So I went to see Nessie...

Hi all,

As I mentioned a few months ago I have gone to England and Scotland for holiday, and I have had the great opportunity to see The Lake of Loch Ness!
I also told that I would do some personal amateur research, and so I did
Don't expect this to be big or something, but expect it to be eehm, interesting.

First I would like to get you in the whole Ness mood, cause the moment you arrive there, you notice that everything seems a bit more mysterious than usual. I was also lucky enough to witness the lake on a misty, rainy day... wich made it look even more mysterious.

Here's some pictures of the lake:


The first time I saw the lake, I was stunned at that moment. It's so beautiful, really on of the best things I saw on this vacation...


This picture was taken when I was standing on 'shore' level, yes I did touch the water, it felt watery...

Well now take the nessie vibe has you, we'll proceed to the research.
The first thing I noticed when I stood next to the lake, is how many dark 'spots' you see in the water, everywhere you look there's dark blue spots.. like in this picture:


Notice the big black spot in the middle of the picture, this probably means nothing more than a part of the lake that is much deeper, but still it makes you wonder, could it be something?

Some close-up pics of dark spots, excuse the poor quality, i wasn't using any pro equipment...
i27.photobucket.com...

Second, also quite strange that the water is moving quite fast, isn't that if you know that at the end of the lake (in Fort Augustus, there's a big thing (don't know how to say in english, dutch word is 'sluis') that is used to change the water level so that boats can enter the lake, doesn't that make the water go slower?

Talking about boats, you can get some scary pictures by making photo's like these:




Ofcourse these photo's are obviuos hoaxes (there, i made my first loch ness hoax!)
By waiting till the boat is out of the frame, you only get this

There was something else that I noticed at Loch Ness, there we no fishermen, I don't know if I have missed them, or if there's a fishing restriction in that area, or if the weather was too bad too fish... I just don't know, I hope someone can tell me.

Now, for the last, and maybe most important part of my investigation, human perception! There was someone with me over there, and he totally doesn't believe in Loch Ness 'bull#' , but when we were standing next to that lake, he totally changed. He kept looking and pointing to the weird things he saw . And there were much more people like him. Loch Ness is a huge tourist attraction. It won't say it was crowded with people, but it was to be called busy at the least. There were at lot of Nessie hunters at the lake, and they were all looking for something strange in the water.

That Concludes my research, what have I learned after my visit to Loch Ness? There's so many activity going on in that lake, everything you see could be something strange. The lake is also really big, wich makes it a lot harder for a possible creature to be spotted, on the other hand you can say that there's enough tourists near the lake, so it's harder for Nessie not to be seen when he/she/it comes to the surface.

My thoughts are still the same after visiting, there is something in that lake, just not all the time. Loch Ness is in a direct connection with a bigger sea (probably the north sea). So in some parts of the year he's there, and in some parts he isn't.

That was my research, hope you liked it, and if you didn't feel free to tell me

NSA



[edit: reduced image (s) size]

[edit on 8/20/2006 by 12m8keall2c]

Nice pics, by the way it's not the "Lake of Loch Ness". That's basically calling it the "Lake of Lake Ness"

Notice the lovely grey skies in those pictures

umm, yeah i guess that does sound kinda stupid, lake of lake ness
Thank you for your being positive about the pics...

I enjoyed reading your post.... and yes, while reading it, I was going to mention the whole 'lake of Lake Ness' thing, but Snoopdopey beat me to it!!

I'm going to visit the loch in a couple of years, but I have done extensive research on Nessie already!

There HAS to be something there!

The sightings are NOT just at Loch Ness!

There was been sightings of similar appearance in numerous lakes in Canada, in the US, in China, even reported sightings in Ireland!!!!

I believe that this is no monster!

Just an undiscovered species, lurking in the dark!

There's stories from all over the world that mention big mysterious creatures in lakes, i've read about them from canada and a lot from japan.

So noone can tell me that all these tales are nothing more then tales

Thanks for sharing your adventure and pictures. It's always great to get some "inside info" on a matter.

Pity you didn't see Nessie - but then again we all know how camera-shy (s)he is... Then again, maybe you did see him, but you shot it down as just a wave or something...

I'm also quite familiar with the "black [darker] spots" in the water. They always freak me out when I'm on the water - not knowing what it is. But then again, that may just be my fear of crocodiles...

Originally posted by NoSuchAgency
There's stories from all over the world that mention big mysterious creatures in lakes, i've read about them from canada and a lot from japan.

So noone can tell me that all these tales are nothing more then tales

My point EXACTLY!!!!

Some great pictures there You've really captured the atmosphere well.

If you failed to see Nessie this time, maybe next time you should try drinking a bit more of the local uisge baugh (whisky) I do hear that it helps ......

I remember a few years back coming down off the hillside at the remote, uninhabited, east end of Loch Morar - which has a monster tradition as well. And there, just off shore, was a large, hump-backed sea creature, splashing about in the shallow water!!!!!! I grabbed my camera and moved closer (no decent digital in those days). The creature remained in the same spot. In fact, as I got close, it didn't move at all ....... And then I realised what it was: just a big, black rock! And what looked from a distance like an animal splashing about was actually just small waves hitting the rock.

Shows how easily even those who think they're pretty astute in these matters can be fooled.

