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Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster, sometimes called Nessie or Ness (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) is a mysterious and unidentified animal or group of animals claimed by some to inhabit Loch Ness, a large deep freshwater loch near the city of Inverness in northern Scotland. Nessie is usually categorized as a type of lake monster. Its disputed "scientific" name, as chosen by the late Sir Peter Scott, is Nessiteras rhombopteryx (which, coincidentally or not, is an anagram of "Monster Hoax by Sir Peter S.") Although no evidence exists to suggest the alleged creature's sex, the nickname "Nessie" sounds feminine, so the creature is often referred to as female.
Along with Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, Nessie is one of the best-known mysteries of cryptozoology. Most scientists and other experts find current evidence supporting Nessie unpersuasive, and regard the occasional reports of sightings as hoaxes or misidentification of mundane creatures or natural phenomena. However, belief in the animal persists among many people around the world, with the most popular theory being that it is a plesiosaur.
History of alleged sightings
Rumours of a monster or animal living in the loch are claimed by believers to have been known for several centuries, though others have questioned the accuracy or relevance of such tales, which were generally unheard of before the early 1960s when a strong "wave of interest" in legitimizing Nessie's 1930s-based history began.
The earliest report cited is taken from the Life of St. Columba by Adamnan, recorded in the 6th century. It describes how in 565 Columba saved the life of a Pict, who was being supposedly attacked by the monster. Adamnan describes the event as follows:
"...(He) raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, "Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed." Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast. Then the brethren seeing that the monster had gone back, and that their comrade Lugne returned to them in the boat safe and sound, were struck with admiration, and gave glory to God in the blessed man. And even the barbarous heathens, who were present, were forced by the greatness of this miracle, which they themselves had seen, to magnify the God of the Christians".[1]
Critics have questioned the reliability of the Life, noting a different story in which Columba slays a wild boar by the power of his voice alone. They also point out that the event is said to have occurred on the River Ness, not in the Loch, and that Adamnan reports Columba encountering and conquering assorted "monsters", at various places in Scotland, throughout his "life". Additionally, they point out that the Loch Ness monster has no other reported instance of attacking anyone, and in fact is generally portrayed as shy.
Evidence
Evidence for
Some have argued a history of "monster" sightings in the loch provides circumstantial evidence supporting the creature's existence. Note that the validity and origins of these stories have been challenged, along with any "history" predating the early 1930s. There have been around 10,000 such sightings, a third of which were reported in one form of media or another.
Professor D.G. Tucker, chairman of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, England, volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at Loch Ness in 1968. The gesture was part of a larger effort helmed by the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB) from 1967-1968 and involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in various fields. Tucker had chosen Ness as the test site for a prototype sonar transducer with a maximum range of 800 meters. The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed towards the opposite shore, effectively drawing an acoustic 'net' across the width of Ness through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple animate targets six meters (20 ft) in length were identified ascending from and diving to the loch bottom. Analysis of diving profiles ruled out air-breathers because the targets never surfaced or moved shallower than midwater. A brief press release by LNPIB and associates touched on the sonar data and drew to a close the 1968 effort:
The solution to the question of whether or not unusual phenomena exist in Loch Ness, Scotland, and if so, what their nature might be, was advanced a step forward during 1968, as a result of sonar experiments conducted by a team of scientists under the direction of D. Gordon Tucker... Professor Tucker reported that his fixed beam sonar made contact with large moving objects sometimes reaching speeds of at least 10 knots. He concluded that the objects are clearly animals and ruled out the possibility that they could be ordinary fish. He stated: "The high rate of ascent and descent makes it seem very unlikely [that they could be fish], and fishery biologists we have consulted cannot suggest what fish they might be. It is a temptation to suppose they might be the fabulous Loch Ness monsters, now observed for the first time in their underwater activities!"
In 1969 Andrew Carroll, field researcher for the New York Aquarium in New York City, proposed a mobile sonar scan operation at Loch Ness. The project was funded by the Griffis foundation - named for Nixon Griffis, then a director of the Aquarium. This was the tail-end of the LNPIB's 1969 effort involving submersibles armed with biopsy harpoons and ultimately the most successful. The trawling scan, in Carroll's research launch Rangitea, took place in October. One sweep of the loch made contact with a strong, animate echo for nearly three minutes just north of Foyers. The identity of the animal remains a mystery. Later analysis determined that the intensity of the returning echo was twice as great as that expected from a 10 foot pilot whale. Calculations placed the animal's length at 20 feet.
