Transcript The Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness
Monster
Where is Loch Ness?
 Highlands
 Large
of Scotland
lake
 Near Inverness
What is Loch Ness?
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Loch: lake or sea inlet, bay, strait, estuary
Eventually leads to the sea
Freshwater
Low visibility: lots of peat in soil
Dimensions:
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Max length: 25 mi
Max width: 1.5 mi
Average depth: 433 ft
Max depth: 812 ft
Average temp: 42°F
Why is the Loch Special?
 low
visibility
 Extremely deep
 Caves?
 Access to sea
 Storms
 tectonic plates
What is Nessie?
 Lake
Monster (like Champ)
 Plesiosaur
 “water horse”
 Cash Cow
Who has seen Nessie?
Columba, 7th century CE
 1930s sightings
 St.
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July: Crossed in front of a car
August: Nearly hit by a motorcycle
 1938
letter from head Constable
 1943 Royal Observer Corps
 1954 Sonar Contact
Sugeon’s Photo, 1934
Films
 Taylor
film, 1938
 Dinsdale film, 1960
 Holmes video, 2007
Searches
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Sir Edward Mountain Expedition (1934)
Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (1962–
1972)
LNPIB sonar study (1967–1968)
Andrew Carroll's sonar study (1969)
Submersible investigations (1969…)
"Big Expedition" of 1970
Robert Rines's studies (1972, 1975, 2001 and 2008)
Operation Deep Scan (1987)
Discovery Loch Ness (1993)
Searching for the Loch Ness Monster BBC (2003)
Explanations
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Misidentification of common animals
 Bird wakes, eels, elephants, seals
 Misidentifications of inanimate objects or
effects
 Trees/trunks, seiches (water levels), wakes
 Optical effects (wakes, storms, etc.)
 seismic gas (tectonics)
 Folklore
 Kelpies, water horses
 Hoaxes
 Photos, fossils/”teeth”, hippo footprints,
exaggerated news stories, movie special
effects/movie clips