THE STORY OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER

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Rick Archer's Note:  This article takes a look at the enduring Loch Ness mystery.  I became intrigued with the story when Marla and I visited Loch Ness on our Oslo 2010 cruise. 

 

I soon learned that Loch Ness has an odd shape. It is 22 miles long and one mile wide.  I also learned that "Loch" is Scottish for 'lake'.  So I have a question for you.  Six of the names below are well-known lakes in Scotland, but one is made up.  Which one of the following lake names listed below is a fake name? 

1. Loch Lomond

2. Loch Oich

3. Loch Glen

4. Loch Morar

5. Loch Lochy

6. Loch Dochfour

7. Loch Linnhe

Now before I answer the question, I have another question for the Reader.  Have you ever heard of any of these lakes?  

Perhaps you have heard of Loch Lomond.  After all, it is the largest lake in Scotland.  But more likely you have never heard of any of them.  In fact, I am sure the Reader will readily admit the only lake in Scotland you have ever heard of is Loch Ness.  And we all know why that is. 

 

Nessie is worth a small fortune to the Scottish tourism industry.  Specifically, it is of great value to the economies of Inverness (Gaelic for "mouth of the river Ness") and the Highlands.  In fact, one can argue the legend of the Loch Ness Monster is by far the most profitable 'rumor' in recorded history.  For example, why on earth would our cruise ship stop near this obscure place otherwise?
 

Although Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish lake by surface area after Loch Lomond, due to its great depth, Loch Ness is the largest lake by volume.  Having seen it, I can attest Loch Ness is a vast lake indeed.  My pictures of the lake cannot begin to do justice to its immense size. 

 

On the other hand, compare Loch Ness and its surface area of 22 square miles to Lake Erie and its 9,910 square miles. Mind you, Erie is the smallest Great Lake.  In other words, Loch Ness is big, but it isn't that big.

By the way, "Loch Glen" is the fake name.  Did you guess it?  Hey, cheer up. I would not have gotten it right either.  I am simply making the point that without the monster, no one outside of Glasgow or Edinburgh would have ever heard of Loch Ness.  The monster is responsible for its fame.

The famous 1934 picture that started all the fuss
 

Four of the lakes listed - Loch Lochy, Loch Oich, Loch Dochfour, Loch Ness - are part of the Great Glen.  The Great Glen is series of rivers and lakes that follow a large geological fault line known as the Great Glen Fault. 

Basically the Great Glen is an enormous gash in the earth that splits the Scottish Highlands into two parts.  The Great Glen forms a chain of rivers, canals and lakes that connect the North Sea all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. This long waterway is known as the Caledonian Canal.  Take a look at the map and try to guess how long the canal is.  I bet you will be surprised at the answer.  I know I was.

Completed in 1822, the Canal bisects the Scottish Highlands into the Grampian Mountains to the southeast and the Northwest Highlands to the northwest.  This giant gash in the earth is so deep that it divides Scotland in two.  In a way, the entire area known as the Northwest Highlands is an "island" of sorts.

The Glen is a natural travelling route in the Highlands of Scotland, which is used by both the Caledonian Canal and the shoreline road A82.  Both arteries link the city of Inverness on the northeast coast with Fort William on the west coast. 

So how long is canal?  60 miles. 

The four lochs comprise 40 of the 60 mile length. Then there are 20 miles of man-made canals that connect the lakes.  However, if you add Loch Linnhe just south of Fort William, then the distance becomes closer to 90 miles.  And when you add in the large Moray Firth at Inverness, the combined total reaches 130 miles.

Are there river cruises on the Caledonian Canal? The answer is yes. Since the canal cuts completely through Scotland’s interior, a boat can cross the entire nation by water (hint - this makes for an excellent trivia question).

Stretching from Inverness to Fort William, this unique waterway offers visitors an unending path of spectacular scenery.  There are riverboats that take tourists on a fascinating voyage through the legendary lochs and the giant mountains looming above complete with castles and moors. 