Earlier submersible work had yielded dismal results. Under the sponsorship of World Book Encyclopedia, pilot Dan Taylor deployed the Viperfish at Loch Ness on June 1 1969. His dives, though treacherous and plagued by technical problems, were routine; they produced no new data. The Deep Star III built by General Dynamics and an unnamed two-man submersible built by Westinghouse were slated to sail but never did. It was only when the Pisces arrived at Ness that the LNPIB obtained new data. Owned by Vickers, Ltd., the submersible had been rented out to produce a Sherlock Holmes film about the Loch Ness Monster. When the dummy monster broke loose from the Pisces during filming and sank to the bottom of the loch, Vickers executives capitalized on the loss and 'monster fever' by allowing the sub to do a bit of exploring. During one of these excursions, the Pisces picked up a large moving object on sonar 200 feet ahead and 50 feet above the bottom of the loch. Slowly the pilot closed half that distance but the echo moved rapidly out of sonar range and disappeared.
During the so-called "Big Expedition" of 1970, Roy P. Mackal, a biologist who taught for 20 years at the University of Chicago, devised a system of hydrophones (underwater microphones) and deployed them at intervals throughout the loch. In early August a hydrophone assembly was lowered into Urquhart Bay and anchored in 700 feet of water. Two hydrophones were secured at depths of 300 and 600 feet. After two nights of recording, the tape (sealed inside a 55 gallon steel drum along with the system's other sensitive components) was retrieved and played before an excited LNPIB. "Bird-like chirps" had been recorded, and the intensity of the chirps on the deep hydrophone suggested they had been produced at greater depth. In October "knocks" and "clicks" were recorded by another hydrophone in Urquhart Bay, indicative of echolocation. These sounds were followed by a "turbulent swishing" suggestive of locomotion by the tail a large aquatic animal. The knocks, clicks, and resultant swishing was believed to correspond to predation - an animal pinpointing prey via echolocation and then moving in for the kill. The noises died out when craft passed along the surface of Loch Ness near the hydrophone and resumed when craft had reached a safe distance. During previous experiments, it was observed that call intensities were greatest at depths less than 100 feet. Members of the LNPIB decided to attempt communication with the animals producing the calls by playing back previously recorded calls into the water and listening via hydrophone for any results - which varied greatly. At times the calling pattern changed, other times it increased or decreased in intensity, sometimes there was no change at all. Mackal noted that there was no similarity between the recordings and the hundreds of known sounds produced by aquatic animals. "More specifically," he said, "competent authorities state that none of the known forms of life in the loch has the anatomical capabilities of producing such calls."
In the early 1970s, a group led by American patent lawyer and founder of an organization which he named the Academy of Applied Sciences, Dr. Robert Rines, obtained some underwater photographs. One was a vague image, perhaps of a rhomboid flipper (others have argued the object could be air bubbles or a fish fin). On the basis of this photograph, Sir Peter Scott, one of Britain's best-known naturalists, announced in 1975 that the scientific name of the monster would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx1 (Greek for "The Ness monster with diamond-shaped fin"). This would enable Nessie to be added to a British register of officially protected wildlife (but compare [2]). It has been noted by London newspapers that Nessiteras rhombopteryx is an anagram of "monster hoax by Sir Peter S." Monster-hunter Robert H. Rines replied that the letters could also be rearranged to spell "Yes, both pix are monsters--R."
The underwater photos were reportedly obtained by painstakingly scouring the loch's depths with sonar, over the course of days, for unusual underwater activity. An underwater camera with an affixed, high-powered light (necessary for penetrating Loch Ness' famed murk) was then deployed to record images from below the surface. Several of the resulting photographs, despite their obviously murky quality, did indeed seem to show an animal quite resembling a plesiosaur in various positions and lightings. There was one of what looked like the head, neck and upper torso of a plesiosaur [3]. Close examination would show a head shape and even an eye. Another showed a "gargoyle head". This was found to be a tree stump during Operation Deepscan. There has also been a little published photograph of 2 bodies. A few close-ups of what is alleged to be the creature's diamond-shaped fin were also taken, in different positions, indicating movement. The Dinsdale 16 mm film of 1960, which has also been criticized as having an interpretation that has been greatly expanded from the original JARIC report, and numerous sonar contacts.
