Lurking in Loch Ness
- etickle1
- Feb 9, 2021
- 3 min read
In the Highlands of Scotland, spanning 23 miles and depths as deep as 788 feet, could lurk one of the most well known creatures in all of history. While it may have only entered modern history in the 1930’s, the story of the Loch Ness Monster spans centuries.
Beginning in the first century AD, the Romans had invaded Scotland looking to expand their ever growing empire. During the invasion, they had come across a group of people known as the Pict. The Pict people were fascinated by animals, creating detailed paintings and stone carvings of well known animals; all except for one. One recurring image of a creature
with a long muzzle or beak, and flippers instead of feet. Tales of the beast had claimed to lure small children to the waters of the nearby lake, offering rides, only to have the children stick to its back and drown as it dragged them deeper and deeper into the abyss. Though all of this is word of mouth information.
The first written account of the creature was a few centuries later. St. Columba, the man credited with introducing Christianity to Scotland, had come across such a creature attempting to devour one of the locals. Invoking the name of God in this creature's presence sent it back to the waters, leaving behind its meal.
Since that time, centuries had passed before the Loch Ness Monster would come back into the modern day.
The modern resurgence of this creature happened in 1933, when an unbeknownst couple taking a boat ride on the vast Lake Loch Ness claimed to have seen a large beast within the depths. A creature that would be “cleverly” called The Loch Ness Monster. The supposed sighting caused a massive increase in tourism and publicity. Some even offering £20,000 (apx. 27.5 USD) for the capture of the creature. But as the months went on, the only supposed capture came a year later.
The famous “Surgeon’s Photograph” by George Spicer in 1934. On a trip to the Scottish Highlands with his wife, they had claimed to have seen the creature pass by their car and disappear into the lake. A large creature with a long neck and flippers instead of feet. The only image they were able to capture was the famous Surgeon’s Photograph. A black and white image of the creatures head and neck peeking over the waters. Though this photo would later be discredited as a hoax.
Since that time, scientists have tried multiple methods to bring fact to this fictitious beast; though all turned out to be fruitless efforts. Examinations of large footprints found on the shores of loch ness turned out to be nothing more than hippopotamus prints, and sonar explorations that had claimed to prove its existence have since been proved false. The closest scientific explanations we have about the Loch Ness Monster were that the claims and illustrations made closely resembled that of the Plesiosaur.
But such a creature hasn’t lived in, at a minimum, 80 million years. And since the extinction of the dinosaurs, there was a terrible Ice Age that the supposed cold-blooded Plesiosaur could not have survived. But who knows? Perhaps the Plesiosaur has managed to survive the mass extinction and the Ice Age, and has lived long past what even science can believe. Personally, I believe there is much about these creatures that we don’t know. It is difficult to know how a creature survived and operated when we only have bones to go off of. It is possible for the Plesiosaur to have been a warm-blooded aquatic creature, much like that of a dolphin or a whale. Then again, I’m no paleontologist.
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