Split Thread Is Nessie a shark?

[Gilbert Syndrome]

I don't believe any of those Great White sightings have been confirmed, however, have they? Until one can be confirmed, I'm going to lean more towards mistaken identity involving mako, porbeagle or basking sharks. Porbeagle and mako are in the same family as white sharks, and fleeting glances could easily lead to false identification.

No, they've certainly not been confirmed, although there's been a few which have been thought to be genuine, but there's not a whole lot that can be done without solid proof.

There's certainly room for mistaken identity, but I don't doubt that White's could very likely be visiting these shores during the Summer, as it's not too far away from the Mediterranean, and there's plenty of seals and such for them to feed on.

Here's a good article concerning the whole thing: https://www.google.co.uk/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=QquiWPHPHcf38AeupKeIBA#safe=off&q=great+whites+in+uk

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

So, sharks should come via a densely trafficked river or canal going through inhabited areas, but never ever be observed till they are out in the huge and relatively desolate Loch Ness?

Mmm, I think not.

Hans

But who says they're not being observed until they are in the loch? Nobody is really even saying that sharks are in the loch. It's merely one of many theories, and it's certainly not a new theory at all, it's been bandied about by scientists for years now. One thing I'd say, though, is that the idea of sharks using the loch is most definitely a plausible one, but that doesn't have much of a bearing on the "Nessie is a shark," thing for me. Nessie probably is a shark, some of the time...as well as being a boat, a wake, a seal...etc etc. Nessie isn't any one thing.

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

Personally, coming from Scotland, I'm pretty convinced Nessie is the result of 4 or 5 drams of The Balvenie, depending on your tolerance for alcohol.

I wouldn't doubt it! lol.

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

And an inedible one as well, the flesh being highly toxic. There's some way of treating it by drying, which I recall Jeremy Wade tasting. He didn't seem to like it much.

Yeah, is that the Lutefisk? I think I remember Adam Richman trying it once, too. Definitely looks horrendous! I don't even like cod...

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

It's interesting, this tendency to pigeonhole the Loch Ness Monster as this or that. For some, Nessie is a plesiosaur, end of discussion. Others attempt more relatively reasonable explanations (e.g., long-necked seals, sharks, sturgeon, eels), but ultimately they are still pigeonholing (The Loch Ness Monster is X and not Y or Z).

Ronald Binns, in his book The Loch Ness Mystery Solved, demonstrated to my satisfaction that Nessie is many things; outright hoaxes, misidentified waves/animals/flotsam, mirages, exaggerations, folklore, shoddy research, etc. What it is almost certainly not is some prehistoric marine reptile, paranormal manifestation or heretofore undiscovered animal.

The 1911 edition of The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines a monster as an "imaginary animal composed of incongruous elements". For example a griffin can be considered a monster in that it is part eagle and part lion.

In that sense of the word, believers in Nessie are correct (albeit inadvertently) that Loch Ness truly is inhabited by a "monster". It's just that the "monster" in question is part otter, part boat wake, part toy submarine...

I tend to agree. Nessie has and does change over the years, which is consistent with it being a creature of myth, as opposed to reality. Still, it's a nice little tale, fitting for such a mystical place as Loch Ness.

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

Well that is true to the extent than humans "came from the sea" but that's about all. Sightings of Nessie comes from people, and a lot of people who have vested interests in the sightings...

Plus from the descriptions of sightings it would be a bloody gigantic shark, which I think might have been spotted swimming from the sea to the loch...

I'm not sure what you mean by that, though. The idea of it coming in from the sea is a logical one, as many creatures have been known to swim into the loch via the canal from the sea. If we're to assume that it was a shark, then it's highly unlikely to be actually residing in the loch.

Sightings are always flawed, much like descriptions of UFO's and other cryptids, the sizes are largely guessed at and are likely way off the mark. Plus, I don't get why everyone is assuming that a shark would be responsible for every sighting. Nobody has ever suggested that any one creature or thing is responsible for 100% of Nessie sightings. As I've mentioned a few times, I personally don't think any one thing is responsible. The sheer variation in size, shape, colour etc of these sightings suggests that people are just seeing whatever they fancy, and labeling it "Nessie."

The theory is that sharks may be a possible candidate for some sightings, but it's highly doubtful that they're the actual root cause of the legend. Nessie is merely a fitting label for anything weird someone may see and attempt to explain.

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

Has the "large eel" theory ever been debunked? It seems somewhat plausible to me that some of the accounts could be attributed to large eels. Obviously not the crossing the road account unless it was a very ambitious eel.

It's not been debunked, and I don't doubt that eels are likely a good candidate for many such sightings. One doing the rounds lately is that Nessie is a giant salamander!

Again, though, Nessie is far more likely to be a combination of many things, all feeding the legend.

 

[TripleScorp]

Call me easy to please, but I think I'd be nearly as thrilled to see a 10 meter salamander as a plesiosaur!

 

[Gilbert Syndrome]

Call me easy to please, but I think I'd be nearly as thrilled to see a 10 meter salamander as a plesiosaur!

I'd agree with that! And while Chinese Giant Salamanders can grow to a fairly impressive size, none have ever been found that would be in line with the "larger" Nessie sightings some people claim to have witnessed.