In 1993 Discovery Communications made a documentary called Loch Ness Discovered. A computer expert the enhanced the 1960 Dinsdale film when he had noticed a shadow in the negative that wasn't very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what looked like the rear body, the rear flippers, and 1-2 additional humps of a plesiosaur-like body. He even said "Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure".
Some have argued against this saying that you can't see anything under the water at such a distance and that the shape could have been the wake the object left behind that was coincidentally shaped like a plesiosaur's rear end. Nonetheless, the enhancement did show a smaller second hump and possibly a third hump.
The documentary also pointed out that the number of fish in the loch is nine times more than originally thought and that the fish were feeding extensively on uncommon prey (not revealed) in the very deep waters of the loch.
Evidence of a hoax
Perhaps typical of the many unsatisfactory facts about Nessie is an alleged sighting in October 1871 by a "D. Mackenzie", who supposedly described seeing something that moved slowly before moving off at a faster speed. However, although this story has been repeated in several places [4][5][6][7], no original 1871 source for this report has been discovered, substantially casting doubt on it.
The famed "Surgeon's Photo" (pictured top) was confirmed as a hoax based on the deathbed confessions of Chris Spurling, son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Spurling claimed the photo, which inspired much popular interest in the monster, was actually a staged photograph of clay attached to a toy submarine. Also notable are the ripples on the photo, which fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples when photographed up close, not large waves. Wetherell, a big game hunter, had been tricked into searching for an imaginary monster around the loch based on evidence which turned out to be the result of children's prank. He was publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the journal which employed him. To get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell set this hoax up, with the help of Chris Spurling (his son-in-law as mentioned), who was a specialist in sculpture, Ian Marmaduke (his son), who bought the material for the fake Nessie, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who was to call and ask Robert Wilson (a surgeon) to show the pictures. Well before Spurling's claims, however, others had argued the photo was that of an otter or a diving bird. There are in fact two "Surgeon's Photos," which depict slightly different poses, leading some to argue the photos are evidence against a hoax. However, at the time of this confession his father had already died, and Spurling wanted to disprove the photo. The surgeon who was credited for taking the photo never claimed he hadn't taken it either. [8] Additionally, the photo is often cropped to make the monster look huge. The original uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre [9].
The "flipper photograph" above has been highly retouched from the actual original image. The Museum of Hoaxes [10] shows the original unenhanced photo.
Evidence against
In July 2003, the BBC reported an extensive investigation of Loch Ness by a BBC team, using 600 separate sonar beams, found no trace of any "sea monster" (i.e., any large animal, known or unknown) in the loch. The BBC team concluded that Nessie does not exist. [11] In 2004, a documentary team for Channel 4 (primarily consisting of special effects experts from movies) deliberately tried to make people believe there was something in the loch. They constructed an elaborate animatronic model. Despite setbacks, it was a success, and numerous sightings were reported on the day, in the places they performed the hoaxes.
In addition, sunlight does not penetrate very deep into the water because of peat washed into the loch from the surrounding hills. This limits the amount of algae in the loch, thereby reducing the number of plankton, small fish, and then large fish up the food chain. The loch simply does not have enough food to support animals as big as a plesiosaur, particularly a breeding population of plesiosaurs. Palaeontologist Neil Clark has also proposed that the 1933 sightings were actually elephants from the travelling circus of Bertram Mills. [12]
According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), the present day belief in lake monsters in for example Loch Ness, is associated with the old legends of kelpies. Sjögren claims that the accounts of lake-monsters have changed during history. Older reports often talk about horse-like appearances, but more modern reports often have more reptile and dinosaur-like-appearances, and Bengt Sjögren concludes that the legends of kelpies evolved into the present day legends of lake-monsters where the monsters "changed the appearance" to a more "realistic" and "modern" version since the discovery of dinosaurs and giant aquatic reptiles from the horse-like water-kelpie to a dinosaur-like reptile, often a plesiosaur, or even a dragon like appearence.
