Do the dark waters of Loch Ness hide monsters?

In the Scottish Highlands lies a mystery that has lasted nearly a century. Since 1933, many people have believed they have seen a monster swimming in the waters of Loch Ness.

On August 26, 200 experts from around the world were mobilized to search for the Loch Ness monster.

The silhouette of the Loch Ness monster stands out against the sunset. (Photo: Science et vie).

Many people have heard of this monster, nicknamed Nessie . It even inspired several movies around the world, which were very popular when they were released.

So what are these creatures that are said to lurk at the bottom of Scottish lochs? Is it a survivor from the age of dinosaurs? A giant eel or simply a human hoax?

Loch Ness is the second largest lake in Scotland, it is 3km long and 1.2-3km wide, the deepest water of the lake is up to 272 meters.

In 565, an Irish monk, Saint Columba, is said to have exorcised a "water monster" that was attacking one of his fellow pilgrims.

It was in this context that people mentioned a monster haunting this lake.

Photo believed to be of the Loch Ness monster. (Photo: Marmaduke Wetherell).

"This is a myth similar to the story of a Saint fighting a dragon. It appears in almost every ancient book in Europe ," recalls paleontologist Eric Buffetaut, honorary research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).

However, it would be a millennium before evidence of the monster we know today would appear.

According to Aldie MacKay, the owner of a hotel on the north side of Loch Ness, she saw a giant creature shaped like a whale bobbing in the dark water while driving with her husband.

Three months later, the Scottish press published the testimony of George Spicer and his wife, two British tourists who visited Loch Ness, and saw a giant animal more than 8 meters long.

It also had a 3-4 meter long neck similar to an elephant's trunk. According to them, it crossed the road before crawling through the bushes and finally diving into the lake.

But the real turning point came in 1934, when a photo of Nessie taken by a doctor in London (England) was revealed to the press. Since then, many scientists have organized searches for this creature, but all have been fruitless.

French writer Sonja Delzongle, author of many detective novels, spent some time conducting her own investigation at Loch Ness.

She believes that the monster may still be observed today in the area around the lake.

In December 1975, British ornithologist Peter Scott (1909-1989) even gave this mysterious creature a scientific name: Nessiteras rhombopteryx (roughly translated: Diamond-finned Ness Monster).

He named it based on a blurry underwater photo, which was said to have diamond-shaped fins.

Nessie - a lizard or an eel?

Over the years, countless theories have arisen about the true nature of Nessie.

According to some scientists, Nessie belongs to the extinct plesiosaur species. This is a family of marine reptiles that existed in ancient times and are now extinct.

But this is just the idea of ​​scientists, whether animals that are believed to have been extinct for 66 million years can survive in Loch Ness is still a mystery.

A fictional photo believed to be the Loch Ness monster. (Photo: Getty).

From a scientific perspective, they could not have survived there for more than 10,000 years, and before that, Loch Ness did not exist and the country of Scotland was covered by a thick layer of ice.

Therefore, this survivor probably came from the North Sea upstream of the river that flows into the lake, some species adapted to freshwater.

The truth is that no animal similar or even remotely similar to the Loch Ness Creature has ever been observed in the North Sea. In particular, if it were a reptile, it would have to come to the surface regularly to breathe.

So the hypothesis that this could be a Plesiosaur is eliminated. Alternatively, could it be a shark, a catfish, or even a sturgeon?

According to Sonja Delzongle, food will run out.

"The peat beneath the lake slows down photosynthesis and makes it difficult to produce enough living matter. As a result, Loch Ness water cannot be used as a food source for animals weighing more than 300kg , " Delzongle explains.

A 2019 analysis of environmental DNA from Scottish lakes by New Zealand geneticist Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago did not detect any sharks, catfish or sturgeon.

On the other hand, it shows a high density of eels (scientific name: Anguilla anguilla). Another hypothesis is raised, is Nessie just a big eel?

Scientists estimate that the probability of observing large eels measuring nearly 6 meters in length based on data collected from Loch Ness and various lakes in Europe is 1 in 50,000, which is enough to say that Nessie cannot be one of these fish.

Hoax revives legend?

What if this whole story is just fantasy. Maybe humans created that monster from scratch in their imagination.

Especially since the first discoveries of this creature correspond to the period when humans were very interested in dinosaurs.

Eric Buffetaut suggests that this period was nourished by the fantastic imagination of extinct animals from the 1933 film King Kong.

In 1993, Christopher Spurling, who took the photo believed to be of the Loch Ness monster, admitted that the photo was created as a trick using a miniature submarine.

He took this photo, along with his brother-in-law Wilson, who used his name to publish the photo for credit.

But what about other testimonies and "evidence" regarding Nessie?

"It could be an optical illusion or a misinterpretation of real animals like otters or aquatic birds ," Eric Buffetaut asserted.

The legend of the monster is not limited to Scotland. There are many stories related to this issue around the world, appearing from Scandinavia, through Canada to the United States and Patagonia. Certainly, whether Nessie is real or not, this creature is by no means isolated.