Today is an exciting day. After decades of waiting and wondering, we finally find out the truth about the elusive creature that lurks in the bottom of Loch Ness. Or will we?
What’s going on?
An international team of scientists claims it has identified a plausible theory for sightings of the Loch Ness Monster.
The team took 250 water samples at various depths throughout the loch last year, collecting all forms of environmental DNA for further analysis.
READ MORE: DNA scientists: Loch Ness monster 'still plausible'
While the team did not come face to face with Nessie, the scientists say they have a biological explanation for her. The team are due to announce the findings of their studies at a press conference later today.
What kind of study are we talking about?
New Zealand’s University of Otago led the work, which was aimed at cataloguing all current life in Loch Ness, including plants, insects, fish and mammals.
DNA from the water samples were extracted and sequenced, resulting in about 500 million sequences that have now been analysed against existing databases.
“There have been over a thousand reported sightings of something in Loch Ness which have driven this notion of a monster being in the water,” geneticist Professor Neil Gemmell explained. “From those sightings there are around four main explanations about what has been seen. Our research essentially discounts most of those theories, however, one theory remains plausible.”
Remind me of Nessie’s history.
The Loch Ness Monster is one of Scotland’s oldest and most enduring myths, despite being the country’s most elusive resident.
She – somewhere along the way, we decided Nessie was a she – inspires books, TV shows and films, and fuels an enthusiastic tourist industry around its watery home.
The story of Nessie can be traced back to 1,500 years ago when Irish missionary St Columba is said to have encountered a beast in the River Ness in 565AD. The first modern sighting of Nessie didn’t come until the 1930s.
READ MORE: Warning issued over 'Storm Loch Ness' viral campaign
There are now, on average, 10 reports a year of something unexplained being spotted in the loch’s waters.
With more than 400,000 people visiting Loch Ness every year, Gary Campbell, who keeps a register of recorded Nessie sightings, has long believed that eventually science will reveal a cause for the sightings – and now he could finally be proved right.
Who reported the first sighting?
The Inverness Courier reported the first contemporary sighting of Nessie in 1933. The newspaper’s Fort Augustus correspondent, Alec Campbell, reported a sighting by Aldie Mackay of what she believed to be Nessie.
Mr Campbell’s report described a whale-like creature and the loch’s water “cascading and churning”.
Evan Barron, editor at the time, floated the suggestion that the beast be described as a “monster”, kickstarting the modern myth.
So, will we really get confirmation that the Loch Ness Monster is more than folklore?
Not to put too fine a point on it but, no, probably not. But we continue to live in hope.
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