Legends of a giant creature hiding in the murky waters of Loch Ness are told for over 1,500 years. Every year, scientists are determined to put an end to them by solving a riddle, but they cannot catch the monster by the tail - literally. Neil Gemmell came from the University of Otago in New Zealand to take water samples from a Scottish lake and find out what it hides, using a scientific method.
“More than 1000 people said they saw the monster. Maybe there is something unusual there,”he told AFP, submerging a five-liter probe into the lake. He is going to find "monster DNA", but the main goal is to test methods for finding DNA in the environment.
“I am confident that we will find species that have not yet been described. Most likely it will be bacteria."
Record number of sightings
The true nature of the Loch Ness monster has spawned a host of theories, from a predatory, shape-shifting "sea horse" to a waterfowl survivor from the era of dinosaurs, logs, fish, birds or just waves.
"Anything you see in Loch Ness that you don't understand could be your Loch Ness monster this day," says local resident Andrew Shine. The first documented records of sighting of creation at Loch Ness were made by Saint Columba, who brought Christianity to Scotland in the sixth century. The last - March 26. A couple of American tourists described "a large shadow that moved under the water, about 10 meters long." Last year, the number of observations reached a record high: 11 in total.
It seems unlikely that more than 1000 people can be wrong.
Promotional video:
“Too many rational and sane people said they saw a creature in the lake. It's huge. More than you might think. The water is dark, very mysterious, there is a lot of fog and large mountains, wrapped in clouds, which evoke an aura of mysticism and mystery. It is marvelous!.
It remains only to tear this veil of secrecy. Perhaps science will be able to do it.
Ilya Khel