I knew you were going to ask - The answer is "yes, there are locks on the lochs".  In addition to the 4 lochs, there are 29 locks, 4 aqueducts and 10 bridges in the course of the canal.  In a manner similar to the Panama Canal, there are locks at both end. There are eight locks at Neptune's Staircase in Banavie and Dochgarroch Lock near Inverness at the other end.

Now it is true that lots of people claim to see something.  However, with the increased frequency of cell phone cameras, one would assume there should be plenty of pictures by now... but there are practically none.

Even if the hypothetical creature were not an air breather, then there's the problem of food supply.  Assuming the monster exists, it would have to eat hundreds of times the weight of all available life in the lake just to survive. Unfortunately, Loch Ness has hardly any fish larger than your average thumb.  That is because there is little for fish to eat!  Since the lake is too deep for sunlight to penetrate to the lakebed, little to no vegetation grows in it.  If the lake can't sustain large fish, how would it sustain a plesiosaur?
 

Finally, how exactly would the monster reproduce over all these centuries?  One would assume a breeding population of giant underwater monsters would consist of several monsters for mating purposes, not just one. 

The more one thinks about it, the more implausible the legend becomes.  But after all those eyewitness sightings, it becomes very difficult to not have second thoughts.  One is forced to wonder, "What could it be?"

According to Adomnán, the Irish monk Saint Columba was staying in Scotland, the land of the Picts, with his Irish companions when he came across the locals burying a man by the River Ness. They explained that the man had been swimming the river when he was attacked by a "water beast" that had mauled him and dragged him under.

 

They tried to rescue him in a boat, but were able only to drag up his corpse. Hearing this, Columba stunned the Picts by sending his follower Luigne moccu Min to swim across the river.  Immediately the beast came after him, but Columba made the sign of the Cross and commanded: "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once!"

The beast immediately halted as if it had been "pulled back with ropes" and fled in terror.  Startled by the spectacle of the beast cowering before Columba's confident command, both Columba's men and the pagan Picts praised God for the miracle.

April 1933 - Event 1: Aldie Mackay

On April 14, 1933, Mr and Mrs John Mackay, proprietors of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, were returning home from a trip to Inverness. It was about 3 pm when Mrs Mackay pointed to the lake and said, "What's that, John?"

The water in the middle of Loch Ness was in a state of commotion. At first Aldie Mackay thought it was two ducks fighting, but then she realized there was no way a duck battle could cause a disturbance so widespread.

As her husband slowed down, the two of them watched incredulously as a creature swam towards the Aldourie pier on the opposite side of the lake.

For a brief moment they glimpsed two black humps which rose and fell in an undulating fashion. The creature then suddenly sank beneath the water and did not reappear.

The Mackays stared at each other incredulously.  Shaking their heads in disbelief, they had a hard time accepting what they had just seen.  

The Mackays made no attempt to publicize their story.

However, gossip about the sighting reached Alex Campbell, a young water bailiff (policeman).  Campbell was understandably very curious.  Since he happened to be a local correspondent for the Inverness Courier, he called upon the Mackays who agreed to share their tale.

The story appeared in the paper two weeks later.  The editor is said to have commented, "If it's as big as they say it is, it's not a creature, it's a monster!"

And that is how the Loch Ness Monster acquired its name.
 

July 1933 - Event 2: George Spicer

On a hot summer afternoon, July 22, 1933, Mr and Mrs George Spicer were in the Loch Ness area on their way back to London after a holiday in the Highlands. Around 4 pm they were driving along the Loch Ness Lakeshore Road when they spotted a huge, black long-necked creature that stretched across the road.

They stopped the car and watched from 200 yards away.  To their surprise, they realized this massive object was in motion. They gasped when they realized they were looking at a long neck. This was soon followed by a grey body about five feet high. It moved across the road in jerks.

On 4 August 1933, the Inverness Courier published the assertion of a London man, George Spicer, that he and his wife had seen 'a most extraordinary form of animal' cross the road in front of their car.

After reading the Courier report, Commander Rupert Gould, a man researching the Loch Ness Monster, asked to interview them as well. Gould's account is considered the most thorough.

George Spicer offered vivid details to Gould.  "It was horrible, an abomination!"  

