Scotland - ANIMALS

The Loch Ness Monster

Scotland has always been known for its legends of monsters moving into the deep waters of rivers and lakes. These aquatic creatures are called kelpie or " water horse" and have the particularity to drown unwary travelers . In ancient times, parents forbade their children to swim in the deep rivers, fearing that the water spirits could take their children away.

The Loch Ness Monster is an imaginary animal that is supposed to live in the Loch Ness, a freshwater lake in the Highlands (Scotland). The legends of the Loch Ness monster dates officially back to 565 AD when St. Columba , an Irish monk , saved one of his disciples from certain death while he was trying to cross the lake to swim to a stranded boat : a terrible monster suddenly surfaced and rushed to him, "with much noise and its mouth open." Saint Colomba made a sign of the cross and invoked the power of God, shouting at the monster not to touch the poor man , who was a" Niseag " ( Celtic name for Nessie ).

It is often nicknamed Nessie. The monster was baptized Nessitera rhombopteryx by scientists Sir Peter Scott and Robert Rines . It is often described as resembling a sea serpent or a plesiosaur . Many devotees go on the waters of the Loch since the late 1930s, when there was the first "modern" appearance of the monster. Photos and films were shown , but their authenticity is difficult to prove.

In the 1990s , the presence of salmon washed up on the shore with traces of very large bites, has been reported . In the same period, two fishermen friends, still skeptical about the existence of the monster, reported seeing a gray - brown bump protruding from the water. Getting closer to see what it was, the boat was surrounded by three distinct bumps of the same color. They eventually managed to return to the shore.

In 2007, a video showing a movement in the lake revived attraction around the site. In 2011 , George Edward, owner of a tourist boat , took a picture strikingly described as the clearest image of the legendary creature but it was a hoax. The brown bump appearing in the photo was in fact a fiber

reconstruction made ​​for a documentary about the Loch Ness monster .

Several expeditions were conducted to try to find the creature. In 1930, volunteers have tried to catch it with vulgar tools: barrels, son, hooks and pieces of fish as bait. Today means using technology such as submarines, naval radar, sonar and even webcam that scientists hope to identify or capture the animal (fish shipments in 1969, Yellow Submarine in 1972 and 1987 Deepscan). Several echoes indicating the presence of "large unidentified moving masses" and underwater caves have been recorded by the devices, but nothing conclusive.

Ibrahim & Luis