Modern Legend
The modern legend of Nessie begins in 1934 with Dr. Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, who allegedly photographed a plesiosaur-like beast with a long neck emerging out of the murky waters. That photo created quite a fuss. Before the photo, Loch Ness was the stuff of legend and myth. The locals knew the ancient history of the sea serpent. But people came to the lake more to relax than to go on expeditions looking for mythical beasts. After the photo, the scientific experts were called in. First, they examined the photo itself. Could be a plesiosaur. Yes, but it could be a tree trunk, too. Or an otter. Later, there would be explorations by a submarine with high tech sensing devices. Today, we have a full-blown tourist industry said to have generated about $37 million in 1993, complete with submarine rides (about one hundred bucks an hour in 1994) and a multi-media tourist center. For those who can't go to Scotland, there is a webcam site for your viewing pleasure.
(cited from skepdic.com)
Searches for the Monster
The LNPIB sonar study
(1967-8)Professor DG 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 answer 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!"
Andrew Carroll's sonar study
(1969)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 (and most successful portion) of the LNPIB's 1969 effort involving submersibles with biopsy harpoons. 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.
Submersible investigations
Earlier submersible work had yielded dismal results. Under the sponsorship of World Book Encyclopedia, pilot Dan Taylor deployed the Viperfish at Loch Ness on 1 June 1969. His dives, though treacherous and plagued by technical problems, were routine, and 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 featuring a dummy 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 to half that distance but the echo moved rapidly out of sonar range and disappeared.
The Big Expedition of 1970
During the so-called "Big Expedition" of 1970, Roy 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 the tail locomotion of a large aquatic animal. The knocks, clicks and resultant swishing were believed to be the sounds of an animal echolocating prey before moving in for the kill. The noises stopped whenever craft passed along the surface of the loch near the hydrophone -- and resumed once the craft reached a safe distance. In 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 results, which varied greatly. At times the calling patterns or intensities changed, but 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."
Robert Rines's Studies
(1972, 1975 and 2001)In the early 1970s, a group of people led by American patent lawyer and founder of an organization which he named the Academy of Applied Sciences, Robert Rines, obtained some underwater photographs. One was a vague image, perhaps of a rhomboid flipper (though others have dismissed the image as air bubbles or a fish fin). On the basis of this photograph, British naturalist Peter Scott announced in 1975 that the scientific name of the monster would henceforth be Nessiteras rhombopteryx click (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 here ). 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 sonaring the loch depths for unusual underwater activity. A submersible camera with an affixed, high-powered light (necessary for penetrating Loch Ness' notorious murk) was deployed to record images below the surface. Several of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality, did indeed seem to show an animal resembling a plesiosaur in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck and upper torso of a plesiosaur. click (Close examination would show a specific head shape and even an eye). Another photo seemed to depict a "gargoyle head", which was later found to be a tree stump during Operation Deepscan.
A few closeups of what is to be the creature's supposed diamond-shaped fin were taken in different positions, as though the creature were moving. But the "flipper photograph" has been highly retouched from the original image. The Museum of Hoaxes click shows the original unenhanced photo. Charlie Wyckoff claimed that someone retouched the photo to superimpose the flipper, and that the original enhancement showed a much smaller flipper. No one is exactly sure how the original came to be enhanced in this way.
In 2001, the Academy of Applied Science, known for Robert Rines' photographs, videoed a powerful V-shaped wake traversing the still water on a calm day. click They also found what looked like a decaying carcass of an animal.
Discovery Loch Ness
(1993)In 1993 Discovery Communications began to research the ecology of the loch. The study did not focus entirely on the monster, but on the loch's nematodes (of which a new species was discovered) and fish. Expecting to find a small fish population, the researchers caught twenty fish in one catch, increasing previous estimates of the loch's fish population about ninefold.
Using sonar, the team encountered a rare kind of underwater disturbance due to stored energy (eg, from a wind) causing an imbalance between the loch's warmer and colder layers. While reviewing printouts of the event the next day, they found what appeared to be three sonar contacts, each followed by a powerful wake. These events were later shown on a program called Loch Ness Discovered, in conjunction with analyses and enhancements of the 1960 Dinsdale Film, the Surgeon's Photo, and the Rines Flipper Photo.
GUST Expedition
(2001)A controversial expedition by the Global Underwater Search Team (GUST) was conducted with advanced sonar equipment to search for the creature. One night, a small sonar contact moved on the screen. On another occasion, a vague disturbance was captured on film.
The expedition was shown on a program called Loch Ness Monster: Search for the Truth.
Television Investigations
(2003-4)In July 2003, the BBC reported an extensive investigation of Loch Ness by a BBC team using 600 separate sonar beams, which found no trace of a "sea monster" in the loch. The BBC team concluded that Nessie simply did not exist. click
Witch controversy
This expedition sparked controversy with many Christian groups because a witch cast a spell on the loch prior to the expedition. This witch, Kevin Carlyon, often visits the loch to cast spells, click usually for the 'Nessie on the Net' webcam. Some devout Christians have tried to discourage visits to the loch because of the "witchery".
(cited from Wikipedia)Loch Ness Sightings
* 1871: D. Mackenzie saw something that looked like a log and then like an up-turned boat. It's motion was slow and then it moved off at speed.
* 1885: Roderick Matheson described what he saw as the biggest thing he had ever seen in his life and said it had a neck like a horse with a mane.
* 1888: Alexander Macdonald described what he saw as being salamander-like.
* 1895: A salmon angler, forester, hotel keeper and fishing ghillies reported that a horrible great beast appeared in Loch Ness.
* 1908: John Macleod described what he saw as having a long tapering tail and an eel-like head. He claimed the creature was lying in the water, flush with the surface and that it was 30-40ft long.
