Loch Ness Monster could have been dreamt up by local hoaxer

AN American writer has claimed the Loch Ness Monster is an elaborate hoax – dreamt up by a water bailiff trying to save local jobs.

In a series of articles written for the Canadian press, writer Josh Bazell, called the story of Nessie, “the archetypical hoax of the 20^th century”,  alleging the hoaxer was a water bailiff named Alex Campbell.

He claims Mr Campbell created the story to attract attention to the area after the  stock market crash of 1929 meant the numbers of visiting tourists to Loch Ness dwindled.

The situation was so dire that a local railway to Fort Augustus was stopped.

Mr Bazell made his claims in a series of articles to the Canadian paper, The National Post.

Mr Bazell highlights an article that appeared in an Inverness paper on August 27 1930, which claimed three unidentified anglers had seen a fish so big it could be seen from 600 feet away.

The next issue of the newspaper has three anonymous letters that also claim to have seen the sea creature, with one using the word “monster.” Bezzell said: “The author of the report and the three letters, all similarly worded, was Campbell.”

Bazzell also claims an anonymous aricle in the Inverness Courier reported that a “businessman and his wife witnessed a creature rolling and plunging for a full minute, its body resembling that of a whale” was also written by Campbell.

Mr Bazell said the hoax worked wonders for the local tourism industy, almost immediately, with visitor numbers soaring.

Rumours and myths surrounding the Loch Ness monster bring thousands of tourists to Loch Ness every year and have led to a number of scientific searches of the loch.

In 1987, Operation Deepscan, saw 24 boats equipped with echosounder equipment deployed across the width of the loch sending out acoustic waves. It was reported that the scientists had made sonar contact with a large unidentified object of unusual size and strength

In 1993 Discovery Communications began to research the ecology of the loch. Using sonar, the team encountered an under water disturbance.

Read on:  http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2012/02/19/loch-ness-monster-could-have-been-dreamt-up-by-local-hoaxer/

Lost treasures: The Loch Ness monster that got away (via Chad Arment)

09 February 2012 by Michael Marshall

Despite centuries of alleged sightings, no Loch Ness monsters or sea serpents have ever been found. But in the 1600s, the specimen of a curious long-necked creature emerged that could explain where such aquatic tall tales may have originated - if only it hadn't been mislaid.

In the late 17th century, the botanist Nehemiah Grew published a catalogue of oddities held by the Royal Society in London. The book, called Musaeum regalis societatis, contains the first scientific description of a skin belonging to an unusual seal. He writes: "Wherein he principally differs, is the length of his neck; for, from his nose-end to his fore-feet, and from thence to his tail, are the same measure." By contrast, most seal necks are only about a half the length of their lower body. In 1751, Grew's description was cited by James Parsons in the Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions (vol 47, p 109). Parsons included it in his list of known species.

Nobody has seen the skin since, and no further specimens have emerged. Could long-necked seals really exist? The idea persists but is now relegated to cryptozoology, the search for semi-mythical species. Cryptozoologists argue that many legendary creatures have actually existed and point to the colossal squid or king cheetah as examples.

Lurking monsters
Among the most enduring mythical creatures are "sea serpents". The Loch Ness monster is a land-locked example, but most claims are marine. One popular idea is that such animals are plesiosaurs: long-necked marine reptiles that died out 65 million years ago. The idea doesn't stand up. For one, they could not lift their heads into the swan-like pose attributed to Nessie. And while other creatures thought to be long-extinct have been found lurking in the oceans today - such as the coelacanth fish - it's unlikely the plesiosaur would be absent from the fossil record for 65 million years.

In 1892, the Dutch zoologist Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans argued in his book The Great Sea-serpent that such monsters were long-necked seals. The idea met with a chilly reception, but it was revived in 1968 by cryptozoologist Bernard Heuvelmans in his book In the Wake of the Sea-serpents.

While the existence of a long-necked seal today is speculative at best, there is some circumstantial evidence. In 2009, Michael Woodley, then of Royal Holloway, University of London and colleagues estimated that up to 15 species of pinnipeds, the animal group that includes seals and walruses, might remain undiscovered (Historical Biology, vol 20, p 225).

Woodley also points out that no living animal has taken over the long-necked grazer niche vacated by the plesiosaurs. And fossils of Miocene seals called Acrophoca - a possible ancestor - have proportionally longer necks than seals today (Palaeontology, vol 45, p 821).

No new pinnipeds have been discovered since 1953. So if a new species emerged, it would be a big deal. The lack of confirmed sightings suggests the species wouldn't need to surface as frequently as other seals to breathe or breed. Of course, it could also mean it doesn't exist at all. If Grew's seal skin turned up though, cryptozoologists would be delighted.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21328502.300-lost-treasures-the-loch-ness-monster-that-got-away.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
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New Witness Corroborates 2011 Sighting

I was going to post another item this weekend but I felt this partly finished article ought to go out now. The reason is because of the William Hill award for the best Nessie sighting of 2011 and there are four contenders including the sighting in this title. The winner will be decided at the end of January and I thought it best to complete the story on this sighting so that whoever judges will have a fuller picture.

Note, I have no interest in who the eventual winner is and I do not stand to gain financially from it! The award candidates do not even know I am writing this. In fact I have been looking into this case since July and was awaiting further information, but so be it.

Back in July I was at Loch Ness and stopped at the shop of the Hargreaves at Foyers to buy some provisions (I documented that in an older posting). So I talked about their sighting with them and before I left the lady said that an Ala MacGruer had seen something too. I noted the name and headed south back to Edinburgh.

