Quote:Loch Ness Monster 'might' be real, according to new scientific study

Quote:Researchers analyzing the biodiversity of Loch Ness are unable to rule out the existence of the Loch Ness Monster. After taking DNA samples from the lake's many water-dwelling creatures, scientists could not conclude that the elusive monster is purely mythical.

Quote:A major scientific study of Loch Ness has sensationally discovered Nessie 'might' - be real.


Experts traveled the length of the famous loch on research vessel Deepscan taking water samples from three different depths.

The scientists collected DNA left by all creatures from their skin, scales, feathers, fur, feces.

The DNA samples were then sent to labs in New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, and France to be analyzed for the final findings.
Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago, New Zealand and his team who carried out the project have now concluded their research.

The prof - an expert in genomics, ecology, population, conservation and evolutionary biology - now says the results were 'surprising'.

Quote:Prof. Gemmell says while the full details will be released at a later stage one of the theories 'might' be correct.


Two main theories about the monster are it is a long-necked plesiosaur that somehow survived the period when dinosaurs became extinct, or it is a sturgeon or giant catfish.

Prof Gemmell said he hoped to announce the full findings of the study in Scotland next month - but would not confirm which hypothesis might be right.

He said: "Is there anything deeply mysterious? Hmm. It depends what you believe. Is there anything startling? There are a few things that are a bit surprising.
Source

(06-03-2019, 08:55 PM)BIAD Wrote: I nearly posted the article myself, but as the story rolls through, the reader finds that
there's nothing really to it.

When The Sun newspaper contracts Gordi and his fishing net to hunt the beast, as
seen in The Inverness Courier (below), then I'll take notice!

(06-04-2019, 09:46 AM)gordi Wrote: Is it THAT time of the year ALREADY?? LOL

Click-Bait, Teaser Headline SHOCK HORROR... Maybe! Possibly, Might, Sort of be... something Surprising!...

Quote:...As MrsG has alluded to... a single creature couldn't really have been the source of all of the sightings over many hundreds of years.
If there is a "creature" (of any sort) in Loch Ness, then there must be a breeding population of creatures there.

Quote:...AFAIK there are no Catfish or Giant Sturgeon on the loose in Scottish waters, and I've never came across any specific
evidence to suggest that there is a breeding population here. (It's too cold for Catfish to breed here!

Quote:There's no doubt that Loch Ness is deep and mysterious.
There is a even a possibility that there are underwater tunnels which link the Loch to the Sea.
Everyone has heard of Sea-Monsters.... right?

Quote:...Many of the "sightings" are likely mis-identifications of other things, whether rolling waves from far-off boats, swimming deer,
seals/porpoises/salmon/logs... Does that mean that a population of unknown creatures doesn't exist there?

Quote:PS - I had to invent the main body of text in the Inverness Courier article (regarding wrestling the beast) as
I had been photographed atop said creature and needed to come up with a valid reason for doing so that didn't
involve the smooth yet abrasive skin of Nessie's back being the ideal surface texture for easing sporran rash issues....
for a friend... aye...

Quote:       Local Man Seen Interacting With Summer Favourite Just Off Shore Of Drumnadrochit.

                                                   (By our correspondent B. Dress.)

Local residents pretended to be astonished on Sunday, when tourists reported to the proprietors of the nearby
gift-shops of a man spotted behaving in a unusual manner in the nearby bay.

Where the rivers Enrick and Colltie meet to flow into Loch Ness, onlookers seemed bemused by the handsome,
althletic-bodied gentleman that those -who sell their low-quality metal king-rings and Hong-Kong-made bumper
-stickers to daily visitors, recognise as 'Gordi McGordi', gamboling in the peaty waters with the fabled beastie
-just north of Urquhart Castle.

Gordi, who strums to tourists and wrestles the occasional ox that strays near his property, recently caused a stir when
he invaded a meeting at the Unesco World Heritage site in Edinburgh and disrupted Scottish Parliamentary discussions
on whether the London Cockneys were worth hanging on to.