He described it as a "huge snail with a long neck, but with no tail. It was the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life."  

The creature stood about 4 feet high and was 25 feet long.  It had a long narrow neck that slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the width of the road (about 10-12 feet wide); the neck had a number of undulations in it.

Because Spicer and his wife were on a slope, they could not see whether it had legs or not. By the time their car had reached the top of the slope, it had vanished into the undergrowth opposite.

Spicer said the animal trundled across the road toward the Loch carrying "an animal" in its mouth.  It was later suggested to be perhaps a dead sheep.

Gould said when he first heard of this newest sighting he was dubious, but after speaking with the Spicers at their London home, he had no doubt they were telling the truth. He described them as still shaken and upset. He also noted that as "Londoners", they had no knowledge of the local legend.

(Footnote: Rupert T Gould was a lieutenant commander in the British Royal Navy.  He was taken by George Spicer's earnestness in relating this strange story; Spicer's sincerity struck a chord in him.  Thanks in large part to his meeting with George Spicer, Gould would take a lifelong interest in the Loch Ness Mystery.  Gould became one of the first to systematically investigate the Loch Ness Monster.  After the Spicer talk, Gould set off from Inverness on a motorcycle on 14 November, 1938, and circled the Loch twice over a period of days (a round trip was close to 50 miles). He interviewed as many witnesses as possible, including the Spicers.  He investigated various theories for the sightings, such as the idea that the monster was a prehistoric creature, or perhaps a normal sea animal that had swum into the loch by accident. The book which resulted from his travels is highly detailed and includes reports on all known sightings, including some that occurred prior to 1933. It is copiously illustrated; all three of the photographs then believed to be of the monster are included, in addition to numerous sketches based on eyewitness accounts. Gould put all his notes together and transcribed the first major work on the phenomenon, entitled The Loch Ness Monster and Others, a 1934 collection of several eyewitness accounts.

The book proved to be a big hit.  After his book was published, Gould's interviews with people like Arthur Grant and George Spicer became the definitive lore to be repeated over generations.  Consequently Gould became the de facto spokesman on the subject. He was a regular contributor to radio shows and newspaper articles any time the subject of the Monster came up.

Gould’s conclusion was that there was a creature living in Loch Ness.  He is remembered as one of the earliest and most thorough of the Loch Ness investigators.  We all have him to thank for the preservation of so much early information relating to the creature and the many people who saw whatever it is they saw.)
 

August 1933 - Event 3: Arthur Grant

In August 1933, a motorcyclist named Arthur Grant claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching Abriachan on the northeastern shore around 1 am on a moonlit night.

Grant claimed that he saw a small head attached to a long neck, and that the creature saw him and crossed the road back into the loch. A veterinary student, he described it as a hybrid between a seal and a plesiosaur. Grant said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but only saw ripples.

December 1933 - Event 4:
Hugh Gray's Photograph

Hugh Gray is well known in Loch Ness Monster circles as the man who took the first photograph of the Loch Ness Monster.  The event took place around noon on November 12, 1933, near the mouth of the Foyers River (see map)

The Daily Record printed his picture as well as Mr. Gray's account.

"Four Sundays ago after church I went for my usual walk near where the Foyers river enters the Loch.  The Loch was like a mill pond and the sun shining brightly. An object of considerable dimensions rose out of the water not very far from where I was.

I immediately got my camera ready and snapped the object which was two feet above the surface of the water. I did not see any head, for what I took to be the front parts were under the water, but there was considerable movement from what seemed to be the tail, the part furthest from me.

The object only appeared for a few minutes then sank out of sight."

Hugh Gray's picture.
Hmm.  What exactly are we looking at here?  The Blob?
 

Born in Yorkshire up in the northern part of England, Duke Wetherell spent much of his 20s and 30s overseas in Africa.  First Wetherell was a policeman.  Then he was an actor in the 1917 silent-film classic Rose of Rhodesia (we've all seen that one, right?). There are even suggestions that Wetherell was once the boyfriend of Labotsibeni, the most famous African queen in the world.

