When I’m speaking at Cryptozoology-themed conferences, I’m often asked if there is any way to solve the mystery of what the Loch Ness Monsters are. Or what they might be. Flesh and blood creatures, paranormal things, or something in between, they have successfully eluded us. Most photos that purport to show the beasts are ambiguous. A giant corpse of an unknown animal has never washed upon on the shores. In other words, we’ve failed – so far – in our attempts to answer the mystery. Of course, this isn’t due to a lack of energy or enthusiasm on the part of monster-hunters. It’s because of Loch Ness itself. I’ll explain what I mean by that. Loch Ness is a very large body of water. It’s around 22.5 miles in length. It’s roughly 1.7 miles at its widest. And, at its deepest its, it’s 744 feet deep. Not only that, there’s the matter of the color of the water. As The Travel note: “When looking at Loch Ness’s water, you’ll notice that it resembles the ocean’s. It’s wide and dark blue. When looking at other lakes, they vary in color but Ness’s is unique, thanks to something known as ‘peat.’ Peat particles (or turf) accumulates from organic matter and is found quite frequently in Ireland and Scotland. However, due to the peat particles falling in the lake, it makes it darker than others. If you dove into Loch Ness, Telegraph explains you’d only be able to see no more than four inches deep.”
Add all of the above together and it’s no wonder that Nessie-seekers haven’t been able to get a definitive answer to the riddle of the monsters. So, does that mean we’re destined never to know the truth? Not necessarily. In fact, there is a way that the answers could be found. It just requires a bit if ingenuity. And, it also requires us to take a trip to another Scottish lake with a monster tradition attached to it. The body of water is Loch Morar and the beast is (or the beasts are) Morag. Lake Lubbers say of the loch: “The deepest loch in the western Highlands of Scotland is beautiful Loch Morar. Gouged from the rock by glaciers, this water body reaches the extreme depth of 1,017 feet – deeper than most of the seabed off Scotland’s west coast. This rugged area has been called ‘the highlands of the Highlands.’ The steep-sided loch is surrounded by some of the Highland’s highest peaks, such as Ben Nevis 30 miles to the southwest. As ‘hill-walking’ is a popular activity in the Highlands, Loch Morar receives plenty of holiday-makers, often on their way to conquer yet another peak.”
Loch Morar
There’s something else, too. Unlike the water at Loch Ness, the water at Loch Morar is clear. Yes, clear. That’s right: the big stumbling block at Loch Ness is absent at Loch Morar. And, there have been some very good sightings of strange creatures at the loch. The BBC say: “Early accounts of the Loch Ness Monster’s lesser-known cousin have been uncovered by researchers. Morag is a mysterious creature said to inhabit the depths of Loch Morar, in the Lochaber area of the Highlands…More recent sightings have depicted Morag – whose home is only about 70 miles from Loch Ness – as a humped serpent-like creature similar to the more famous Nessie. The first recorded sighting of Morag was in 1887, while in 1948 nine people in a boat claimed to have seen a 20ft-long creature in the loch. In 1969, two men claimed to have accidentally hit the creature in their boat. Morag is said to have disappeared after one of the men hit it with an oar while his companion opened fire with a rifle.”
Now, it’s almost certainly the case that the Morags and the Nessies are one and the same. As the BBC note, the distance between the two lochs is only seventy miles. It would be stretching credibility to believe there are two or more unknown types of animals in the lochs of Scotland. But, there’s something else: unlike Loch Ness (that is 22.5 miles long), Loch Morar is only 11.7 miles long. Add that small length to that clear water that dominates Loch Morar, and there’s a far better of finding one of the Morags/Nessies. So, in conclusion, my view is that after all the failures to solve the mystery of these beasts, Nessie-hunters should leave Loch Ness for a while and, instead, spend some quality time at Loch Morar. It’s half the length of Loch Ness, making it easier to navigate the loch. There’s none of that cloudy, murky water that causes such problems. And you can bet that if proof of monsters is found in Loch Morar, then we’ll have the answers to the Nessies, too.
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