| 1 | Many scientists have spent decades studying the loch best known for a
creature affectionately known as ‘Nessie’. Why does this mythical monster
hold such fascination for so many people? Willie Cameron, an expert on
the Highland tourism market, says about one million people visit Loch
Ness and the surrounding area every year, with the value to the economy
worth about £25m. And he says most of them are attracted by the,
phenomenon of the Loch Ness monster. “Loch Ness has become a brand
as big as Elvis Presley, Madonna and Coca-Cola,” he says. So when did
the Loch Ness monster gain such mythical status, and what is the
fascination with finding it? |
| 2 |  Jonathan Downes, director of the Centre for Fortean Zoology, says the legend of the monster
dates back to the 6th century, but it was not until
the 1930s that it really took off. Since then there
have been more than a thousand people
insisting they have seen creatures in Loch Ness.
Most descriptions of encounters lend themselves
to either the theory of a multi-humped sea
serpent or a long necked dinosaur. “People like
to think of it as a giant Jurassic reptile. I think
people find the idea of a 21st century monster, a
survivor from the age of the dinosaurs, irresistibly romantic,” says Downes. |
| 3 | Downes continues: “The odd thing about the Loch Ness monster is that
although it is ‘the most iconic mystery creature’, it is actually the one with
the least amount of evidence of it being real. So-called physical evidence
has turned out to be hoaxes. Footprints turned out to have been made by
a stuffed hippo or stuffed elephant, and a ‘monster body’ that washed up
in 1972 turned out to be a dead elephant seal.” |
| 4 | Scientist Adrian Shine has first-hand experience of how unreliable
sightings can be. Shortly after he arrived in Loch Ness in the 1970s, he
rowed out on the lake. “Suddenly there it was – the classic profile of a
large hump and then I saw a half-submerged head which seemed to be
moving.” He excitedly began snapping pictures but soon realised that it
was nothing more than a strange-shaped rock sticking out of the water.
“That was when I realised that if I couldn’t trust my own eyes I shouldn’t
necessarily trust anybody else’s.” [id:99317] , Shine says it is hard to dismiss
‘the honesty and volume’ of eyewitness testimony of the Loch Ness
monster. |
| 5 | Shine is still hoping to find out what is behind the mystery and says the
beauty of the monster myth is that no one can disprove it, short of
draining the loch. “It could be the Atlantic Sturgeon, a fish that is known to
grow over 4m long and has reptilian scaled plates along its back. It could
very easily have swum into the loch, been spotted and left again leaving
nothing behind save an enigma. But even if I do manage to prove it was a
sturgeon, I am under no illusion that it will bring an end to the mystery of
Nessie. You can’t kill this legend with science.” |
