The Loch Ness monster, the famous Nessie, is the star of her own reality television show.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, there is a live broadcast from the famous lake, and everyone can watch to see if they will emerge from the waters of Nessie.
Other monsters of this kind are undoubtedly jealous and envious. Many of them may not without reason believe that they also deserve popularity, and one of them is the monster that lives in the Italian Lake Garda. This monster has a Latin name, a nickname and its own fan club. All of this is supposed to indicate that the monster is real.
According to the tourist site of the island of Garda, the name Benacosaurus Lacustris is based on the Latin name for Garda (Benacus) and the word lake (Lacustris) and deserves to be considered scientific, given the five hundred year history of sightings of the monster. Some affectionately call him Benny. If any lake has the ability to harbor a monster, it is Garda.
The largest Italian lake is located in the north between Brescia and Verona, on the edge of the Dolomite mountains, and originated during the last ice age. With a length of 51.6 kilometers, a width of 16.7 kilometers and a depth of 136 meters, it has enough room for the monster to feel at ease.
There are a lot of fish in the lake, there are also small islands and underwater caves and grottoes in which you can hide, waiting for the tourists to leave. The first mention of the monster was made by the historian and poet Bongiani Grattarolo in the 16th century.
In his book Historia della Riviera di Salò, he describes several sightings of a giant sea monster. But most of Benny's descriptions come from meetings with him that happened around 2000.
Then several people saw the creature, and, according to their descriptions, it looks like a snake and is approximately 8 meters long. But he also has a large belly and four large fins, as well as a short tail, which make him an excellent swimmer. Its skin is shiny and smooth, without scales, and there were no sharp fangs in its mouth, indicating a diet of algae and small fish.
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Benny's fans undoubtedly love their monster and give him a description that doesn't suggest it might be dangerous. The tourist site of the island of Garda specifically mentions the creature's “big belly” and places it in the same category as Nessie, as well as the creature that lives in the third largest Italian freshwater body - Lake Como.
This monster is called Lariosaurus, after the prehistoric lizard Lariosaurus balsami, whose fossilized remains were found near the lake in 1830. Lariosaurus was first seen in 1954, but skeptics say it's just a huge otter, a flock of eels, or rocks protruding from the water.
Thomas Brenner, founder of the Benny Fan Club, who also works as a guide and sells official books about the monster, clothes, mugs, key chains and other souvenirs, assures that the history of sightings of the monster cannot be ignored. Thomas also states that it was he who came up with the name Benacosaurus Lacustris. He says that Lake Garda is different from many others.
In the northern part, it looks like Loch Ness and has a great depth, and in the southern part it is quite shallow, with a lot of algae and fish living in them. From the point of view of a biologist, according to Thomas, there is great potential for the habitation of a large creature, which, for various reasons, cannot be caught or even properly examined.
GUSAKOVA IRINA YURIEVNA