The plesiosaur theory
Reports persist that the "monster" is a plesiosaur.
Arguments against the plesiosaur theory include the fact that the lake is too cold for a cold-blooded animal to survive easily, that air-breathing animals like plesiosaurs would be easily spotted when they surface to breathe, that the lake is too small to support a breeding colony and that the loch itself formed only 10,000 years ago during the last ice age, while the plesiosaur is thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
However, these arguments have all been opposed by Robert Rines, who said that "animals can adapt" and that "some reptiles can stay in water for a long time". "Many sightings tell of "horns" or "ears", which may be nostrils. If it (the monster) breathes regularly, it could breathe without being noticed". Supporters of the plesiosaur theory also say that the coelecanth was also thought to be extinct since the time of the plesiosaurs and was rediscovered in 1938.
Although these ideas have not been proven, we cannot be sure that plesiosaurs or any other prehistoric animal were cold-blooded. There is some evidence that dinosaurs (which were contemporaries of plesiosaurs) were warm-blooded [13], although this remains controversal. Also, crocodilians which are 'cold-blooded', are the closest living relatives of birds.
There are some theories of how plesiosaurs may have surfaced to breathe but supporters of the notion of surviving plesiosaurs say that plesiosaurs may have lifted only their nostrils above the surface to breathe. Some artist's impressions of plesiosaurs support this.
In 2001, the Academy of Applied Science, known for Robert Rines' photographs, had videoed a powerful V-shaped wake going across the water on a calm day [14]. They also found what looked like a decaying carcass of an animal bigger than a fish.
In 2002, the Academy of Applied Science verified the presence of ancient sea beds, ancient marine clam shells and former ancient sea life buried under the silty bottom in about 325 feet of freshwater in Urquhart Bay, halfway between Inverness and Fort Augustus [15].
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster, sometimes called Nessie or Ness (Scottish Gaelic: Niseag) is a mysterious and unidentified animal or group of animals claimed by some to inhabit Loch Ness, a large deep freshwater loch near the city of Inverness in northern Scotland. Nessie is usually categorized as a type of lake monster. Its disputed "scientific" name, as chosen by the late Sir Peter Scott, is Nessiteras rhombopteryx (which, coincidentally or not, is an anagram of "Monster Hoax by Sir Peter S.") Although no evidence exists to suggest the alleged creature's sex, the nickname "Nessie" sounds feminine, so the creature is often referred to as female.
Along with Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, Nessie is one of the best-known mysteries of cryptozoology. Most scientists and other experts find current evidence supporting Nessie unpersuasive, and regard the occasional reports of sightings as hoaxes or misidentification of mundane creatures or natural phenomena. However, belief in the animal persists among many people around the world, with the most popular theory being that it is a plesiosaur.
History of alleged sightings
Rumours of a monster or animal living in the loch are claimed by believers to have been known for several centuries, though others have questioned the accuracy or relevance of such tales, which were generally unheard of before the early 1960s when a strong "wave of interest" in legitimizing Nessie's 1930s-based history began.
The earliest report cited is taken from the Life of St. Columba by Adamnan, recorded in the 6th century. It describes how in 565 Columba saved the life of a Pict, who was being supposedly attacked by the monster. Adamnan describes the event as follows:
"...(He) raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, "Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed." Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast. Then the brethren seeing that the monster had gone back, and that their comrade Lugne returned to them in the boat safe and sound, were struck with admiration, and gave glory to God in the blessed man. And even the barbarous heathens, who were present, were forced by the greatness of this miracle, which they themselves had seen, to magnify the God of the Christians".[1]
Critics have questioned the reliability of the Life, noting a different story in which Columba slays a wild boar by the power of his voice alone. They also point out that the event is said to have occurred on the River Ness, not in the Loch, and that Adamnan reports Columba encountering and conquering assorted "monsters", at various places in Scotland, throughout his "life". Additionally, they point out that the Loch Ness monster has no other reported instance of attacking anyone, and in fact is generally portrayed as shy.