Continued:  

http://lochnessmystery.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-witness-corroborates-2011-sighting.html

Columba met a bear, not Nessie

I READ of David Feltham, and others of his ilk before him, and I despair (“20 years on, Nessie hunter still undaunted”, The Herald, July 19).


Does no-one grasp the importance of studying original sources, such as, in this case, Saint Adamnan’s Life of Columba?

I suggest Nessie hunters read his report of the saint’s encounter with what could only have been a bear.

The animal was in the river where the monks were to ford it; there were salmon there and men fishing; the so-called monster growled, then mauled a man to death, before retreating at a speed everyone found astonishing; and the River Ness shares its latitude with the home of the most famous salmon fishing bears in the world, Kodiak Island.


Read on: http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/herald-letters/columba-met-a-bear-not-nessie-1.1113153

Loch Ness monster-like beast filmed in Alaska

Cryptozoologists think mysterious marine animal in video is a Cadborosaurus

Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News

Alaska may have its own version of the Loch Ness monster, according to prominent cryptozoologists who say a video shows a mysterious marine animal, which they believe is a Cadborosaurus.

Meaning "reptile" or "lizard" from Cadboro Bay, Cadborosaurus willsi is an alleged sea serpent from the North Pacific and possibly other regions. Accounts generally describe it as having a long neck, a horse-like head, large eyes, and back bumps that stick out of the water.

The footage, shot by Alaskan fishermen in 2009, will make its public debut on "Hillstranded," a new Discovery Channel special that will air Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. E/P.

"I am quite impressed with the video," Paul LeBlond, former head of the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of British Columbia, told Discovery News. "Although it was shot under rainy circumstances in a bouncy ship, it's very genuine."

LeBlond, co-author of the book "Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep," said the animal is "the least unlike a plesiosaur," referring to carnivorous marine reptiles thought to have gone extinct at the end of the Cretaceous Period.

Sightings of Cadborosaurus have been reported for ages. In 1937, a supposed body of the animal was found in the stomach of a whale captured by the Naden Harbour whaling station in the Queen Charlotte Islands, a British Columbia archipelago. Samples of the animal were brought to the Provincial Museum in Victoria, where curator Francis Kermode concluded they belonged to a fetal baleen whale.

The animal's remains, however, later disappeared. James Wakelun, a worker at the whaling station, last year said that he saw the creature's body and "it wasn't an unborn whale."

Like other cryptids — animals whose existence is suggested but not yet recognized by scientific consensus — Cadborosaurus has otherwise existed only in grainy photographs and eyewitness accounts. The 2009 video, therefore, "adds to its authentication," LeBlond said.

John Kirk, president of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, agrees. In an issued statement, Kirk described the video as being "important. They (the fishermen) simply don't know what they have got in terms of the creatures in this video."

While many have speculated that Cadborosaurus is actually a frill shark, a large eel, or some kind of fish, LeBlond counters that it cannot be a fish due to the way Cadborosaurus moves.

"It must be a mammal or a reptile, since it oscillates up and down in a vertical plain, which eliminates sideways-oscillating fish," he explained.

A possible new believer in Cadborosaurus is Andy Hillstrand of "Deadliest Catch" television show fame. He told Discovery News that he might have seen the enigmatic animal while filming "Hillstranded," a new Discovery Channel special debuting tonight that features the 2009 footage..

Hillstrand and his brother Johnathan traveled to sites in Alaska where Cadborosaurus has been spotted. Referring to one location, he said, "We saw a big, long white thing moving in the water. We chased it for about 20 minutes."

"Spray came out of its head," he continued. "It was definitely not a shark. A giant eel may be possible, but eels don't have humps that all move in unison. I've never seen anything like it before."

Hillstrand speculates that whales, following salmon, might be pushing the animals closer to shores and in the view of humans.

While he understands the controversy and skepticism over such sightings and claims, Hillstrand believes the many fishermen who have reported seeing the animal "are not a bunch of fruitcakes. These are people who are familiar with the local marine life."

In order for a cryptid to gain scientific credibility, more physical evidence must be obtained. LeBlond said, "We cannot go out in the ocean poking everywhere, but we are always on the lookout for new accounts."

Hillstrand, on the other hand, isn't ruling out another Cadborosaurus-related trip.

"We live in Alaska, so we might investigate Cadborosaurus again in future," he said. "We are always up for an adventure."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43801173/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Loch Ness Monster sighting reported by locals

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/Loch-Ness-Monster-sighting-reported-by-locals-21062011.htm

FOYERS shop and cafe owner Jan Hargreaves and her husband Simon believe they caught a glimpse of Loch Ness’s most elusive resident — Nessie.

It was while taking a break on the store’s front decking — looking out to the loch — when Mrs Hargreaves and kitchen worker Graham Baine spotted an unusual figure cutting a strange shape through the water.

“We were standing looking out and saw something that looked bizarre,” said Mrs Hargreaves.

Read on...

Restrictive clauses and the Loch Ness Monster

04 Feb 2011 Gavin Hinks

OFTEN, it's all in the timing. Yesterday, Accountancy Age reported quite an outburst on the subject of banks forcing their clients to use Big Four only auditors through what are called "restrictive clauses" in their banking covenants.

It took place at the ICAS/Grant Thornton debate on the future of assurance. While many may consider restrictive clauses to be the Loch Ness Monster of financial arrangements (much talked about, but never proven) ICAS president Alan Thomson took the floor and blurted out that as chairman of a private equity house he had been forced to opt for a Big Four auditor by lenders. "That's not right," he proclaimed.