After his acting career tailed off, Wetherell morphed into a big-game hunter and safari leader. Later in the 1930s, he became a writer, director, and producer back in England.  Or so he says.

If a movie is ever made about the story behind the Loch Ness Monster furor, Duke Wetherell has to be the lead role for sure.  One can easily visualize the hype:

"This is the incredible story of an cop turned actor turned big game hunter turned monster hunter.  Doc Savage and Indiana Jones, meet Marmaduke Wetherell... khaki shirt, bushy beard, monkey perched on shoulder, wide brimmed hat, maniacal stare, monster beware!"

For a man who led a wild and colorful life, Wetherell would become most famous for permanently etching the Loch Ness Monster legend deep into the hearts and minds of the entire world. 

Who better to track down an elusive dinosaur than our brave hero, Marmaduke Wetherell, the infamous big game hunter from the deadly jungles of Africa?

Wetherell seemed very confident.  He even chartered a motor vessel called the Penguin in case it became necessary to pursue the monster across the loch.  Wetherell said he wasn't going to just photograph the beast, he would even try to capture it if the opportunity presented itself.

Wetherell's next move was to enlist the help of young Arthur Grant, the veterinary student who had nearly run into the monster while riding his motorbike several months back.  Wetherell asked Grant to show him the spot where the creature had been sitting in the road near Abriachan. 

After just 48 hours of searching, Wetherell found fresh footprints on the loch's beach of a large, four-toed animal. Based on the stride between these newly laid footprints, this suggested to his experienced stalker's eye "a very powerful soft-footed animal about 20 feet long."  Wetherell added that this track was less than a few hours old.

Even better, thanks to Wetherell's foresight to bring a photographer along, his friend Pauli was Johnny on the spot to immortalize the exact moment that Wetherell discovered giant footprints in the sandy dirt.

That was fast!  People throughout the Loch Ness community were impressed at how quickly Wetherell had made progress.  Was it just good fortune or was it Wetherell's great skill as a big game hunter which enabled him to discover those rather large footprints nearby?  Whatever the answer, his skill was simply amazing. 

Calm down?  As for the Daily Mail, it wasn't going to wait. Far from it!  Heck, their very own guy had broken the Monster story wide open with his footprint discovery. 

Marmaduke Wetherell had been hired in December 1933 in part due to his boast that he could produce fast results.  Now that the big game hunter had delivered, they weren't going to sit on the scoop of the century for nothing!

Pictured is the Daily Mail's famous headline.  Note the date on the paper is December 21, 1933.  This was the issue where the Daily Mail broke the news of Wetherell's amazing discovery.  The world was on fire with Monster Fever.

All that was left now was the wait for the upcoming Museum announcement.  That seemed a certainty.  Surely the experts would confirm the footprint conclusively proved the existence of a dinosaur-like amphibian living in the Loch Ness waters.  The excitement was unbearable.

It took ten days, but finally the suspense was over. The British Museum said it was ready with an announcement.

A breathless army of reporters rushed over to report the big news.  The Museum said their analysis had shown that the footprints were entirely consistent with that of a somewhat shriveled hippopotamus foot.

Hippopotamus?  What exactly was a hippopotamus footprint doing next to the spot where Arthur Grant had spotted the monster?  There had been 27 sightings of the Monster in 1933 and not one of them suggested a hippo.

Many theories abounded about the source of this foot and all sorts of explanations were provided.  These suggestions ranged from a local person’s umbrella stand to the possibility that a circus had passed by and allowed a real hippo to go for a swim. 

The circus theory claimed that over the years many traveling circuses had used the road that runs parallel to the loch. They theorized that larger animals such as hippos and elephants were set free to cool off and wash in the waters of the loch.  In fact, perhaps the alleged serpent was in reality just your average elephant going for a swim, resulting in what looked like some sort of monster from a distance.

It wasn't difficult to poke holes in this theory.  For one thing, what sort of African-born hippo or elephant wants to "cool off" in the icy Loch in December?  The poor animal would surely either freeze to death or at the minimum get sick. 

