Diane Ackerman once said, “Insight roams the sea of the unconscious like the Loch Ness monster, a rumor whose wake occasionally becomes visible, but even then it’s mystifying and scarcely believed” (“Famous Quotes About Loch Ness Monster”). Despite the Loch Ness monster not being seen that often, people all over the world believe in her. In fact, the Loch Ness monster is one of the most popular attractions that Scotland is known for. When people go to Scotland, they try to catch a glimpse of the Loch Ness monster, Nessie, who natives and tourists have been curious about for years.
Some people are able to witness the rare appearance of Nessie, while others choose to just believe in her. However, there are also many people who don’t believe in the Loch Ness monster. These are the people who have never seen her or do not believe it is possible for her to exist. Although many people believe the Loch Ness monster to be a myth, it can be established that Nessie is actually real by sonar images in Loch Ness, Scotland’s safety to protect her, and the ideas of her in Scottish folklore and other important books of Scotland.
In Scotland, there is a deep, large freshwater loch located in the Scottish Highlands, called Loch Ness. The Scottish word loch, in English means lake and is the largest body of fresh water in the United Kingdom. The loch itself was formed by a geological fault line, the Glen, around four-hundred-million years ago (The Mystery of Loch Ness). Loch Ness is twenty-three miles long and around eight-hundred feet deep (“Loch Ness Monster Sighted”). It is said that the Loch Ness monster, although not seen very often, inhabits that loch. The Loch Ness monster is thought to be either a plesiosaur or an archeocyte.
A plesiosaur is a dinosaur-like reptile, while an archeocyte is a primitive whale with a serpentine neck; both aquatic creatures match the descriptions of the Loch Ness Monster. The Loch Ness monster has been called by the name Nessie and has since become very popular. Nessie has been around for hundreds of years and the earliest sightings of her date back to 565 AD. In fact, the earliest mention of the Loch Ness monster was around the sixth century. Even today, there are still people who look for and hunt Nessie; Fort Augustus is home to thousands of people who are searching for her (The Mystery of Loch Ness).
As well as many people believing the Loch Ness monster to be true, a lot of the general public also deems Nessie to be nothing but a myth. There are many reasons people can be persuaded that the Loch Ness monster is fake. According to this side of the spectrum, there is no scientific evidence that can actually prove the existence of the water monster. There have been more than two-thousand reported sightings, however, no one is sure what they actually see and others prove to be hoaxes. There are typically only one or two good sightings a year (“Loch Ness Monster ‘Most Likely Large Catfish”).
It was thought that Marmaduke Wetherell found footprints of a large, twenty-foot long and four-toed animal that was Nessie. However, it turned out that the footprints were made by a stuffed hippo foot from the base of an umbrella. In 1994, the most popular image depicting Nessie, the Surgeon’s Photograph, was one of those which was proved to be a hoax. Christian Spurling, the stepbrother of lan Wetherell, admitted that they had made the infamous photo of Nessie look like her by building the head and neck onto a toy submarine and staging the photograph (Lyons).
Some folk think that it is not possible for the Loch Ness monster to be alive. During the Ice Age, Loch Ness froze meaning that Nessie would have had to come from a part of the sea over tenthousand years ago, yet she is considered cold-blooded and whom would not have been able to survive the freezing waters (“Loch Ness Monster Sighted”). According to non-believers, if the water monster existed there would have to be some sort of carcass found indicating her existence. Most animals, once they die, leave remains so why would Nessie be any different?
To this date, no carcasses of Nessie have been found (Kurczy). The myth of Nessie is thought to often be mistaken for Wels Catfish, that can grow thirteen feet in length and weigh eight-hundred-and eighty-eight pounds. The biggest creatures that supposedly inhabit the loch are catfish, salmon and seals (“Loch Ness Monster ‘Most Likely Large Catfish”‘). Due to hoaxes, her great size and lack of being seen, it is often thought that Nessie is a myth. Over the years, technology has developed and advanced a great deal resulting in the spread of sonar images.