Many agree with him. Government minister Ed Davey has even said if such clauses are being used they should be a matter for the competition authorities. Positive, but not far from saying that if the monster does exist it should be a concern for zoologists, not crypto-zoologists.

But despite Alan Thomson's quite emphatic statement some people remain doubtful that restrictive clauses are actually real.

For example, last night the issue cropped up at the annual open meeting of the Financial Reporting Council.

During open questions one member of the audience asked the FRC what it was doing about restrictive clauses because they were, in his words, "profoundly in restraint of trade".

FRC chairman Baroness Hogg was much less certain. She said the regulator simply did not know the extent to which the clauses were being used and added more research was required.

Far be it for me to point out the obvious but that research now has a place to start - Alan Thomson. It would be no surprise if someone among the competition authorities felt the same way too. Or Ed Davey for that matter.

As far as I am aware the Loch Ness Monster has left little or not documentary evidence. This cannot be the case for restrictive clauses.

http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/insider-blog/2024311/restrictive-clauses-loch-ness-monster

Monster battle: Nessie tourism businesses get go ahead

Members of the Highland Counci have given permission for two tourism businesses to develop on the banks of Loch Ness.

21 March 2011 12:27 GMT

Two businesses are going head to head in a monster battle for Loch Ness tourists.

Highland Council's planning committee has been looking at multi-million pound plans for tourist centres on the banks of the most famous loch in the world.

The plans include a £2.5m application for the Jacobite Discovery Project submitted by Jacobite Cruises and a £2m application from Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition at Drumnadrochit to develop its existing waterside facilities, 850 yards away beside the Clansman Hotel.

Loch Ness cruise operator Jacobite Cruises announced plans in January for a new harbour, car park and visitor facilities on land each side of the loch-side A82 Inverness-Fort William road at Brackla.

Meanwhile, the family-run Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition is seeking approval for enhanced access, retail and catering facilities and parking.

Councillors viewed the locations from a boat before giving both projects full planning permission. Robert Bremner, managing director for Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition who have been given outline planning permission said: "Jacobite remain our tenants and I see no reason for that to change at the moment; we are still on speaking terms."

He added: "Our development will give people a chance to get down to the loch side. People are still attracted to the area, not just because of the mystery monster but because of the beauty of the area."

Robin Webster, partner at Cameron Webster Architects which has designed the Jacobite Discovery project, said: "There are many eco-friendly features within the development and the location of the discovery project lends itself excellently to these. Low-energy features are a priority."

Project director Rod Michie said: "We are delighted with the progress of Cameron Webster's designs and are proud our project will be as environmentally-friendly as possible.

"We are looking forward to having new facilities where visitors can make the most of beautiful Loch Ness. We want to create everlasting memories for customers to take home, whilst still being kind to the environment."

IN DETAIL:  Nessie caught up in a monster tourism battle

http://news.stv.tv/scotland/highlands-islands/237605-monster-battle-nessie-tourism-businesses-go-head-to-head/

UK Kayakers Claim They Spotted Loch Ness-Like Sea Creature

Young Couple Say They Saw Mysterious Humps Emerge From the Water While Kayaking Near Bowness-on-Windermere

By KEVIN DOLAK
Feb. 19, 2011

Bownessie, the mythical younger and less famous sea monster of Britain's Lake Windermere, who lives in the shadow of her northern neighbor, the fabled Loch Ness monster, may have been spotted today.

Two 20-something Brits told the U.K.'s Daily Mail that they spotted three or four mysterious humps emerge from the water while they were kayaking on Lake Windermere in Bowness-on-Windermere, near the western coast of northern England.

Tom Pickles, 24, and Sarah Harrington, 23, said they stared at the shape, terrified as it moved through the water at about 10 miles per hour.

"I thought it was a dog," Pickles said. "Then I realized it was much bigger and moving really quickly. Each hump was moving in a rippling motion and it was swimming fast. I could tell it was much bigger underneath from the huge shadow around it."

"Its skin was like a seal's, but its shape was abnormal -- it's not like any animal I've ever seen before. We saw it for about 20 seconds. It was petrifying. We paddled back to the shore straight away," Harrington said.
The couple managed to snap a shot of the baffling figure with a camera phone before it disappeared into the water.
Experts who have examined the fuzzy photograph have said that the image is authentic, but that the file size is too small to tell if it was altered.

And of course there are the skeptics who say the monster, whether in Loch Ness or Windermere, is just a myth. "I have a whole lot of doubt that it could be a Loch Ness monster. I don't think a monster can exist biologically," said Ian Winfield, a scientist at the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology at the Lancaster, England, Environment Centre.

"It's a bit of fun, it adds a bit of spice to life," he said. "It would be wonderful if it was true. I mean if we had some kind of creature alive in the British Isles it would be fantastic but I really don't think it can be so."

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/uk-kayakers-claim-spotted-loch-ness-sea-creature/story?id=12957038

Banyoles, where Nessie's Spanish cousin lives

According to legend, hundreds of years ago, in the dark waters of the Banyoles Lake in Girona, north eastern Spain, there lived a great monster who terrorised the local people. Then, in the eighth century, the French monk St Emeterio coaxed the beast from the lake with prayers, and transformed it into a peaceful herbivore. It's said the creature still lives in the depths today. Why not pay it a visit?

http://www.hellomagazine.com/travel/201102014869/banyoles-lake/girona/spain/1/

Something in the water: Gerard Byrne goes after the Loch Ness Monster in Milton Keynes

By Mark Sheerin | 13 January 2011

Exhibition: Gerard Byrne - Case Study: Loch Ness (Some possibilities and problems), 2001-2011, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, January 14 - April 3 2011

Unlike most investigations of Loch Ness, Gerard Byrne’s new show is not at all interested in the existence of a monster. His first major solo exhibition in a UK public space is about Nessie as a photographic phenomenon rather than a flesh and bone saurian.

