Cryptid 001D Nessie
A.K.A. Loch Ness Monster

Location: The mirky waters of Loch Ness in Scotland
Type: Lake Serpent

Evidence: Countless Sightings and eyewitness reports

Possible Population size: Although most calim Nessie is a single creature, it is possible there are more than one.

My thoughts and theories:
"Many a man has been hanged on less evidence than there is for the Loch Ness Monster."
-G.K. Chesterton

Running for over 25-miles along the Great Glen Fault, with a reported maximum depth of 812-feet, Loch Ness is the single largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. This fact would seem to indicate that this particular body of water may be uniquely suited to harbor a beast of equally immense proportions... and, of course, it does.
Nessie (as the creature is affectionately known) has been described as everything from a giant, worm-like, invertebrate (TULLIMONSTRUM) to a long necked seal - from a bizarre descendent of the Jurassic plesiosaur (which had somehow miraculously adapted its marine reptilian system to a cold, freshwater environment) to an etheral creature that is the supposed byproduct of nefarious black arts practitioners, there is no shortage of theories regarding this creature's ostensible heritage.
Nor does there seem to be any deficit in the evidence accumulated regarding the animal's existence. There are dozens of video and film clips, scores of pictographs, hundreds of photographs, and literally thousands of eyewitness reports - all of which claim to have (in some fashion) captured a piece of this mysterious monster. These reports have inspired an untold amount of televisied documentaries and clubs, which have succeeded in introducing whole new generations to this enduring mystery.
One of the earliest recorded encounters with this creature harkens back to August 22, 565 A.D. While making a pilgrimage through Scotland, the legendary Christian missionary, St. Columba, came across a native Pict funeral on the shores of Loch Ness. When the missionary inquired how the individual had perished, he was told that the man had fallen victim to a vicious aquatic predator known as the "Niseag", which lived beneath the waves in the loch. As translated from the original, Latin text:
"(The) unfortunate man, who, according to the account of those who were burying him, was a short time before seized, as he was swimming, and bitten most severely by a monster that lived in the water; his wretched body was, though too late, taken out with a hook, by those who came to his assistance in a boat."
Reports of the monster died down for over a millennia (with the exception of a handful of purported KELPIE sightings, particularly in 1771 and 1889), but the tale once again garnered mass attention on April 14, 1933, when a Scottish couple, Mr. and Mrs. Mackay, while driving down the newly constructed, loch-side road near Abriachan, saw something which they would never forget.
The Mackay's, who owned an Inn at Drumnadriot, were heading home from Inverness when a strange creature suddenly plunged into the water near their vehicle. Mr. Mackay claimed that the animal was between 12 and 15-feet in length.
Later on, a photograph would emerge, which would arguably yield the most famous image in cryptozoological history. The "Surgeon's Photo" would be the subject of intense debate for over seven decades. Even though it is now regarded by the vast majority of fortean researchers as a hoax perpetrated by shamed big game hunter, Maramduke Wetherell and his brother Ian - who were somehow able to convince Dr. Wilson (a renowned prankster) that pawning off their photo of a plastic and balsa wood monster as the real thing would all be in good fun - it still must be credited with igniting the spark of interest which was for centuries due this astounding animal.
Closing statement: Across every continent, young and old alike are so enamored by the prospect of a large, aquatic animal lurking in the loch, that even in these times of strife and terror, if something truly unique were confirmed to live in the depths of Loch Ness, would not all eyes shift from the tragedies which surround us to focus on a relatively small body of water tucked away in Northern Scotland? Thus is the power of "Nessie". This ancient Highland legend has been adopted by the world, and no one can deny that Nessie belongs to everyone now...
She is the last great mystery remaining in the so-called civilized World. She keeps childrens' eyes alight with wonder, dreamers' feet firmly unglued from the ground, and - perhaps most importantly - she reminds good men that there are still some adventures worth pursuing in this ever-shrinking (and far too cynical) world.
File End.
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