Evidence
Evidence for
Some have argued a history of "monster" sightings in the loch provides circumstantial evidence supporting the creature's existence. Note that the validity and origins of these stories have been challenged, along with any "history" predating the early 1930s. There have been around 10,000 such sightings, a third of which were reported in one form of media or another.
Professor D.G. Tucker, chairman of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, England, volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at Loch Ness in 1968. The gesture was part of a larger effort helmed by the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (LNPIB) from 1967-1968 and involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in various fields. Tucker had chosen Ness as the test site for a prototype sonar transducer with a maximum range of 800 meters. The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed towards the opposite shore, effectively drawing an acoustic 'net' across the width of Ness through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple animate targets six meters (20 ft) in length were identified ascending from and diving to the loch bottom. Analysis of diving profiles ruled out air-breathers because the targets never surfaced or moved shallower than midwater. A brief press release by LNPIB and associates touched on the sonar data and drew to a close the 1968 effort:
The solution to the question of whether or not unusual phenomena exist in Loch Ness, Scotland, and if so, what their nature might be, was advanced a step forward during 1968, as a result of sonar experiments conducted by a team of scientists under the direction of D. Gordon Tucker... Professor Tucker reported that his fixed beam sonar made contact with large moving objects sometimes reaching speeds of at least 10 knots. He concluded that the objects are clearly animals and ruled out the possibility that they could be ordinary fish. He stated: "The high rate of ascent and descent makes it seem very unlikely [that they could be fish], and fishery biologists we have consulted cannot suggest what fish they might be. It is a temptation to suppose they might be the fabulous Loch Ness monsters, now observed for the first time in their underwater activities!"
In 1969 Andrew Carroll, field researcher for the New York Aquarium in New York City, proposed a mobile sonar scan operation at Loch Ness. The project was funded by the Griffis foundation - named for Nixon Griffis, then a director of the Aquarium. This was the tail-end of the LNPIB's 1969 effort involving submersibles armed with biopsy harpoons and ultimately the most successful. The trawling scan, in Carroll's research launch Rangitea, took place in October. One sweep of the loch made contact with a strong, animate echo for nearly three minutes just north of Foyers. The identity of the animal remains a mystery. Later analysis determined that the intensity of the returning echo was twice as great as that expected from a 10 foot pilot whale. Calculations placed the animal's length at 20 feet.
Earlier submersible work had yielded dismal results. Under the sponsorship of World Book Encyclopedia, pilot Dan Taylor deployed the Viperfish at Loch Ness on June 1 1969. His dives, though treacherous and plagued by technical problems, were routine; they produced no new data. The Deep Star III built by General Dynamics and an unnamed two-man submersible built by Westinghouse were slated to sail but never did. It was only when the Pisces arrived at Ness that the LNPIB obtained new data. Owned by Vickers, Ltd., the submersible had been rented out to produce a Sherlock Holmes film about the Loch Ness Monster. When the dummy monster broke loose from the Pisces during filming and sank to the bottom of the loch, Vickers executives capitalized on the loss and 'monster fever' by allowing the sub to do a bit of exploring. During one of these excursions, the Pisces picked up a large moving object on sonar 200 feet ahead and 50 feet above the bottom of the loch. Slowly the pilot closed half that distance but the echo moved rapidly out of sonar range and disappeared.
During the so-called "Big Expedition" of 1970, Roy P. Mackal, a biologist who taught for 20 years at the University of Chicago, devised a system of hydrophones (underwater microphones) and deployed them at intervals throughout the loch. In early August a hydrophone assembly was lowered into Urquhart Bay and anchored in 700 feet of water. Two hydrophones were secured at depths of 300 and 600 feet. After two nights of recording, the tape (sealed inside a 55 gallon steel drum along with the system's other sensitive components) was retrieved and played before an excited LNPIB. "Bird-like chirps" had been recorded, and the intensity of the chirps on the deep hydrophone suggested they had been produced at greater depth. In October "knocks" and "clicks" were recorded by another hydrophone in Urquhart Bay, indicative of echolocation. These sounds were followed by a "turbulent swishing" suggestive of locomotion by the tail a large aquatic animal. The knocks, clicks, and resultant swishing was believed to correspond to predation - an animal pinpointing prey via echolocation and then moving in for the kill. The noises died out when craft passed along the surface of Loch Ness near the hydrophone and resumed when craft had reached a safe distance. During previous experiments, it was observed that call intensities were greatest at depths less than 100 feet. Members of the LNPIB decided to attempt communication with the animals producing the calls by playing back previously recorded calls into the water and listening via hydrophone for any results - which varied greatly. At times the calling pattern changed, other times it increased or decreased in intensity, sometimes there was no change at all. Mackal noted that there was no similarity between the recordings and the hundreds of known sounds produced by aquatic animals. "More specifically," he said, "competent authorities state that none of the known forms of life in the loch has the anatomical capabilities of producing such calls."