Speaking via phone, the Dublin-based artist explains that what piqued his interest in the place was its relation to the history of photography. "As a site it amounted to a kind of cardinal point, you might say, in the way of people's expectations of photographs, people's beliefs in photography as such,” he says. “Do you know what I mean?”

Byrne has a knack of firing this short question back throughout the interview, usually after making one of his more abstract points. It is a worry because he asks it like he expects an answer.

“Now, I'm not a puritan or a fetishist or anything like that but I'm interested in the idea of photographs as a type of material as well, as a type of material that's generated through certain processes - both optical and chemical - and so it sort of matters that they're analogue prints [in the show] and it sort of matters that they've been generated through this, you know, physical temporal commitment to that site, if you know what I mean.”

By way of comment on the many famous pictures which claim to show what may or may not be in the local waters, Byrne has spent 10 years making a collection of his own photos of Loch Ness.

“There are people who've actually lived in caravans up there and camped out. I haven't done that. But I've made a lot of visits at least - I'd say at least a dozen visits, each for, like, a few days at a time, so I've put in some time up there,” he says.

And as you might expect from a visual artist, Byrne sets the scene very well. “Firstly the loch is very, very big,” he says. “It's much bigger than you might imagine. It's quite epic in scale and it's actually not the most beautiful part of the Highlands, the most, you know, windswept or romantic.”

To the ears of an ignorant southerner this is almost disappointing, until he adds: “It is a little bit dark you might say. I don't want to be melodramatic, but it is a little bit dour and dark in comparison with the surrounding landscape…it's sort of sombre, you might say.”

Byrne’s engagement with this figurative scenery was not without its ironies. “I go there and I make a lot of photographs and I look at the photographs after the fact and I realise that they're all landscape photographs,” says the conceptual artist.

“There's a type of topography at work in the photographs,” he says. "But in the end what they really chronicle is, I think, an idea of forms which could be mistaken for other forms.”

In other words there’s a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t quality to the work on display, monsters at which you have to look twice.

“That's one of the ideas that's very visible when you see the show - you know, this idea of the gestalt form, this idea of something that's almost in the mind's eye,” he adds.

It is, after all, such gestalt forms which give rise to lake-dwelling monsters. “That’s a kind of archeptypal myth that's found all around the world, and what distinguishes Loch Ness from the rest is precisely its mediation in the newspaper,” says Byrne.

He goes on to explain that interest in Loch Ness peaked in the early 1930s, at a time when the mass media was becoming all pervasive and more people were becoming aware of a sense of modernity.

“It's interesting that there's so much attraction to a myth that's primarily about the primeval, that's about the idea of something from prehistory, that could continue to live in the 20th century or the 21st century,” he says. “So there's a strange fantasy built into that that's about time or about escaping time or something that defies time.”

In which case new town Milton Keynes is the last place you’d expect to find a mythical dinosaur. But now that is where you will find it, as large as life - an indisputable phenomena if nothing else.

Open 12pm-8pm Tuesday-Friday (from 11am Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday). Admission free.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/photography+%26+film/art315825

Something in the water: Gerard Byrne goes after the Loch Ness Monster in Milton Keynes

By Mark Sheerin | 13 January 2011

Exhibition: Gerard Byrne - Case Study: Loch Ness (Some possibilities and problems), 2001-2011, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, January 14 - April 3 2011

Unlike most investigations of Loch Ness, Gerard Byrne’s new show is not at all interested in the existence of a monster. His first major solo exhibition in a UK public space is about Nessie as a photographic phenomenon rather than a flesh and bone saurian.

Speaking via phone, the Dublin-based artist explains that what piqued his interest in the place was its relation to the history of photography. "As a site it amounted to a kind of cardinal point, you might say, in the way of people's expectations of photographs, people's beliefs in photography as such,” he says. “Do you know what I mean?”

Byrne has a knack of firing this short question back throughout the interview, usually after making one of his more abstract points. It is a worry because he asks it like he expects an answer.

“Now, I'm not a puritan or a fetishist or anything like that but I'm interested in the idea of photographs as a type of material as well, as a type of material that's generated through certain processes - both optical and chemical - and so it sort of matters that they're analogue prints [in the show] and it sort of matters that they've been generated through this, you know, physical temporal commitment to that site, if you know what I mean.”

By way of comment on the many famous pictures which claim to show what may or may not be in the local waters, Byrne has spent 10 years making a collection of his own photos of Loch Ness.

“There are people who've actually lived in caravans up there and camped out. I haven't done that. But I've made a lot of visits at least - I'd say at least a dozen visits, each for, like, a few days at a time, so I've put in some time up there,” he says.

And as you might expect from a visual artist, Byrne sets the scene very well. “Firstly the loch is very, very big,” he says. “It's much bigger than you might imagine. It's quite epic in scale and it's actually not the most beautiful part of the Highlands, the most, you know, windswept or romantic.”

To the ears of an ignorant southerner this is almost disappointing, until he adds: “It is a little bit dark you might say. I don't want to be melodramatic, but it is a little bit dour and dark in comparison with the surrounding landscape…it's sort of sombre, you might say.”