Straddling the imaginary animal with his firm un-rashed thighs, Gordi performed a couple of folk tunes accompanied by
his guitar and something beneath his sporran that kept the beat. Sadly, the gratuities tossed at him sank beneath the
waves, but the applause certainly made-up for any fiscal mishaps.

Asked later by the media on why he engages in this day-of-rest activity, Gordi was reported to have smiled and told the
Reporter to f*ck off. Obviously, Scottish humour is sometimes lost on southern scriveners and so to clear the air, Gordi
ceded to the Journalist's old ruse of abusing their expense account.
...............................


In other news.

Public House Landlord Beats Reporter Half-To-Death  For Inability To Pay Bar-Bill.

Innkeeper Bruiser McTavish was severely reprimanded by the local constabulary on Sunday evening, when he was
suspected of being involved in an assault. McTavish of Drumnadrochit...

Quote:Loch Ness Monster may be a giant eel, say scientists.

'The creatures behind repeated sightings of the fabled Loch Ness Monster may be giant eels,
according to scientists. Researchers from New Zealand have tried to catalogue all living species
in the loch by extracting DNA from water samples.

Following analysis, the scientists have ruled out the presence of large animals said to be behind
reports of a monster. No evidence of a prehistoric marine reptile called a plesiosaur or a large fish
such as a sturgeon were found.

Catfish and suggestions that a wandering Greenland shark were behind the sightings were also
discounted. The aim of the research was not to find Nessie, but to improve knowledge of what plants
and animals live in Loch Ness.

European eels are among the creatures in the loch, and whose DNA was picked up by the new research.
Juvenile eels, known as elvers, arrive in Scottish rivers and lochs after migrating more than 3,100 miles
(5,000 km) from the Sargasso Sea near the Bahamas, where the animals spawn and lay eggs.

Prof Neil Gemmell, a geneticist from New Zealand's University of Otago. said: "People love a mystery,
we've used science to add another chapter to Loch Ness' mystique. "We can't find any evidence of a creature
that's remotely related to that in our environmental-DNA sequence data.
So, sorry, I don't think the plesiosaur idea holds up based on the data that we have obtained."

He added: "So there's no shark DNA in Loch Ness based on our sampling. There is also no catfish DNA in
Loch Ness based on our sampling. We can't find any evidence of sturgeon either,

"There is a very significant amount of eel DNA. Eels are very plentiful in Loch Ness, with eel DNA found at
pretty much every location sampled - there are a lot of them. So - are they giant eels? "Well, our data doesn't
reveal their size, but the sheer quantity of the material says that we can't discount the possibility that there may
be giant eels in Loch Ness.
Therefore we can't discount the possibility that what people see and believe is the Loch Ness Monster might
be a giant eel."

DNA from humans, dogs, sheep, cattle, deer, badgers, rabbits, voles and birds were also identified by the
researchers. The Loch Ness Monster is one of Scotland's oldest and most enduring myths. It inspires books,
TV shows and films, and sustains a major tourism industry around its home.

The story of the monster can be traced back 1,500 years when Irish missionary St Columba is said to have
encountered a beast in the River Ness in 565AD. Later, in the 1930s, The Inverness Courier reported the first
modern sighting of Nessie...'

Quote:'...In 1933, the newspaper's Fort Augustus correspondent, Alec Campbell, reported a sighting by Aldie Mackay
of what she believed to be Nessie. Mr Campbell's report described a whale-like creature and the loch's water
"cascading and churning".

The editor at the time, Evan Barron, suggested the beast be described as a "monster", kick starting the modern
myth of the Loch Ness Monster. In 1934, highly respected British surgeon, Colonel Robert Wilson, claimed he took
a photograph of the monster while driving along the northern shore of Loch Ness.


Nessie made an appearance in the 1969 film The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.
Young eels arrive in the River Ness and Loch Ness every year as part of their life cycle.

Known as the "Surgeon's Photograph", 60 years later it was confirmed as a hoax hatched in revenge after a
newspaper ridiculed journalist Marmaduke Wetherell for finding "Nessie footprints" on the shore.
The "monster" caught on camera was apparently a toy submarine bought from Woolworths, with a head fashioned
from wood putty. The hoaxers then gave the photo to Wilson, a friend who enjoyed a good practical joke.



