Nessie - The Loch Ness Monster

   

What is it?

The Loch Ness is a lake in the Highlands, in the north of Scotland and is the 4th biggest lake in the United Kingdom.
Nessie is the name given to the monster that supposedly resides in the Loch Ness. It’s widely believed that the Loch monster first appeared in the 1930’s, but legends about it have been around for fourteen centuries.  In 1982, a search was conducted to prove its existence without any results.

Legend

The legend first started when Saint Columba saw a dragon-looking beast while travelling in Scotland in 565 AD.  It quickly became an urban myth used by parents to keep their children away from the Loch Ness ‘s dangerous waters.

The proof of the existence of the monster

There is a lot of evidence for the monster’s existence, for instance the sonar searches, loch analyses, pictures and uncountable sightings of the Loch Ness monster by the local residents and by the tourists.
The first reported sighting, as mentioned above, was in 565 AD by Saint Columba, and the appearances of Nessie continued in the 17th and 18th centuries, when the monster became a part of the local folklore.  In 1933, the first picture of the supposedly monster began to make the headlines in worldwide newspapers.
Dozens of people were able to see it and some of them even caught it on photos and videos.  In the 60’s, Tim Dinsdale, a famous Loch Ness seeker, recorded the back of the monster on camera.
Loch ness explorations are still being carried out today, in an attempt to prove (or refute) Nessie’s existence.

The proof of the non-existence of the monster

The amount of money that Nessie brings to Northern Scotland through tourism – 54 million dollars – is enough to explain the continued appeal of the local legend: it is marketing. Various strategies have already been used to promote the area and its activities thanks to the monster.  For instance, a zoo and a circus both offered financial rewards to whoever caught Nessie in the 1930’s  There is also a
hotel nearby, whose owners long maintained that they had seen the monster in 1933.
Scientific methods are being used such as a robot analyser to try to prove the (non)-existence but without any results.  According to scientists, Nessie needs to breathe regularly so its apparitions should be more frequent.  They also say that the Loch is not big enough, that it is too cold for the animal and that bones of its ancestors are missing.
It is also possible that those who allegedly saw Nessie in fact only saw seals whose shape appeared distorted due to mirages and optical effects.
The movie The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) used a plastic Nessie which sank there: people still mistake it for the real one.

Unresolved enigma

Nothing proves that a monster never existed but nothing proves that it ever existed either.
A DNA survey is currently being carried out by a team of scientists whose goal is to find genetic evidence of its (non-)existence.

Derived products

Many products have been developed from the legend of the Loch Ness monster.  Written works have the biggest record with Nessie as main theme.  So far, 68 books have been written about that legend.  Nessie has also inspired many musicians, a theatre play, a remarkable sculpture and a rollercoaster in Virginia.  The Loch Ness monster also appears in many movies and series such as The Water Horse and The Family-Ness. The legend of the Loch Ness is also the perfect setting for board and video games.


Chloé Godet, Elise Géhénot, Léa Dubois




Sources

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• Kalen, Stuart A. The Mysterious & the Unknown: The Loch Ness Monster. Reference Point Press, 2009.
•  “Legend of Nessie.” Legend of Nessie - Ultimate and Official Loch Ness Monster Site - The Evidence, 2014, www.nessie.co.uk/htm/the_evidence/sight.html.
•  “Loch Ness Monster.” Urban Legends, 2018, urbanlegendsadoptable.weebly.com/loch-ness-monster.html.
• “Loch Ness Monster.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Mar. 2019, www.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loch_Ness_Monster. 
• Lyons, Stephen. “The Legend of Loch Ness.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 1999, www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/legend-loch-ness/
• Monster, B. (2019). Books about the Loch Ness Monster. [online] Lochnessmystery.blogspot.com. Available at: https://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2012/03/books-on-loch-ness-monster_13.html[Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].
•  Muller, Andreas. “Results of Search for Nessie's EDNA Delayed.” Grenzwissenschaft, 30 Jan. 2019, www.grenzwissenschaft-aktuell.de/results-of-search-for-nessies-edna-delayed20190130/.
•  Nessie, L. (2019). The Legend of Nessie the Ultimate Loch Ness Monster Site. [online] Nessie.co.uk. Available at: http://www.nessie.co.uk/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2019].
•  NEWS, BBC. “Loch Ness Monster: Nessie 'Not Encountered' by Researchers.” BBC News, BBC, 27 June 2018, www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-44627547.
• Palci, Alessandro. “Why Are We Still Searching for the Loch Ness Monster?” The Conversation, 10 Aug. 2018, https://theconversation.com/why-are-we-still-searching-for-the-loch-ness-monster-58157
• Townsend, Chris. “Le Monstre Du Loch Ness Traqué Grâce à L'ADN.” Lematin.ch/, 23 May 2018, www.lematin.ch/savoirs/sciences/Le-monstre-du-Loch-Ness-traque-grce-a-l-ADN-/story/28016564