Byrne’s engagement with this figurative scenery was not without its ironies. “I go there and I make a lot of photographs and I look at the photographs after the fact and I realise that they're all landscape photographs,” says the conceptual artist.

“There's a type of topography at work in the photographs,” he says. "But in the end what they really chronicle is, I think, an idea of forms which could be mistaken for other forms.”

In other words there’s a now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t quality to the work on display, monsters at which you have to look twice.

“That's one of the ideas that's very visible when you see the show - you know, this idea of the gestalt form, this idea of something that's almost in the mind's eye,” he adds.

It is, after all, such gestalt forms which give rise to lake-dwelling monsters. “That’s a kind of archeptypal myth that's found all around the world, and what distinguishes Loch Ness from the rest is precisely its mediation in the newspaper,” says Byrne.

He goes on to explain that interest in Loch Ness peaked in the early 1930s, at a time when the mass media was becoming all pervasive and more people were becoming aware of a sense of modernity.

“It's interesting that there's so much attraction to a myth that's primarily about the primeval, that's about the idea of something from prehistory, that could continue to live in the 20th century or the 21st century,” he says. “So there's a strange fantasy built into that that's about time or about escaping time or something that defies time.”

In which case new town Milton Keynes is the last place you’d expect to find a mythical dinosaur. But now that is where you will find it, as large as life - an indisputable phenomena if nothing else.

Open 12pm-8pm Tuesday-Friday (from 11am Saturday, 11am-5pm Sunday). Admission free.

http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/photography+%26+film/art315825

2010's Top Cryptozoology 'Monsters'

Dec 30, 2010 – 7:33 AM

Monsters: They lurk in our fears, our imaginations, and sometimes, in our lakes and forests.

Sea serpents; tall, hairy creatures; unicorns; blood-sucking doglike animals -- they've all been in the news this year. They're either real, myth or simply new and previously unknown beasts that share the world with humans and come under the category of cryptozoology: the study of hidden or unknown animals.

Here's a look back at some of the more interesting cryptozoology stories that we covered in 2010.

Read full article: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/30/2010s-top-cryptozoology-monsters/

2010's Top Cryptozoology 'Monsters'

Dec 30, 2010 – 7:33 AM

Monsters: They lurk in our fears, our imaginations, and sometimes, in our lakes and forests.

Sea serpents; tall, hairy creatures; unicorns; blood-sucking doglike animals -- they've all been in the news this year. They're either real, myth or simply new and previously unknown beasts that share the world with humans and come under the category of cryptozoology: the study of hidden or unknown animals.

Here's a look back at some of the more interesting cryptozoology stories that we covered in 2010.

Read full article: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/30/2010s-top-cryptozoology-monsters/

Forget Nessie, watch the dolphins

David Ross, Highland Correspondent
Share

29 Dec 2010

It is shaping up to be the biggest test of the Loch Ness Monster’s reputation as a top drawer tourist attraction since a surgeon’s photographs of the mythical beast were found to be faked.

The 500,000 tourists who visit Loch Ness every year from across the world have been urged to forget their search for Nessie and go to see real live bottlenose dolphins.

The Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership began promoting itself as a key part of Scotland’s Dolphin Coast yesterday with the launch of a new website

Chairman Roger Goodyear said: “No-one, and certainly those who depend on the mythology for a living, cares to admit that Nessie doesn’t exist except in the imagination of visitors. Is Nessie real? As they say in all the best pantos ‘Oh no, she isn’t’ ... She’s not even behind you.

“We want people to know that instead of spending valuable holiday time looking for something that doesn’t exist they should come to Scotland’s Dolphin Coast instead and see something that most certainly does – our dolphins, porpoises and even minke whales.

“And, we can assure our visitors that the dolphins they encounter will be 100% genuine and not a floating log, an upturned rowing boat or a trick of the light.”

He said visitors to the Banffshire coast often had the chance to see the resident population of bottle nosed Moray Firth dolphins frolic close enough to the shores to view without binoculars.

The Moray Firth is home to the largest bottle nosed dolphins in the world, growing to nearly four metres long. It is estimated that around 130 dolphins live along the Moray Firth.

Graeme Ambrose, managing director of Destination Loch Ness Ltd, which represents 100 businesses around the loch, retorted: “I don’t think there really was any call for such an attack on Nessie. ”

David Alston, Highland Council’s head of budget and a Black Isle Councillor, said: “We certainly wouldn’t encourage visitors to forget about our legendary monster and take off to Banffshire.”

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/forget-nessie-watch-the-dolphins-1.1076919

Forget Nessie, watch the dolphins

David Ross, Highland Correspondent
Share

29 Dec 2010

It is shaping up to be the biggest test of the Loch Ness Monster’s reputation as a top drawer tourist attraction since a surgeon’s photographs of the mythical beast were found to be faked.

The 500,000 tourists who visit Loch Ness every year from across the world have been urged to forget their search for Nessie and go to see real live bottlenose dolphins.

The Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership began promoting itself as a key part of Scotland’s Dolphin Coast yesterday with the launch of a new website

Chairman Roger Goodyear said: “No-one, and certainly those who depend on the mythology for a living, cares to admit that Nessie doesn’t exist except in the imagination of visitors. Is Nessie real? As they say in all the best pantos ‘Oh no, she isn’t’ ... She’s not even behind you.

“We want people to know that instead of spending valuable holiday time looking for something that doesn’t exist they should come to Scotland’s Dolphin Coast instead and see something that most certainly does – our dolphins, porpoises and even minke whales.

