Facts: The Truth Behind the Loch Ness Monster
Photo: Head of Reptiles at London Zoo holding the Kimodo Dragon during filming (View larger version)
- It's said that the first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness monster was in 565 AD, when followers of the missionary St. Columba reportedly saw a monster in the Loch.
- In 2009, a man claimed he saw the Loch Ness monster via Google Earth satellite images.
- Since 1987, bookmaker William Hill has paid the Natural History Museum in London an annual fee of £1,000 to ensure that its experts would confirm Nessie’s identity, should the monster ever be found.
- A 2006 survey named the Loch Ness Monster as the most famous Scot—surpassing both poet Robert Burns and actor Sir Sean Connery.
- One explanation for Nessie says that, because the Loch is directly over the Great Glen Fault, “sightings” are actually disturbances on the water surface caused by fault activity.
- It’s been suggested that Nessie died as a result of global warming.
- In 2005, 100 athletes taking part in Scotland’s biggest triathlon were reportedly each insured for £1 million against bites from the Loch Ness Monster.
- The Loch Ness is the largest freshwater lake in Great Britain.
- The Loch Ness is 788 feet deep and about 23 miles long.
- Besides the Loch Ness, other very deep bodies of water in Scotland and Scandinavia are said to be inhabited by an aquatic monster.
- Explanations for aquatic monsters are endless, and include theories like large fish, optical illusions, and massive underwater waves.