In the early 1970s, a group led by American patent lawyer and founder of an organization which he named the Academy of Applied Sciences, Dr. Robert Rines, obtained some underwater photographs. One was a vague image, perhaps of a rhomboid flipper (others have argued the object could be air bubbles or a fish fin). On the basis of this photograph, Sir Peter Scott, one of Britain's best-known naturalists, announced in 1975 that the scientific name of the monster would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx1 (Greek for "The Ness monster with diamond-shaped fin"). This would enable Nessie to be added to a British register of officially protected wildlife (but compare [2]). It has been noted by London newspapers that Nessiteras rhombopteryx is an anagram of "monster hoax by Sir Peter S." Monster-hunter Robert H. Rines replied that the letters could also be rearranged to spell "Yes, both pix are monsters--R."
The underwater photos were reportedly obtained by painstakingly scouring the loch's depths with sonar, over the course of days, for unusual underwater activity. An underwater camera with an affixed, high-powered light (necessary for penetrating Loch Ness' famed murk) was then deployed to record images from below the surface. Several of the resulting photographs, despite their obviously murky quality, did indeed seem to show an animal quite resembling a plesiosaur in various positions and lightings. There was one of what looked like the head, neck and upper torso of a plesiosaur [3]. Close examination would show a head shape and even an eye. Another showed a "gargoyle head". This was found to be a tree stump during Operation Deepscan. There has also been a little published photograph of 2 bodies. A few close-ups of what is alleged to be the creature's diamond-shaped fin were also taken, in different positions, indicating movement. The Dinsdale 16 mm film of 1960, which has also been criticized as having an interpretation that has been greatly expanded from the original JARIC report, and numerous sonar contacts.
In 1993 Discovery Communications made a documentary called Loch Ness Discovered. A computer expert the enhanced the 1960 Dinsdale film when he had noticed a shadow in the negative that wasn't very obvious in the positive. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what looked like the rear body, the rear flippers, and 1-2 additional humps of a plesiosaur-like body. He even said "Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure".
Some have argued against this saying that you can't see anything under the water at such a distance and that the shape could have been the wake the object left behind that was coincidentally shaped like a plesiosaur's rear end. Nonetheless, the enhancement did show a smaller second hump and possibly a third hump.
The documentary also pointed out that the number of fish in the loch is nine times more than originally thought and that the fish were feeding extensively on uncommon prey (not revealed) in the very deep waters of the loch.
Evidence of a hoax
Perhaps typical of the many unsatisfactory facts about Nessie is an alleged sighting in October 1871 by a "D. Mackenzie", who supposedly described seeing something that moved slowly before moving off at a faster speed. However, although this story has been repeated in several places [4][5][6][7], no original 1871 source for this report has been discovered, substantially casting doubt on it.
The famed "Surgeon's Photo" (pictured top) was confirmed as a hoax based on the deathbed confessions of Chris Spurling, son-in-law of Marmaduke Wetherell. Spurling claimed the photo, which inspired much popular interest in the monster, was actually a staged photograph of clay attached to a toy submarine. Also notable are the ripples on the photo, which fit the size and circular pattern of small ripples when photographed up close, not large waves. Wetherell, a big game hunter, had been tricked into searching for an imaginary monster around the loch based on evidence which turned out to be the result of children's prank. He was publicly ridiculed in the Daily Mail, the journal which employed him. To get revenge, Marmaduke Wetherell set this hoax up, with the help of Chris Spurling (his son-in-law as mentioned), who was a specialist in sculpture, Ian Marmaduke (his son), who bought the material for the fake Nessie, and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent), who was to call and ask Robert Wilson (a surgeon) to show the pictures. Well before Spurling's claims, however, others had argued the photo was that of an otter or a diving bird. There are in fact two "Surgeon's Photos," which depict slightly different poses, leading some to argue the photos are evidence against a hoax. However, at the time of this confession his father had already died, and Spurling wanted to disprove the photo. The surgeon who was credited for taking the photo never claimed he hadn't taken it either. [8] Additionally, the photo is often cropped to make the monster look huge. The original uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre [9].