Sonar images are pictures photographed by sending an echo sound through the water as the boat moves and that echo bounces off of the aquatic life; the bigger the echo, the bigger the objects the sound hits off of. Marcus Atkinson was one of the first people to get a clear sonar image of Nessie. His image is considered to be the most popular photo that has been taken by sonar imaging. Atkinson had been out on the loch in his boat in about six hundred feet of water when he took the sonar image.
His picture showed the lake monster to be around twenty feet wide and five feet thick in the center of her body; this information matches perfectly with the description of her (The Mystery of Loch Ness). In 1958, four expeditions were launched by BBC, Oxford, Cambridge, and University of Birmingham, in which they used sonar imaging to try to find Nessie. These researchers combined sonar and underwater photography to develop a more sophisticated form of sonar, Side Scan Sonar. Side scan allows for images to be taken every forty-five seconds. In 1975, sonar was used once again to look for the Loch Ness monster.
Then in 1987, an expedition called Operation Deep Scan was put into effect where twenty sonar imaging equipped boats swept Loch Ness with a vast sound curtain (Lyons). Each time sonar images were used, a large, moving object, most likely Nessie, was being found. Sonar images prove that there is something huge living in the deep waters of Loch Ness. Scotland feels very deeply about it’s beloved Loch Ness monster and guarantees the protection of her. Nessie being protected by Scotland, still allows for tourists to try to catch a glimpse of the world famous loch monster.
For a long time, many people hunted and wanted to kill or capture the Loch Ness Monster. Scotland’s citizens take Nessie very seriously and love that she helps to represent Scotland. Scottish authorities then decided to protect Nessie from being put in danger and prohibited the hunting of her. William Fraser, the chief constable of Iverness-shire Constabulary, wrote a letter stating his fears of Nessie being hunted. Fraser thought that a London man might kill her with a harpoon gun and demanded for the protection of the Loch Ness monster immediately.
By 1991, it was ensured that Nessie was out of harms way and could no longer be hunted (Kurczy). Scotland would not have laws ensuring Nessie’s safety if its citizens didn’t believe in her. Not only has the Loch Ness monster been around for years, she has been around since the very beginning of Scotland and is a part of its history. Nessie is mentioned in many folklore and books that pertain to Scotland. The earliest mentions of Nessie where in 565 AD, when an Irish missionary named Saint Columba banished a water creature from attacking the Picts (The Mystery of Loch Ness).
Saint Columbia was the man who brought Christianity to Scotland and wrote a book about his experiences in the biography of Saint Columbia. Columbia encountered the monster when he saved a man who was swimming from being attacked by the lake monster. His people called the Loch Ness monster, the Water Horse, and thought the creature was found in rivers and lakes. The Water Horse would draw people in and eat them. It was once stated that the Water Horse was especially fond of children and would offer to give them a ride on its back before eating them. The Picts, meaning the painted people, were fierce tattoo-covered tribes.
They were the native people who had lived there in the sixth century and carved images of the Water Horse into stones. They depicted the Water Horse as a very strange beast with an elongated muzzle, a spouted head, and flippers for feet (Lyons). Today, the carved stones can be found around the area. In Scottish folklore, the loch ness monster and other animals have been associated with many large bodies of water and she is perceived as being magical, but also very evil. The Loch Ness monster continues to be a part of Scotland’s history and the stories of her are still spread around in this day and age.
As a result of sonar images in Loch Ness, Scotland’s safety to protect her, and the ideas of her in Scottish folklore and other important books of Scotland it can be shown that Nessie is legitimate. It is clear that Nessie is actually real, despite her not being seen that often. The Loch Ness monster has been thought to be seen in sonar images. Not only do the locals believe in Nessie, they ensure that she remains safe and unharmed. Scotland has laws that ensure the safety of the Loch Ness monster and have made sure that she is protected.
For years Nessie has been believed in by people, she has been mentioned numerous stories, Scottish folklore, and the biography of an important man named Saint Columbia. These references help prove that Nessie is real because of how far back these sources date and how even then people believed in her. If Nessie doesn’t exist then how can all the facts that prove she is real be explained? Just because Nessie doesn’t appear that often does not mean that she is a myth and does really not exist. People believe in many things despite not truly knowing if they are real or not, so why not believe in something that people can prove to be real?