The Legend of Nessie

The Legend of Nessie

Introduction Is the Loch Ness Monster a myth or a legend? People have described seeing something strange emerging from the dark waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. They describe an animal similar to the descriptions of ancient dragons or sea serpents. The monster has a dark body, long neck, sheep-like head, and two or more humps on its back. The monster, called Nessie, is named after the loch, or lake, in which it lives.

Strange creatures of the sea are found in many legends, myths, and stories. Scottish myths have been passed down about a water spirit, called a kelpie, that looks like a horse. When sailors first started sailing beyond the sight of land, they talked about seeing monsters at sea. Some of those monsters were described as being so large that they could swallow a ship! According to legend, these huge, horrible beasts guarded treasure at the bottom of the sea. Could Nessie be one of these monsters of myth or legend?

The Loch Called Ness The body of water that is rumored to be home to the legendary Loch Ness Monster is large. In fact, it's the largest body of fresh water in the British Isles. Loch Ness is 24 miles (39 km) long, only 1 mile (1. 6 km) wide, and over 800 feet (244 m) deep in some places. It's much deeper than the seas that surround the British Isles. Loch Ness was formed during the last ice age. At that time, the land now called Scotland split in two, and earthquakes made a trench. Then glaciers covered that trench until about 12, 000 years ago. When the ice melted, it filled the trench with water to form a loch.

Loch Ness's water is very cold. Peat, a layer of dead plant material, is thick in the water of Loch Ness. The peat allows light to travel only as deep as a few yards. As a result, sunlight can't warm the water, making it too cold for people to swim in. The top 100 feet(30. 5 m) warms up to 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12C) in the summer. The rest stays at 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6C) all year round. Because of this, most life in the loch, such as fish and seals, stays close to the surface.

Monster Sightings For over 1, 400 years, curious people have taken Nessie sightings seriously. Scientists have even used NASA's computers, along with underwater cameras and other equipment, to test the loch. But long before this testing began in the 1970s, other sources saw the “ monster" in the loch. The first recorded sighting was in Ad 565 by an Irish missionary named Saint Columba. The report says he asked his servant to swim across the loch to get a boat. A creature came to the surface, roared, and opened its mouth. Columba commanded it to go back, be quiet, and not touch the man. It did, and every sighting since then has been quiet and peaceful.