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Did people answer the call for monster hunters at the largest organized Nessie hunt in 50 years? You betcha. Hundreds of people of all ages showed up at Loch Ness on August 26 and 27 to participate. Thousands more participated via streaming. It was an international affair, too, drawing people from around the world.
As you might imagine, the media also made sure to attend. NBC sent a couple of correspondents to cover The Quest, as the event was called. They perhaps summed up the weekend’s purpose and intentions best:
Even with all the machines and added manpower, the gathering at Loch Ness was as much about reviving old lore as settling hard science. Organizers said they planned the weekend to excite interest in the legend among a new generation of Nessie hunters.
Nessie hunters didn’t find conclusive proof of the Loch Ness Monster’s existence, but they did find something.
What the Nessie Hunt Cruise Found
NBC spoke with Alistair Matheson, a skipper on one of the boats that took people out on the loch in search of Nessie. Armed with sonar, they found “a perfect outline of a huge Nessie-shaped monster.”
Sadly, it was prop used in a movie about the monster. It now dwells “abandoned at the bottom of the lake.”
No Plesiosaur DNA in Loch Ness
In 2019, scientists conducted a DNA study of the waters of Loch Ness. As reported in the BBC, they “tried to catalogue [sic] all living species in the loch by extracting DNA from water samples.” After analyzing the results, they “ruled out the presence of large animals said to be behind reports of a monster.”
I was among those who were bummed about that. I figured eventually someone would prove Nessie was a non-extinct plesiosaur or a relative thereof.
But Professor Neil Gemmell, one of the geneticists in the study, said, “We can’t find any evidence of a creature that’s remotely related to that in our environmental-DNA sequence data.”
There was also no DNA evidence to support a shark lurked in the loch either, as some have also suggested might be the case. Nor was there any catfish DNA. However, Prof. Gemmell said they did find “a very significant amount of eel DNA.”
Could Nessie be a giant eel? Prof. Gemmell couldn’t rule it out. “…our data doesn’t reveal their size, but the sheer quantity of the material says that we can’t discount the possibility that there may be giant eels in Loch Ness.”
Fresh Water Plesiosaur Fossil Finds
But then, just a few years later, in 2022, news broke about a shocking fossil find. The New York Times explained it “tantalized” Loch Ness Monster fans —especially those who clung to the hope that maybe Nessie really could be a plesiosaur.
Many scientists dismissed the idea that Nessie might be a plesiosaur because Loch Ness is a freshwater lake. Plesiosaurs lived in seawater.
However, researchers from Britain and Morocco found evidence of plesiosaur fossils in what was once a freshwater river system in a region currently known as the Sahara.
So, yeah, that gave Nessie hunters, believers, and enthusiasts hope. One might not live in the loch now, but perhaps one had once upon a time.
However, by now, you’d think they’d have found conclusive evidence to support that. No Nessie parts have ever been found, bones or otherwise. It’s also surprising they haven’t caught conclusive digital evidence with all the cameras and increasingly sophisticated technology we have nowadays.
The Legend Lives On
Instead, we’re still left with nothing more than stories of sightings.
And for some, that’s enough, like American cryptozoologist Ken Gerhard, who showed up to the Nessie hunt. NBC quoted him as saying that he’s “90% convinced she exists,” even though he’s never had a sighting himself. Instead, he’s relying on “over a thousand good sightings that are very consistent” to make his determination.
And that’s why the legend endures. We want to believe in her existence. It keeps the myth alive. Plus, it creates a good excuse for people to come together every once in a while.
Check-In
Do you think Nessie is a hoax or just a very elusive creature?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’m not going to call all those sighting witnesses liars. Not a hoax! But maybe a misidentified creature? A giant eel works for me. Or a huge sturgeon. Or a relative of one of those.
Once again you remind me the world is layered with shades of gray, Vera. It isn’t a matter that some of the more credible witnesses are liars, is it? It could just be a misidentification as you said. Thank you for always sharing your reasonable side like you do!
I’m thinking they went about this the wrong way by having a bunch of people show up all over the loch, making all sorts of noise. What are the odds they scared whatever they were looking for completely out of range, either in caves or possibly through underwater tunnels out to sea? I keep thinking about that footage the kayakers caught with a drone on Loch Ness, which was featured on Paranormal Caught on Camera. They were participating in some sort of kayaking marathon/challenge and had stopped for the evening to make camp. One of them sent up a drone and caught a very interesting shadow mere feet or so from the shore, as though it had followed them there out of curiosity. And it looked like a Plesiosaur’s shape: long neck, small head, four flippers.
I’m fine with it being an ongoing and enduring mystery…it sounds like people have a lot of fun believing in, and searching for, the Loch Ness Monster. And I think we can all use a little magical mystery in our lives, so…keep believing in Nessie. (Whether the creature is real or not sometimes seems beside the point, ya know?)
EXCELLENT point, Maria!!! Way too many people for any sort of legitimate search. I’ll have to find that footage you’re talking about though. That sounds intriguing. And very good point that maybe it went into hiding where they couldn’t see or hear it. Especially with all the people around.
AGREED! Sometimes we just need to have a little fun in believing in something. Like Santa. It keeps the magic alive.