Explanations for the monster offered in the past include it being swimming circus elephants.
In his research of Nessie, Glasgow-based palaeontologist Neil Clark found fairs and circuses were a common
occurrence in the Inverness area, particularly from the early 1930s.

He said elephants may have been allowed to swim in the loch while the travelling carnivals stopped to give the
animals a rest. Another theory is that large fallen branches floating in the loch are the cause of monster sightings....'

(09-06-2019, 09:16 PM)BIAD Wrote:

Quote:Following analysis, the scientists have ruled out the presence of large animals said to be behind
reports of a monster. No evidence of a prehistoric marine reptile called a plesiosaur or a large fish
such as a sturgeon were found.

Quote:European eels are among the creatures in the loch, and whose DNA was picked up by the new research.
Juvenile eels, known as elvers, arrive in Scottish rivers and lochs after migrating more than 3,100 miles
(5,000 km) from the Sargasso Sea near the Bahamas, where the animals spawn and lay eggs.

Quote:DNA from humans, dogs, sheep, cattle, deer, badgers, rabbits, voles and birds were also identified by the
researchers. The Loch Ness Monster is one of Scotland's oldest and most enduring myths. It inspires books,
TV shows and films, and sustains a major tourism industry around its home.

(09-07-2019, 06:08 AM)Ninurta Wrote: Now I'm curious to know where they got a sample of plesiosaur DNA to compare the Loch DNA
against so they could rule out plesiosaurs..

Quote:'..European eels spawn in the Bahamas? Never knew that!

Quote:'...Humans, dogs, sheep, cattle, deer, badgers, rabbits, voles, and birds live in the Loch?...

Quote:Boffins believe they’ve finally got video proof that Nessie exists…and is actually a giant eel.

'A huge eel-like creature has been filmed in the murky waters of Loch Ness —and experts reckon it really is the monster.
It comes after scientists claimed that sightings of Nessie were actually a giant eel.

The video, shared online by the Ness Fishery Board, captured the outline of a long, slender creature in the Scottish Highlands
loch. Amazing footage from an underwater camera shows the “serpent” slithering through the water from the left and dwarfing
fish in its path.

In contrast to the iconic 1934 image of Nessie — which proved to be fake — boffins believe this is the real deal.
The video was taken two weeks ago on the River Ness near where it flows into Loch Ness by a camera set up to
monitor trout and other fish...'

Quote:THE EEL NESSIE
It was shared online by the Ness Fishery Board, which tweeted: “Let’s be honest, when you see a large, eel-shaped object
passing your camera in the River Ness, the first thing you think of is the Loch Ness Monster.”
We have enhanced the image, which emerged after a team of scientists claimed sightings of Nessie were actually a giant eel.

Richard Freeman, of the Centre for Fortean Zoology which has tried to solve the 1,000-year-old monster mystery, believes the
creature in the video is an eel. He said: “I don’t believe the eel theory has killed off the Loch Ness Monster, quite the reverse.
“A giant eel which can grow up to 30ft is a monster in every sense of the word.”


(The bottom image is take from The Times website)

Gary Campbell, the keeper of the Official Loch Ness Sightings Register, added: “We know Nessie is not a prehistoric monster
—Loch Ness was a block of ice 10,000 years ago during the last Ice Age.
"Nothing would have survived. A fish or an eel was always the most plausible theory.”

Mikko Takala, 51, who has been hunting Nessie for 27 years, said the latest footage counts as an “excellent sighting”.
Many theories have already been discounted including that the monster could be a shark, catfish, sturgeon or a plesiosaur.
Last week experts from New Zealand suggested the monster was a giant eel after studying DNA extracted from the 23-mile
long fresh­water loch in the Scottish Highlands.

They took 250 samples and identified 15 species of fish and 3,000 types of bacteria.
The international team of scientists that trawled the waterway was led by Professor Neil Gemmell, of the University of Otago in
New Zealand. He said there was a significant amount of eel DNA.

