Loch Ness Monster first seen (565)

Although the Loch Ness monster has been a mythological legend throughout time, the first recorded observation of the creature occurred on August 22, 565.  On that date St. Columba, an Irish priest traveling through Scotland, is said to have confronted the beast as it attempted to eat one of his colleagues.

Sketch of the Loch Ness Monster, based on a 1934 sighting

St. Columba raised his hand, made the sign of the cross and told the monster, “You will go no further, and won’t touch the man; go back at once.”  Apparently frightened by the saint’s invocation of god, the monster departed in haste—“more quickly than if it had been pulled back with rope.”  This, at least, is the account recorded by the historian Adamnan, in his biography of St. Columba, written about a century after the supposed sighting.

If a huge aquatic monster were to pick a place to hide out, Loch Ness would be the perfect choice.  The Loch itself is huge—running for about 23 miles at a width of up to a mile and reaching a depth of over 750 feet.  It contains more water than all the other lakes of England and Wales put together.  The water is tea-colored, stained by the peat soils of the watershed.  The Loch, which lies 57 feet above sea level, was an important transportation corridor in Scotland, especially since the Caledonian Canal was built in the mid-1800s.  The canal linked several lochs, allowing water-borne transit across the country from East to West and back.  Today, however, the canal is used only for recreational purposes—including attempts to see the Loch Ness monster.

Inchnacardoch Bay, Loch Ness (photo by Ian Greig)

The Loch Ness monster, or “Nessie” to its friends, belongs to a group of animals called “cryptids,” which may or may not exist.  Cryptids are common in almost all cultures and locations, reflecting basic human fear of and fascination with the unknown in nature.  Although some famous cryptids are terrestrial, like Big Foot and the Yeti, most are aquatic.  Because humans are short-term visitors at best to the aquatic environment, we are more likely to imagine cryptids lurking in the mysterious deep waters below the surface.  Relatives of Nessie are known as Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan in British Columbia, Dobhar-Chu in Ireland, Altamaha in the Central Asian country of Georgia, Akkorokamui in Volcano Bay off the coast of Japan and  Tessie in Lake Tahoe.

The legend of the Loch Ness monster is particularly stubborn.  A sighting in 1933 launched a tourist industry around the lake.  That was followed by the famous photo of the monster’s long neck and head above the water’s surface, taken by a respected surgeon (and, hence, an unquestionably credible observer) in 1934.  A 1957 book by Constance Whyte gave a patina of authority to many sightings by “people of integrity who had reported honestly what they had seen in Loch Ness.”  Since then, several serious investigations have been undertaken to find the monster.  None has succeeded.

Nonetheless, the legend continues.  As Lord Chesterton wryly commented, “Many a man has been hanged on less evidence than there is for the Loch Ness Monster.”

References:

Graves, Dan.  2007.  Columba Encounted Loch Ness Monster.  Christianity.com. Available at:  http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/columba-encountered-loch-ness-monster-11629714.html.  Accessed August 21, 2017.

Jones, Paul Anthony.  2015.  16 Cryptids That Might (Or Might Not) Exist.  Mental Floss, posted November 23, 2015.  Available at:  http://mentalfloss.com/article/58943/16-cryptids-might-or-might-not-exist.  Accessed August 21, 2017.

Loch Ness Water.  Random Loch Ness Water Facts.  Available at:  http://www.lochnesswater.co.uk/loch_ness_water_facts.htm.  Accessed August 21, 2017.

Lyons, Stephen.  1999.  The Legend of Loch Ness.  PBS, Nova, posted on January 12, 1999.  Available at:  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/legend-loch-ness.html.  Accessed August 21, 2017.

This Month in Conservation

January 1
NEPA Enacted (1970)
January 2
Bob Marshall Born (1901)
January 3
Canaveral National Seashore Created (1975)
January 4
The Real James Bond Born (1900)
January 5
National Bird Day
January 6
Wild Kingdom First Airs (1963)
January 7
Gerald Durrell Born (1925)
January 7
Albert Bierstadt, American landscape painter, born (1830)
January 8
Alfred Russel Wallace Born (1823)
January 9
Muir Woods National Monument Created (1908)
January 10
National Houseplant Appreciation Day
January 11
Aldo Leopold Born (1887)
January 12
National Trust of England Established (1895)
January 13
MaVynee Betsch, the Beach Lady, Born (1935)
January 14
Martin Holdgate, British Conservationist, Born (1931)
January 15
British Museum Opened (1759)
January 16
Dian Fossey Born (1932)
January 17
Benjamin Franklin, America’s First Environmentalist, Born (1706)
January 18
White Sands National Monument Created (1933)
January 19
Yul Choi, Korean Environmentalist, Born (1949)
January 19
Acadia National Park Established (1929)
January 20
Penguin Appreciation Day
January 21
The Wilderness Society Founded (1935)
January 22
Iraq Sabotages Kuwaiti Oil Fields (1991)
January 23
Sweden Bans CFCs in Aerosols (1978)
January 24
Baden-Powell Publishes “Scouting for Boys” (1908)
January 25
Badlands National Park Established (1939)
January 26
Benjamin Franklin Disses the Bald Eagle (1784)
January 27
National Geographic Society Incorporated (1888)
January 28
Bermuda Petrel, Thought Extinct for 300 Years, Re-discovered (1951)
January 29
Edward Abbey, author of “Desert Solitaire,” Born (1927)
January 30
England Claims Antarctica (1820)
January 31
Stewart Udall, Secretary of Interior, Born (1920)
January February March April May June July August September October November December