Lake & Sea Monsters

A BBC team says it has shown there is no such thing as the Loch Ness monster. Using 600 separate sonar beams and satellite navigation technology to ensure that none of the loch was missed, the team surveyed the waters said to hide Scotland's legendary tourist attraction but found no trace of the monster. Previous reported sightings of the beast led to speculation that it might be a plesiosaur, a marine reptile which died out with the dinosaurs. The team was convinced that such an animal could have survived in the cold waters ofLoch Ness, despite the normal preference of marine reptiles for sub-tropical waters.

The researchers looked at the habits of modern marine reptiles, such as crocodiles and leatherback turtles, to try to work out how a plesiosaur might have behaved. They hoped the instruments aboard their search boat would pick up the air in Nessie's lungs as it reflected a distorted signal back to the sonar sensors. The team did find a buoy moored several metres below the surface as a test for the equipment, but, in the end, no Loch Ness monster. "We went from shoreline to shoreline, top to bottom on this one, we have covered everything in this loch and we saw no signs of anylarge living animal in the loch," said Ian Florence, one of the specialists who carried out the survey for the BBC. His colleague Hugh MacKay added: "We got some good clear data of the loch, steep sided, flat bottomed - nothing unusual I'm afraid." "There was an anticipation that we would come up with a large sonar anomaly that could have been a monster - but it wasn't to be."

View: Full Article | Source: BBC News

LAST Sunday proved a good day for monster spotting with no less than three sightings in eight hours — as many as recorded in the whole of 2002.Two of the sightings were from the cruise boat Royal Scot and the third was claimed by a fisherman at around 10pm. All were reported in the Fort Augustus area.Theskipper of the Royal Scot, who asked not to be named, spotted a fast-moving wake in the water at around 2pm, but thinks he was the only person aboard to see it at the time.

“The loch situation at that time was flat calm — absolutely mirror glass,” he recalled. “It was travelling at 30 to 35 miles an hour. It was probably chasing salmon. It is some sort offish-eating machine.”

View: Full Article | Source: Inverness Courier

This year has proved to be anything but a monster one for Nessie.With only three reported sightings for the whole 12 months, it actually proved to be the poorest year since records began and compares with four sightings in 2001 and 12 in 2000. Nessie proved especially elusive for visitors, with each of thethree sightings reported by locals.Even an appeal last month for more witnesses to come forward and a chance to claim the £1000 reward from bookmakers William Hill for best sighting of the year did not lead to any new reports.

“It’s the lowest I have ever heard of since I have started recording sightings,” Gary Campbell of the Official Loch Ness Monster FanClub stated.

View: Full Article | Source: Inverness Courier