“And, we can assure our visitors that the dolphins they encounter will be 100% genuine and not a floating log, an upturned rowing boat or a trick of the light.”

He said visitors to the Banffshire coast often had the chance to see the resident population of bottle nosed Moray Firth dolphins frolic close enough to the shores to view without binoculars.

The Moray Firth is home to the largest bottle nosed dolphins in the world, growing to nearly four metres long. It is estimated that around 130 dolphins live along the Moray Firth.

Graeme Ambrose, managing director of Destination Loch Ness Ltd, which represents 100 businesses around the loch, retorted: “I don’t think there really was any call for such an attack on Nessie. ”

David Alston, Highland Council’s head of budget and a Black Isle Councillor, said: “We certainly wouldn’t encourage visitors to forget about our legendary monster and take off to Banffshire.”

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/forget-nessie-watch-the-dolphins-1.1076919

Loch Ness monster 'seen twice'

A retired detective whose father captured one of the most famous images of the Loch Ness monster has reopened the debate over the beast's existence by claiming he has seen it twice.

Simon Dinsdale, a retired police detective from Essex, insists that the two minute film recorded 50 years ago by his father, a famous Nessie-hunter, is genuine.

The footage, shot by Tim Dinsdale in 1960, is one of the best-known images put forward as evidence by those who insist on the existence of the mysterious creature.

Now the insistence of those who believe in Nessie that the film is genuine has been lent new weight after Mr Dinsdale claimed he had seen the monster with his own eyes on two occasions.

Mr Dinsdale Sr, an aeronautical engineer in the RAF who died in 1987, was one of the world's leading Nessie-hunters, making 56 expeditions to Loch Ness and writing a number of books on the subject.

When his footage was sent to the RAF for analysis, experts determined that the mysterious shape seen moving around in the water was neither a boat nor a submarine, but an "unknown inanimate object".

Simon, his son, is determined to convince the public the video is authentic and discussed his belief in the mysterious monster in an interview with the BBC, to be broadcast on Monday.

He said: "I saw this immense, extraordinary object, it looked like the back of a huge animal.

"It stood two or three feet (0.6m to 0.9m) out of the water, four or five feet (1.2m to 1.5m) across, reddish brown and had a blotch on the left flank which I could see very clearly.

"And then it started to move – a most electrifying moment."

Mr Dinsdale Jr, who spent his career examining evidence and was involved in tracking down serial killer Steve Wright in Ipswich, is adamant the film can not be a hoax.

He said: "I'm experienced at looking at evidence and I can tell you that on the balance of probabilities there is something large and unknown living in this loch."

Speculation over the possible existence of an enormous monster living underwater in the Loch began in 1933 when George Spicer reported the first modern sighting of the beast.

Mr Spicer claimed he and his wife saw "a most extraordinary form of animal" some 4ft (1m) high and 25ft (8m) long crossing the road 20 years from the loch.

Many people over the years have claimed to have conclusive evidence that the monster exists, only to find their arguments rejected by the public at large.

The most famous was a photograph published in 1934, supposedly taken by Dr Robert Kenneth Wilson, showed a head and long neck apparently belonging to a large animal in the middle of the lake.

It was the subject of feverish debate for 60 years before finally being exposed as a hoax in 1994, when Christian Spurling confessed to having fitted a toy submarine with a false head before photographing it and passing the picture to Dr Wilson.

By Nick Collins
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8197760/Loch-Ness-monster-seen-twice.html

Loch Ness monster 'seen twice'

A retired detective whose father captured one of the most famous images of the Loch Ness monster has reopened the debate over the beast's existence by claiming he has seen it twice.

Simon Dinsdale, a retired police detective from Essex, insists that the two minute film recorded 50 years ago by his father, a famous Nessie-hunter, is genuine.

The footage, shot by Tim Dinsdale in 1960, is one of the best-known images put forward as evidence by those who insist on the existence of the mysterious creature.

Now the insistence of those who believe in Nessie that the film is genuine has been lent new weight after Mr Dinsdale claimed he had seen the monster with his own eyes on two occasions.

Mr Dinsdale Sr, an aeronautical engineer in the RAF who died in 1987, was one of the world's leading Nessie-hunters, making 56 expeditions to Loch Ness and writing a number of books on the subject.

When his footage was sent to the RAF for analysis, experts determined that the mysterious shape seen moving around in the water was neither a boat nor a submarine, but an "unknown inanimate object".

Simon, his son, is determined to convince the public the video is authentic and discussed his belief in the mysterious monster in an interview with the BBC, to be broadcast on Monday.

He said: "I saw this immense, extraordinary object, it looked like the back of a huge animal.

"It stood two or three feet (0.6m to 0.9m) out of the water, four or five feet (1.2m to 1.5m) across, reddish brown and had a blotch on the left flank which I could see very clearly.

"And then it started to move – a most electrifying moment."

Mr Dinsdale Jr, who spent his career examining evidence and was involved in tracking down serial killer Steve Wright in Ipswich, is adamant the film can not be a hoax.

He said: "I'm experienced at looking at evidence and I can tell you that on the balance of probabilities there is something large and unknown living in this loch."

Speculation over the possible existence of an enormous monster living underwater in the Loch began in 1933 when George Spicer reported the first modern sighting of the beast.

Mr Spicer claimed he and his wife saw "a most extraordinary form of animal" some 4ft (1m) high and 25ft (8m) long crossing the road 20 years from the loch.

Many people over the years have claimed to have conclusive evidence that the monster exists, only to find their arguments rejected by the public at large.