* 1923: Wiliam Miller and D. McGillvray said what they saw was 10-12ft like an up-turned boat and that it was first stationary but then moved off in an arc and submerged.
* July 14th, 1930: Ian J. Milne described what he saw as having 2 or 3 shallow humps undulating along its back. He said it splashed, moved in an arc at 16-17mph and submerged.
* 1933: Mrs Kirton and P.F.Grant reported seeing a 6ft by 1ft hump. There was a disturbance as the creature moved about at great speed. It then disappeared and re-appeared 100yds away.
* April 14th, 1933: Mr and Mrs Mackay claimed to have seen something that was 20ft overall and had 2 humps, one larger than the other. They saw a commotion, the humps appeared and then it turned in an arc and sank.
* August 11th, 1933: Mr A.H.Palmer reported seeing a head set low in the water. From the front view he saw a mouth opening and closing and said the mouth was 12-18 inches and opened 6 inches.
* August 25th, 1933: Mrs B McDonell and Mrs Sutherland described seeing a hump moving in an undulating way before it submerged and claimed the hump was creating disturbances up to 20ft behind.
* October 22nd, 1933: Mrs J Simpson said she saw something diving that looked like it had two flippers.
* November 10th, 1933: Mr C.Macrae and Mr J.Mackinnon described what they saw as being a 25ft by 2ft single hump like an up-turned boat. They said it splashed, sank and rose 2-3 times.
* December 27th, 1933: Mr G. Jamieson described seeing two humps 15 to 20ft overall by 2ft and 3ft. He claimed it moved across Loch but then rapidly dived when a car horn sounded.
* July 12th, 1934: Mr William Mackay and Mr William Campbell said they saw two humps, that were 6ft apart, surface 5 times then move off.
* July 12th, 1934: Mr R.J.Scott claimed to have seen something that was an overall 18 to 24ft long. He said the body was 2ft out with 3 humps above and that it appeared to swim on it's side and had a fin or mane where the neck and body met.
* October 1936: Mrs Marjory Moir, Mrs Grant Shewglie and three others reported seeing something that had 3 humps, the middle hump being the largest, and that was 30ft overall. They said the head and neck dipped into the water often. The creature was stationary but then turned and shot off and when it returned only its head and neck were showing.
* May 21st, 1964: Peter and Pauline Hodge said they spotted a pole-like object that moved off when a car door slammed.
* June 1965: F.W.Holiday, William Fraser and John Cameron described seeing a single hump like an overturned whale boat with a dark ridge at top that was 10ft by 5 to 6ft. They said that as the creature moved faster its profile elongated and submerged several times.
* June 20th, 1966: Lena Holmgren reported seeing a single object that submerged when observers screamed.
* March 1967: David Wathen said he saw 2 humps approximately 15ft. He said the creature caused a commotion as it moved around in an arc. It then submerged slowly and appeared to fall over sideways.
* September 19th, 1968: Cmdr R.K.Silcock and Mrs Silcock claimed they saw a 6-8ft hump break the surface cruising along and submerged 3 times.
* July 17th, 1979: Paul H. Biermasz reported seeing a black object speeding from the shore.
* August 18th, 1996: Craig Kerr photographed a head and neck as they emerged.
* 1996: The staff at the Clansman Hotel reported seeing several black humps emerge and submerge.
* September 1996: Frank Meyer claimed to have seen a dark object floating under the surface.
* March 21st, 1997: A South African holidaymaker said he saw two humps emerge.
* June 17th, 1998: Adam and Mark Sutherland, Peter Gillies and Peter Rhind reported seeing a lorge object with a long tail emerge and submerge.
(resourced from www.nessie.co.uk)
Loch Ness Movies
(all movie descriptions cited from Netflix.com)
Loch Ness
(1996)For years, Dr. Jonathan Dempsey (Ted Danson) has been fascinated by the myth of the Loch Ness monster and how it's fueled the imagination of generations of adults and kids. So, it's no surprise when Jonathan finally heads to Scotland to investigate for himself the truth behind the centuries-old stories. He gets more than he bargained for, though, when he meets a young woman (Joely Richardson) who ends up helping him unravel the mystery.
Beneath Loch Ness
(2001)Part sci-fi thriller and part Celtic lore, Beneath Loch Ness is a winner the entire family will enjoy. A young researcher is determined to solve the disappearance of his controversial mentor, who was studying Loch Ness and its reptile inhabitants. Hoping to find the body of his professor and save his reputation, the young researcher heads into the famous lake to find the Loch Ness monster.
Incident at Loch Ness
(2004)The quiet town of Loch Ness is invaded by a gaggle of off-kilter filmmakers in this clever mockumentary. Funded by producer Zak Penn, eccentric German director Werner Herzog heads to Scotland to shoot a documentary about Loch Ness Monster lore. John Bailey also arrives to shoot a film that reveals Herzog's creative process. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent that Penn had ulterior motives in his casting choices, and both films begin to fall apart.
Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster
(2004)Does the Loch Ness monster exist? The Mystery Inc. gang -- Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma and Fred -- take on this decades-old puzzle in another wild and wacky animated adventure. The gang heads to a castle in Scotland owned by Daphne's family to decipher the clues, which at first point to the creature's existence. But as always, things are not what they seem. Along the way, Scooby and Shaggy get spooked by ghosts and goblins galore.
In Search of History: The Loch Ness Monster
(2005)Is it possible an enormous creature lives at the bottom of Loch Ness? This program examines the legend and lore of Nessie and features accounts by eyewitnesses such as Russell Flint, who collided with a huge animal in the middle of the lake, and Tim Dinsdale, whose film footage inspired monster hunters for decades. Findings from several underwater explorations are presented, along with explanations for how the shy beast could evade detection.