He added: “Our data doesn’t reveal their size, but the quantity of the material says we can’t discount the possibility that there
may be giant eels in Loch Ness. “Therefore we can’t discount the possibility that what people see and believe is the Loch Ness
Monster might be a giant eel.”

Hundreds of thousands of visitors travel to the loch each year hoping to spot the monster...'

Quote:Gigantic rotting 'Nessie' skeleton washes up off Scottish beach during Storm Ciara

Some social media users joked that the carcass was actually the remains on the Loch Ness
Monster as they washed up near Aberdeen.

'A gigantic skeleton has mysteriously washed up on a Scottish beach as the country was battered by Storm Ciara.
Residents have been left baffled after the huge rotten carcass was discovered near Aberdeen.


The giant skeleton washed up on a beach near Aberdeen, could it be Nessie?

The snap shows a young lad posing with the remains of the beast, which are still clinging to some decaying flesh.
Its humongous spine can be seen curving round as it lays in the surf following the storm.
Locals spotted the creature just hours after Storm Ciara battered Britain with huge 80mph gales.

Some social media users joked that the carcass was actually the remains on the Loch Ness Monster.
Facebook page Fubar News posted: "Came across this weird creature today near Aberdeen.
Any ideas what it could be?".

One wrote: “Whales spine, big one from the look of it.”
Another joked: “Oh me it’s Nessie the Loch Ness monster.”
And one added: “Dead whale probably drifting about for few month weather washed it up on the beach.
“They stink seen a few over my career as a trawler man.”...'

Quote:'...It is not the first time people have speculated over Nessie – who was first “spotted” back in 565.
Loch Ness’s native monster was mentioned in the biography of Irish monk St Columba mentions a giant
"water beast" dragging a man to his death.

Interest peaked in the 1930s when a road was built along the loch, allowing monster seekers to come hunt Nessie.
And the following year the infamous “surgeon’s photograph” was taken, which appears to show Nessie poking her
head out of the water.

However, in 1975 it was revealed the famous picture was a hoax made using a fake monster’s head.
Scientists mostly agree that it is very unlikely there is a giant prehistoric marine monster living in the lake.
Sightings have been dismissed as just misidentifications of more mundane creatures, such as eels, catfish or otters.
Pictures still occasionally surface of the beast, but evidence proving the existence of Nessie remains elusive...'

(02-21-2022, 03:37 PM)BIAD Wrote: If we accept that when it comes to large bodies of water, poor identification of known animals, weather interaction and
other effects observed by humans from a distance, can result in a false-discerning of something we wish to see, more
than we actually see.

Loch Ness is an expert in this field. A vast peat-ridden lake surrounded by vegetation and and enjoys frequent boat traffic.
A wake from a vessel long passed by an observer can ricochet from the banks of the loch and return to meet its counterpart
and give the notion of undualting humps moving at a rapid pace. A fallen log, a far-off-seen canoe, a water-fowl and the list
can go on, shapes in a lake that already holds the suspicion of an unknown aquatic animal of large size.

But what if this mythical beastie comes ashore...? Most people can distinguish from a familair animal known in the world
to one that is scientifically said to be non-existant. Such an appearance on land would surely add weight to the belief that
something that should be, lurks in the deep waters of the Great Glen.
..........................................................

In standard articles regarding the mystery of Loch Ness, most authors begin with the never-doubted account of how Saint
Columba demanded the water-beast to return to its depths of the River Ness after killing a local. However, this legend has
also be attributed to Saint Patrick of Ireland as well. 
..........................................................

But the first 'modern' accounts of land sightings started in 1527 when Duncan Campbell and several others were at the
lochside enjoying the serenity of the early summer morning. Suddenly, the monster set 'upon them' and with a swish of
its tail, delivered lethal blows to three of the men before slipping away into the sombre waters of the loch.
..........................................................

In 1879, a group of children were playing near a now-long-forgotten graveyard named after a small crofting community of
Aldourie on the north-eastern side of Loch Ness. Terrified by what they witnessed, the youngsters raced home to report
that they'd seen the legendary creature ‘waddling’ down the hillside towards the Loch.
Their description was of a small head on long neck turning from side to side and the beast's body was grey in colour.
..........................................................

