Location: South-west of Inverness.
Loch. Ness is nearly 25 miles long, a mile wide and in places as much as 900 feet deep, and it is therefore hardly surprising that
The various expeditions mounted during the past twenty-five years have obtained no definite proof of the existence of large and unknown animals living in the loch. A lack of finance inevitably restricts the scope of the investigations, and despite their valiant efforts, which have become ever more scientific since the early days of camera surveillance, there are no corpses, not even any bones, nor any flesh samples; of the few photographs that exist, none is sharp or detailed and most are of doubtful authenticity; and the many misidentifications and undoubted hoaxes have been seized upon by the sceptics to support their anti-Nessie arguments. All of which is very frustrating for those who have actually seen the creature and know that it is something unknown to science.
-Although most witnesses have seen the monster, or something which they thought might be the monster, when it was in the water, there are a few w’ho have seen it on land, and these are potentially the most informative reports since the whole body can be seen. Inhere are twelve or thirteen such reports covering the years 1879-1960. .Most witnesses saw a large creature with a greyish body, a long neck and small head, moving with a waddling motion on short thick legs or flippers. The creature was usually seen on the shore, but once or twice it crossed the road in front of the startled witnesses. This apparent ability to exist on land as well as in the water could explain why small Irish loughs where monsters have been seen proved to be empty when netted (see for example Lough Nahooin described elsewhere in ‘Places to Visit’). The creatures may even wander about from loch to loch, especially in Ireland where in some areas the lakes are close together and in unpopulated country. Perhaps the investigators’ attention should be switched to the smaller Irish loughs where recent sightings have occurred. Phen if the existence of previously unknown creatures in Irish loughs can be proved, finance might be more readily available to assist the search in Loch Ness.
World History