The most famous was a photograph published in 1934, supposedly taken by Dr Robert Kenneth Wilson, showed a head and long neck apparently belonging to a large animal in the middle of the lake.

It was the subject of feverish debate for 60 years before finally being exposed as a hoax in 1994, when Christian Spurling confessed to having fitted a toy submarine with a false head before photographing it and passing the picture to Dr Wilson.

By Nick Collins
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8197760/Loch-Ness-monster-seen-twice.html

In search of Nessie in Scotland

By ALICE THERESA SUN - CUA
10/04/2010 | 01:35 PM

Who has not heard or read about the mysterious creature in Loch Ness, Scotland? Our imaginations had been fired since childhood with stories about this long-necked dragon-like sea serpent supposedly living in the deep waters of this Scottish lake.

Many photos were published about her (the gender seemed to have stuck, somehow!) showing a shadowy silhouette of a small head, and a long neck with an undulating back emerging from the center of the lake. And yet nobody could really say what it was, and how it really looked like.

There have been many tales and testimonies since 1933 (or even as early as the 6th century, in written accounts), of sightings in the lake, and some even “seeing" it cross the street before slithering/lumbering towards the water. Based on its long neck and aquatic preference, scientists pegged it as a plesiosaurus, a pre-historic monster.

Named as one of the mysteries of the world, it figured in many scientific and pseudo-scientific studies, and theories abound as well. Some submersible sonar pictures and hydro-echoes showed a live animal, 20-30 feet long, moving and swishing in the lake. Eel, dragon, fish, magic horse, serpent --- the Loch Ness creature’s very identity had certainly reached mythological proportions. Books and articles about the sea creature filled shelves upon shelves but until now nobody really knew what it was— that is, of course, if it really existed.

Thus, it was with great excitement that my husband Alex and I signed up with the Jacobite Tour for Loch Ness at a shop in downtown Inverness. The shop sold cute little stuffed toys of the “monster" called “Nessie," an endearing name for the creature, and many a child came away from that shop clutching yellow, pink and green beribboned smiling Nessies in their hands.

The trip started early in the morning, and our bus driver/tour commentator was Simon, a local Scot who was born and who grew up beside the Loch Ness. Did he himself witness this creature arising from the sea? Well, yes, he answered. Sometimes at night when he had one drink too many, he said, he could certainly conjure up Nessie! It was about an 8 hour drive to the quay where we were to board a motorboat that will bring us to the center of the lake. Remember folks, Simon reminded us, be on the lookout for her, and don’t forget your cameras!

After about 30 minutes I noticed that the water had become dark, almost black, and Alex said it was because of its depth — the deepest part was around 800 meters. Would we see even part of the creature? Would that day be a special one perhaps, when Nessie would decide to show herself? Would it be like some disaster movie, where a boatful of unwary travelers would be suddenly but silently stalked by a giant sea serpent, its front flippers the size of their puny boat? Everyone was on their toes, scanning the water, the horizon. A little commotion in the water brought little screams of excitement, and laughter. The boat was swift and, in its wake, spumes of water sprayed all over us — a hat brought to cover the face from the sun became a shield in the intermittent showers from the lake.

On and on the boat roared until suddenly from the distance we saw the ruins of a castle nestling at the foot of a hill. This was the Urquhart Castle, a popular place for Nessie sightings as its great tower had a very good vantage point, facing the lake. When we drew near I realized that the castle was made of stones laid on top of each other, and that the remains of the fortress stretched out as far as the eyes could see.

Upon disembarking, we had the grassy knoll to walk around with many loose stones from the castle ramparts lying about, and a fresh wind coming in from the lake. Many intrepid souls clambered up the ruins of the tower fortified by steel bars. From a higher area I traced the curving line of the remains of the fort, the quiet making one pensive, thinking about the people who might have lived here during medieval times. There were many vantage points to look at the lake, and as I stood there by the decaying ramparts of the castle, a cool wind came up to whip against my cheek. I looked out into the loch, and noted its colors changed from time to time, dark greenish blue near the quay, and almost black at the center. From where I was, the water appeared calm, except when the wind blew, riffling the surface. Alas, nothing that resembled a sea creature arose to frighten us.

And where was Alex? I found him in one part of the castle grounds examining something that looked very strange indeed —a tall triangular wooden structure about five stories high, with long arms, round wheels with intricate carvings, and a row of huge stone balls at its foot. An upright detailed description at the side said this was a Trebuchet, considered as an important siege engine during the middle ages, “equivalent to the big guns today".

Using counterweights (think catapult), it could fling missiles (the large stone balls) to a distance at high speed to destroy enemy fortifications. This modern replica —based on the work of Villand de Honnecourt, a 13th century French architect —had a counterweight of “6 tonnes" and the throwing arm was 12.5 meters long; it could hurl a stone ball weighing about 11 kg a distance of 140 meters with good accuracy. Trebuchets went “out of style" after gunpowder was discovered (and traveled to the West). Nowadays, these medieval siege engines were constructed for historical re-enactments or, for their architectural challenge.

There was a Visitor’s Centre built into the hollow of an outcropping rock, and there we learned that the Urquhart Castle was built during the 13th century, and had changed hands so many times when Scottish clans fought and died for it. The castle now belonged to the National Trust of Scotland. We were invited to watch a documentary about the castle and it included clan wars, mainly by the McDonald’s clan to claim the castle. Drawn-out battles, bloodshed, scorching, looting, until finally the castle was left alone, and it fell into ruins. Sometimes people took away the loose stones, too, for their own use. We filed out of the audio-visual room into the bright afternoon sun, replete with Scottish lore, and realized that even if we didn’t really see Nessie herself, she had practically been with us throughout the day. - GMANews.TV

With photos at: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/202562/in-search-of-nessie-in-scotland

In search of Nessie in Scotland

By ALICE THERESA SUN - CUA
10/04/2010 | 01:35 PM

Who has not heard or read about the mysterious creature in Loch Ness, Scotland? Our imaginations had been fired since childhood with stories about this long-necked dragon-like sea serpent supposedly living in the deep waters of this Scottish lake.