A year later (1880), Mr E.H. Bright and a cousin were wandering the woods around the north-west bay of Drumnadrochit,
when something 'left wooded area and waddled to water on 4 legs. Long neck, dark grey in colour.' It was also reported
that the creature left a disturbance in the water after entering loch.
..........................................................

Over a decade would pass before the beastie would chance its flipper at taking a stroll along the banks of Loch Ness.
In 1912, Mr William MacGruer and five or six children were on the shore of Inchnacardoch Bay the other end of the 23
mile-long stretch of water, when they witnessed something they described as 'queer'.

Mr MacGrue compared the peculiar animal to a camel but smaller and with a long neck, humped-back and fairly long legs.
He further stated its skin tone was a sandy pale yellow colour.
..........................................................

In 1919, Mrs Peter Cameron and her two brothers observed something similar to MacGruer's queer animal in an unknown
spot on the lochside. Their description was of a small head like a camel, long neck, humped-back and 4 limbs. Again, the
coulour was like a camel.
..........................................................

It was the same year in February, when Jock Forbes and his father were riding their cart and pony back from Inverness during
some stormy weather. Nearing the hamlet of Inverfarigaig -a village on the east shore and in a central area of the loch, their pony
suddenly started and backed away. Attempting to calm the frightened mare, Jock and his dad stared along the road and became
aware that there was something crossing the road, coming out of the forest and ambling towards the Loch.

Whatever was traversing the remote road was big and Jock later stated that they heard it splash into the loch. Jock's father then
murmured to himself in Gaelic and urging the pony forward, the pair rushed home. Being of a time when such things could bring
bad luck, they never spoke of the incident again.
..........................................................

In April 1923 and at night, Alfred Cruickshank reported that during a lochside journey in his car from his home in Buckie, Banfffshire
to Speanbridge (further south in the Great Glen), he saw a creature of around ten-to-twelve feet long bearing a tail of similar
proportions. Cruickshank added that the body five-to-seven feet in diameter and it's back was arched. With large webbed feet on
thick elephant-like legs, the beast was khaki green in colour and lighter at its belly.

The location of the Model T headlight-lit sighting is estimated to be near Invermoriston on the lower-mid western shore of Loch Ness,
but Alfred's odd remark that the creature gave out a sharp bark, like a dog, as it disappeared over the road into the water only adds
another strange factor to the mystery.
..........................................................

In 1932 Colonel Fordyce and his wife reported a shaggy-furred, long-legged, long-necked camel-like creature as it crossed a road
to get to the loch. After breakfast on this sunny spring day, the good Colonel and his Missus began their trek back to Kent in England.
Where the road on the eastern side of the loch moves away into the dense surrounding woods, the Fordyces came across the most
unexpected of pedestrians crossing their path.

To quote Colonel Fordyce, " It had the gait of an elephant, but looked like a cross between a very large horse and a camel,
with a hump on its back and a small head on a long neck. I stopped the car and followed the creature on foot for a short
distance.

From the rear it looked grey and shaggy. Its long, thin neck gave it the appearance of an elephant with its trunk raised.
Unfortunately. I had left my camera in the car, but in any case I quickly thought discretion the better part of valour and
returned to the vehicle.

This strange animal occupied our thoughts and conversation for many, many miles and we came to the conclusion that
it was an escaped freak from a menagerie or zoo. We felt that a beast of such tremendous proportions would soon be
tracked down and captured."
..........................................................

As the media realised Nessie held an intrigue to the readers of their newspapers, other accounts appeared on their pages.

1933 and on the same day Wiley Post became the first person to fly solo around the world and "Machine Gun Kelly" -with a
cohort, kidnapped Oklahoma oilman Charles Urschel, Mr and Mrs George Spicer were travelling back to London from a Scottish
holiday.

It was July and a British public were just becoming aware of an aquatic monster that supposedly lived somewhere in Scotland.
When the Spicers reported what they'd seen, it would change the paradigm of what Nessie was, into what Nessie sometimes did!

