely educating and inspiring. Instead of some boring author explain to me all the evidence of what a fallacy Nessie is, I heard things that encouraged my imagination, not diminish it. Also, the thought of an old, angry Scot makes me want to visit there even more. I attempted to establish an interview with many different contacts from Scotland that work near or on Loch Ness such as skippers, their wives, and local museums. Unfortunatey, because of the 6 hour time difference and some bad luck, I had to settle for my family members who have visited Scotland, which turned out to be much more enjoyable than I planned.

The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence Book-Length Work

The extraordinary myth of a monster inhabiting a deep, dark Scottish loch has intrigued believers and annoyed skeptics for decades. In The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence, a critical examination of facts and fictions regarding the mysterious creature of Loch Ness, by Steuart Campbell, theories are tested and believers are questioned. This elaborate study includes origins of the Loch Ness Monster stories and analyses of photographs above and underwater. It also includes reviews of film and sonar evidence and a survey of evidence from lakes all over the world.



This source has enormous amounts of review on photographic evidence. The question remains whether or not these photos are credible. Although I do not agree with Campbell on the subject of the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, he has written the most thorough examination on Nessie that I have seen in all my research. Campbell shows his attention to provable research when he says "The geometry of the picture indicates that the camera was at an angle of about 12 degrees to the plane of the water, and that Gray was much closer to the object than he admitted" (38).

Campbell, after his exhaustive effort to bring together all the research that has been done on and off Loch Ness concludes, "The word 'monster' as several definition, but one in particular is appropriate to this conclusion---an imaginary animal compounded of incongruous elemnets....it is a chimera, no more real than the centaur or the griffin" (115-116). While this novel provides many instances of detailed research and shows no proof of the monster's existence, nor does it disprove the monster's existence. The Scottish people that live near the loch are firm believers, whether their belief is based on economic reasons or nationalist reasons. I count myself as a believer as well.



Campbell, Steuart. The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence. New York: Prometheus Books, 1997. Print.