Many photos were published about her (the gender seemed to have stuck, somehow!) showing a shadowy silhouette of a small head, and a long neck with an undulating back emerging from the center of the lake. And yet nobody could really say what it was, and how it really looked like.

There have been many tales and testimonies since 1933 (or even as early as the 6th century, in written accounts), of sightings in the lake, and some even “seeing" it cross the street before slithering/lumbering towards the water. Based on its long neck and aquatic preference, scientists pegged it as a plesiosaurus, a pre-historic monster.

Named as one of the mysteries of the world, it figured in many scientific and pseudo-scientific studies, and theories abound as well. Some submersible sonar pictures and hydro-echoes showed a live animal, 20-30 feet long, moving and swishing in the lake. Eel, dragon, fish, magic horse, serpent --- the Loch Ness creature’s very identity had certainly reached mythological proportions. Books and articles about the sea creature filled shelves upon shelves but until now nobody really knew what it was— that is, of course, if it really existed.

Thus, it was with great excitement that my husband Alex and I signed up with the Jacobite Tour for Loch Ness at a shop in downtown Inverness. The shop sold cute little stuffed toys of the “monster" called “Nessie," an endearing name for the creature, and many a child came away from that shop clutching yellow, pink and green beribboned smiling Nessies in their hands.

The trip started early in the morning, and our bus driver/tour commentator was Simon, a local Scot who was born and who grew up beside the Loch Ness. Did he himself witness this creature arising from the sea? Well, yes, he answered. Sometimes at night when he had one drink too many, he said, he could certainly conjure up Nessie! It was about an 8 hour drive to the quay where we were to board a motorboat that will bring us to the center of the lake. Remember folks, Simon reminded us, be on the lookout for her, and don’t forget your cameras!

After about 30 minutes I noticed that the water had become dark, almost black, and Alex said it was because of its depth — the deepest part was around 800 meters. Would we see even part of the creature? Would that day be a special one perhaps, when Nessie would decide to show herself? Would it be like some disaster movie, where a boatful of unwary travelers would be suddenly but silently stalked by a giant sea serpent, its front flippers the size of their puny boat? Everyone was on their toes, scanning the water, the horizon. A little commotion in the water brought little screams of excitement, and laughter. The boat was swift and, in its wake, spumes of water sprayed all over us — a hat brought to cover the face from the sun became a shield in the intermittent showers from the lake.

On and on the boat roared until suddenly from the distance we saw the ruins of a castle nestling at the foot of a hill. This was the Urquhart Castle, a popular place for Nessie sightings as its great tower had a very good vantage point, facing the lake. When we drew near I realized that the castle was made of stones laid on top of each other, and that the remains of the fortress stretched out as far as the eyes could see.

Upon disembarking, we had the grassy knoll to walk around with many loose stones from the castle ramparts lying about, and a fresh wind coming in from the lake. Many intrepid souls clambered up the ruins of the tower fortified by steel bars. From a higher area I traced the curving line of the remains of the fort, the quiet making one pensive, thinking about the people who might have lived here during medieval times. There were many vantage points to look at the lake, and as I stood there by the decaying ramparts of the castle, a cool wind came up to whip against my cheek. I looked out into the loch, and noted its colors changed from time to time, dark greenish blue near the quay, and almost black at the center. From where I was, the water appeared calm, except when the wind blew, riffling the surface. Alas, nothing that resembled a sea creature arose to frighten us.

And where was Alex? I found him in one part of the castle grounds examining something that looked very strange indeed —a tall triangular wooden structure about five stories high, with long arms, round wheels with intricate carvings, and a row of huge stone balls at its foot. An upright detailed description at the side said this was a Trebuchet, considered as an important siege engine during the middle ages, “equivalent to the big guns today".

Using counterweights (think catapult), it could fling missiles (the large stone balls) to a distance at high speed to destroy enemy fortifications. This modern replica —based on the work of Villand de Honnecourt, a 13th century French architect —had a counterweight of “6 tonnes" and the throwing arm was 12.5 meters long; it could hurl a stone ball weighing about 11 kg a distance of 140 meters with good accuracy. Trebuchets went “out of style" after gunpowder was discovered (and traveled to the West). Nowadays, these medieval siege engines were constructed for historical re-enactments or, for their architectural challenge.

There was a Visitor’s Centre built into the hollow of an outcropping rock, and there we learned that the Urquhart Castle was built during the 13th century, and had changed hands so many times when Scottish clans fought and died for it. The castle now belonged to the National Trust of Scotland. We were invited to watch a documentary about the castle and it included clan wars, mainly by the McDonald’s clan to claim the castle. Drawn-out battles, bloodshed, scorching, looting, until finally the castle was left alone, and it fell into ruins. Sometimes people took away the loose stones, too, for their own use. We filed out of the audio-visual room into the bright afternoon sun, replete with Scottish lore, and realized that even if we didn’t really see Nessie herself, she had practically been with us throughout the day. - GMANews.TV

With photos at: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/202562/in-search-of-nessie-in-scotland