The "flipper photograph" above has been highly retouched from the actual original image. The Museum of Hoaxes [10] shows the original unenhanced photo.
Evidence against
In July 2003, the BBC reported an extensive investigation of Loch Ness by a BBC team, using 600 separate sonar beams, found no trace of any "sea monster" (i.e., any large animal, known or unknown) in the loch. The BBC team concluded that Nessie does not exist. [11] In 2004, a documentary team for Channel 4 (primarily consisting of special effects experts from movies) deliberately tried to make people believe there was something in the loch. They constructed an elaborate animatronic model. Despite setbacks, it was a success, and numerous sightings were reported on the day, in the places they performed the hoaxes.
In addition, sunlight does not penetrate very deep into the water because of peat washed into the loch from the surrounding hills. This limits the amount of algae in the loch, thereby reducing the number of plankton, small fish, and then large fish up the food chain. The loch simply does not have enough food to support animals as big as a plesiosaur, particularly a breeding population of plesiosaurs. Palaeontologist Neil Clark has also proposed that the 1933 sightings were actually elephants from the travelling circus of Bertram Mills. [12]
According to the Swedish naturalist and author Bengt Sjögren (1980), the present day belief in lake monsters in for example Loch Ness, is associated with the old legends of kelpies. Sjögren claims that the accounts of lake-monsters have changed during history. Older reports often talk about horse-like appearances, but more modern reports often have more reptile and dinosaur-like-appearances, and Bengt Sjögren concludes that the legends of kelpies evolved into the present day legends of lake-monsters where the monsters "changed the appearance" to a more "realistic" and "modern" version since the discovery of dinosaurs and giant aquatic reptiles from the horse-like water-kelpie to a dinosaur-like reptile, often a plesiosaur, or even a dragon like appearence.
The plesiosaur theory
Reports persist that the "monster" is a plesiosaur.
Arguments against the plesiosaur theory include the fact that the lake is too cold for a cold-blooded animal to survive easily, that air-breathing animals like plesiosaurs would be easily spotted when they surface to breathe, that the lake is too small to support a breeding colony and that the loch itself formed only 10,000 years ago during the last ice age, while the plesiosaur is thought to have gone extinct millions of years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous Period during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.
However, these arguments have all been opposed by Robert Rines, who said that "animals can adapt" and that "some reptiles can stay in water for a long time". "Many sightings tell of "horns" or "ears", which may be nostrils. If it (the monster) breathes regularly, it could breathe without being noticed". Supporters of the plesiosaur theory also say that the coelecanth was also thought to be extinct since the time of the plesiosaurs and was rediscovered in 1938.
Although these ideas have not been proven, we cannot be sure that plesiosaurs or any other prehistoric animal were cold-blooded. There is some evidence that dinosaurs (which were contemporaries of plesiosaurs) were warm-blooded [13], although this remains controversal. Also, crocodilians which are 'cold-blooded', are the closest living relatives of birds.
There are some theories of how plesiosaurs may have surfaced to breathe but supporters of the notion of surviving plesiosaurs say that plesiosaurs may have lifted only their nostrils above the surface to breathe. Some artist's impressions of plesiosaurs support this.
In 2001, the Academy of Applied Science, known for Robert Rines' photographs, had videoed a powerful V-shaped wake going across the water on a calm day [14]. They also found what looked like a decaying carcass of an animal bigger than a fish.
In 2002, the Academy of Applied Science verified the presence of ancient sea beds, ancient marine clam shells and former ancient sea life buried under the silty bottom in about 325 feet of freshwater in Urquhart Bay, halfway between Inverness and Fort Augustus [15].
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