Just south of where the Aldourie children played in the cemetery, there's a slight bend in the eastern shoreline of the loch where
the small village of Dores resides. The shore-hugging road that the Spicers were travelling on -by car, from Dores to a southern
village called Foyers still exists, but today, most traffic use the B852.

But on the 22nd of July in daylight, George Spicer and his wife became alarmed when the observed a long elephant trunk-like
object stretch across the narrow road. This long appendage was followed by a large grey connected body undulating its way
across the thoroughfare. Mr Spicer is quoted as saying 'it looked like a scenic railway' in regards of its size.

The couple realised that whatever it was it was a living being, and watched in fascinated horror as it jerked across the road and
vanished into the water. The vegetation the creature had passed through was flattened; locals later stated that large patches of
crushed bracken and weeds were commonly associated with the monster.
..........................................................

1933 seems to be a favourite of Nessie as a lady called Mrs M. F MacLennan reported that she'd seen a dark grey mass on a
beach close to Dores again. Estimating the mass to be twenty-to-twenty five feet in length, Mrs MacLennan said its back looked
ridged, but had several humps on it. Mrs MacLennan added it had short, thick, clumsy legs with a kind of hoof very like a pigs, but
much larger.
..........................................................

Arthur Grant felt what the Spicers and Mrs MacLennan went through in January of the next year, but for the Veterinary student,
it was at night. For Grant on his motorcycle, it was around 1.00 a.m and the road back to Inverness held no illumination except
for the moonlight above. Out of nowhere, Arthur's motorbike-lamp suddenly shone on something ahead crossing the road.

It was fleeting for the young man, but Arthur Grant stated he saw 'a animal's small head with large 'eel-like eyes', long neck, large
body, flippers and tail'. The startled animal fled back into the loch and another land-sighting had come and gone in seconds.
..........................................................

In 1944, Margaret Munro spotted the animal out of the water. Margaret was a housemaid at Kilchuimen Lodge and presumably
enjoying a day off, she watched an odd creature through her binoculars as it rolled about on the shingled beach of Borlum Bay.
Borlum Bay is near Drumnadrochit on the western shore where the rivers Enrick and Colitie empty into the Urquhart Bay.

Miss Munro described the animal as grey in colour and having a long neck, small head, large body, flippers and humps.
It was quite happy sunning itself on the shore and after a period of around twenty-five minutes it slipped back into the water.
Reporting the sighting to her employers, they later walked down to the beach and noticed that the shingle was flattened, as
if something of considerable size had been lying there.
..........................................................

Then Nessie called it a day with his adventures from his watery home. It would be the sixties before he dared venture out into
the world of The Beatles, free love and going to the moon. Maybe we could look at some of the land-sightings from that period
too, huh?!


Several images of what people reported.
(R-L) Arthur Grant on his motorbike.
A different Arthur Grant's sighting.
Torquil Macleod's observation during the 60's.
Colonel Fordyce & a rendering of what he saw.

(02-21-2022, 07:47 PM)gordi Wrote: I can neither confirm nor deny any involvement in the creation, fabrication, perpetuation or otherwise of these creature related incidents. And anyway... it was raining and I was bored.

  Nessie Gu Brath!

Quote:PS - You can find Kraken in Scotland!
I've drunk it many times and it's very good. (It's a Dark Rum)

G

(02-21-2022, 05:09 PM)Kenzo Wrote: i'll tell y'all , there`s many monsters in Scotland .




Picture


And then there is Kraken , thought she is not in Scotland .....dont ask how i know!

(02-21-2022, 08:20 PM)Ninurta Wrote: Is that the Scottish version of Irish "Nessie go bragh"?

Quote:PS - You can find Kraken in Scotland!
I've drunk it many times and it's very good. (It's a Dark Rum)

G

I second that assessment - I've drank many a liter of Kraken. Matter of fact, I have an empty 1.75 liter Kraken bottle right here next to me that I filled with water to give it some weight and then sealed off to keep green crap from growing in the water. I use it for a door stop in the summer so I can have a breeze whilst drinking more Kraken. See? Kraken is a versatile commodity!

.