Do I hear a skeptic????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You have a U2U

[edit on 21-8-2006 by masqua]

f you failed to see Nessie this time, maybe next time you should try drinking a bit more of the local uisge baugh (whisky)

I do hear that it helps ......

Funny you should mention that, when I was in Inverness (the biggest city that is very close to Loch Ness, We went to a pub, there was an old man over there who told me exactly the same thing

It seems like most of the locals don't believe in the lake creatures at all... while you're ancesters were the ones that were the first to 'see' them.

I personally feel that visiting the lake at night would be alot more profitable. A creature like Nessie, which may be too big to get any kind of speed on land, would feel safer coming out at night.

Maybe it comes to the shallows to feed on seaweed or grass, or maybe it just likes to go to the shallows and play splashing around (animals play all the time).

Originally posted by NoSuchAgency
There was something else that I noticed at Loch Ness, there we no fishermen, I don't know if I have missed them, or if there's a fishing restriction in that area, or if the weather was too bad too fish... I just don't know, I hope someone can tell me.

The reason why there are barely any fish in the water, is because Loch Ness is very brackish. Too brackish for most fish that would usually live in that kind of lake. This is considered one of the nails in Nessie's coffin, because there aren't enough fish to support a few dozen prehistoric pleisiosaurs of that size.

Nice thread by the way.

First of all thanks for all the positive responds, I really enjoyed making the pics and the trip, so the least I could do was share it with you all

I personally feel that visiting the lake at night would be alot more profitable. A creature like Nessie, which may be too big to get any kind of speed on land, would feel safer coming out at night.

I have also been there in the evening, but didn't take a lot pictures then, I was there in the afternoon around 2 p.m and 3.30 , and also in the evening around 8.30 to 9.30 pm
we had a campsite 2 mins away from the lake so that wasn't a problem...

The reason why there are barely any fish in the water, is because Loch Ness is very brackish. Too brackish for most fish that would usually live in that kind of lake. This is considered one of the nails in Nessie's coffin, because there aren't enough fish to support a few dozen prehistoric pleisiosaurs of that size.

Ok, thank you, I didn't know that there were barely any fish there..
Maybe there aren't many fish because a lot are being eaten by prehistoric plesiosaurs? Or is that too simple??

I must correct you with the whole Lake thing (I hope you dont mind) over here in Scotland we do not call them lakes we call them Lochs, I belive there is only 1 lake in Scotland the rest are all Lochs.

And in case you mis pronounce it (which many do.)

The "ch" sound in Scots is often mis-pronounced as a "k" but the sound is equivalent to the German "ch" as in "achtung".

As for Nessie I belive its now dead however im fairly convinced that a creature did exist in the loch at some point in time.

Is it not possible that in the absence of a fish diet, Nessie may have evolved to eat other food? Like seaweed or something? Many amphibious creatures eat seaweed.

I must correct you with the whole Lake thing (I hope you dont mind) over here in Scotland we do not call them lakes we call them Lochs, I belive there is only 1 lake in Scotland the rest are all Lochs.

I really didn't know that, so what's the lifference between all the Lochs and the one Lake?

When I was doing my research project on Nessie, I came across some articles written by some scientists and whatnot...

They think that Nessie may have an appetite for eels etc, not just plain fish.

I didn't realize Loch Ness was so big! Awesome pics by the way. I'm rethinking my opposition to the idea that Nessie exists.

Hi - great pictures!

Do you have any other local pics you would so kindly put up here? I was interested in the accomodations and the scene there around near the lake. Of course tourists come and visit -how are the hotels? Are there any quaint bakeries or coffee shops? I would love to visit a local restaurant or pub and swap stories with some natives of the land. Is there such goings on? Pics? How about regional foods? I DO love to eat and would make this a big part of my trip. LOL Please tell me there is no McDonald's or KFC there - a subway I can stand :-)

Thanks so much!

Sorry all, I've been busy for a while, so I haven't really had the chance to check my thread :p

First of all, once again thanks for all the positive responds, I'm happy to see that a lot of people enjoy my pictures.

I didn't realize Loch Ness was so big! Awesome pics by the way. I'm rethinking my opposition to the idea that Nessie exists.

Yeah the size of the loch was amazingly big, really not the way you'd expect it to be. It really makes the chance that there's a monster in there a lot bigger.

Do you have any other local pics you would so kindly put up here?

I do have some more pics, but they're on a cd so i'll upload them soon. I can tell you a bit about the place though. It's not at all as touristic as I thought it would be. The small town at the end of the lake, wich is called 'Fort Augustus', there are a few shops that sell nessie souvenirs, but not too much. The village itself isn't too special, the main street os cosy, but the rest of the village is not really worth visiting.

There are a few hotels, but you'll have better luck when looking for a bed & breakfast, since there are loads of them.

You should really visit a pub of restaurant there, if you're a food lover, try an all english breakfast. I ate it a few times and it really fills you up. The people there are mostly really kind. They are always in for some chit-chat.

In regional foods, try a breakfast(as before mentioned) it contains bacon, sausage,eggs, tomato, mushroom, baked beans and fried fish! But it's jummy.

And don't worry, no MCD or KFC in that area, not even a subway , they do have a Tesco...

If you need to know more, you ask me.