That Loch Ness Phenomenon Again
by - 17:46 on 19 September 2007
We were just dawdling down the east side of Loch Ness (that’s the side with less traffic but the road is narrower), when, would you believe it, there was a disturbance in the water that could (only?) have been caused by the famous monster.
So I leapt out, fumbled for the camera and the long lens and just managed to snap a few pictures. Of course, it isn’t actually conclusive. But it’s as good as anything that shows a genuine event and that hasn’t been tampered with before publication. (In that sense it’s like the Scottish Bigfoot or 'Macyeti' picturesof which I’m irrationally proud.)
Anyway, I waved a greeting and thanked her for her continued support for Scottish tourism. I also shouted that I had also seen the movie ‘The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep’ that the national tourist board had supported. She smiled modestly, and above the sound of splashing, I thought I heard her say something about ‘Can’t wait for this place to be a World Heritage Site as well.’ Then, with a wave of her flipper (or leg end of the deep. Ho ho), the disturbance subsided.
After that, I woke up. No, seriously, it was a still, warm day – classic monster-spotting conditions, in fact. I’m only sorry I missed the head and the flippers and only ended up with the, uhmm, humps, well, waves, really. I assume I was photographing the boat wake of the afternoon trip from Jacobite Cruises.
www.jacobite.co.uk In fact, one of their fleet was at that moment about ten minutes further up the loch. Given that plenty of people must take the trip because they have heard of Loch Ness and its monster phenomenon, it does seem to be especially apt that the passage of the boat actually creates a phenomenon that could be mistaken for the beastie in the first place. I presume here that it is the meeting of long-lasting wakes from two boats that creates the series of peaks and troughs in the otherwise flat calm loch.
I’d nominate the Loch Ness Monster for the single most successful publicity stunt ever promoted in Scotland. Whatever would we do without our kelpie of commerce? *adgoeshere*
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