And what circus lets its valuable elephants swim free in the Loch?  What if Babar doesn't want to return?  Then what?  Just how exactly does one coax a giant elephant into coming back on shore?  Play bagpipes? 

These circus theories were so preposterous that almost overnight the entire planet lost its patience with the monster stories.  Most people thought there was a much better explanation... someone had obviously planted that mysterious footprint and that person was probably Marmaduke Wetherell!

Every newspaper in Great Britain had a field day with that one... except the London Daily Mail of course.  The editors there didn't see any humor at all.

Wetherell explained to the Daily Mail that he himself had been hoaxed by the fake hippo print.  Nonsense. The paper didn't believe a word he said.  Now that Wetherell had made himself as well as the Daily Mail the laughing stock of the nation, the Daily Mail promptly sacked the amazing big game hunter... and apparently they weren't delicate about it either.   

Embarrassed and humiliated, Wetherell became bitter over his treatment by the paper.  He slunk back to Twickenham a bitter and beaten man.

Marmaduke and the Daily Mail weren't the only ones crimson-faced with shame.  The entire Inverness area had become the butt of the joke for the whole world. It wasn't easy, but most people had been willing to keep a straight face when Hugh Gray's picture of the blob was first published.

However, the sheer absurdity of the circus explanation pushed everyone completely over the edge. In the blink of an eyelash, the farce surrounding the fake hippo footprint switched the Monster story from serious business to great mirth.  People began to giggle.

Soon the outburst of hilarity was absolutely seismic. It had taken the work of only one idiot like Wetherell to change the entire world's perspective from excitement and fascination to ridicule.  Once the monster rumor was seen in this new and far less flattering light, the Inverness area was taken to task for trying to dupe the world with their ridiculous fish tale.

Cartoons mocking the monster legend began to appear in newspapers around the world.  Everyone had a good laugh and pretty soon the story completely vanished from the papers. 

Monster Fever was done with and put to rest.  Or so they thought...

1934 - The Surgeon's Photo

The furor had barely died down when suddenly the Loch Ness Monster came roaring back to life. Only four short months had passed since the footprint scandal when a new development shocked the nation.

On April 21, 1934, the iconic picture of the monster first appeared in the London Daily Mail.  The sensation this photo caused was practically cataclysmic.  People were dumbfounded.  Seeing was definitely believing.

"Oh my gosh, it's real!  The monster is real!  I can't believe it. It's really real after all!"

The story behind the famous picture involved Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson, a highly respected London-based gynecologist.  Wilson had quietly come forward to present the London Daily Mail with a picture that appeared to show a sea serpent rising out of the water of the Loch. 

Wilson said he took the photograph early in the morning on April 19, 1934, while driving along the northern shore of Loch Ness. Returning from a hunting trip, Wilson noticed something moving in the water and stopped his car to take a photo.

Wilson turned out to be rather skittish about his remarkable photograph.

He preferred the paper keep his identity a secret.  Wilson did not mind accepting money from the paper in exchange for rights to his valuable photograph, but oddly enough, he refused to allow his name to be used.    When asked, he said the lady companion along with him that day was a married woman... but not married to him...

Meanwhile, since "gynecologist" didn't have the right ring to it, the Daily Mail named it The Surgeon's Photo.

Copies of the photo quickly appeared in newspapers around the world, captivating people in every distant corner of the planet.

Besides the excitement, it didn't take long for the burning question to be raised.  How valid is this photo?  The debate began; this became the most controversial topic of the day. 

Not surprisingly, the skeptics came out in droves.  Their patience with this nonsense was completely exhausted.  They didn't believe the picture was legitimate.  Plus the footprint scandal had left a bad taste.  Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice, shame on me.

However, the iconic image managed to withstand the challenge.  Although it never actually proved the existence of the Loch Ness monster, it was sufficiently compelling to nourish the legend and shake the doubters.  For one thing, this time the new evidence managed to win over many of the scientists.  Scientific experts were called in to examine the photo and they declared it could be a plesiosaur.  They also mulled over the wave patterns and concluded the beast was definitely on the move, adding to the picture's authenticity (a stationary photo would be easier to fake).

Meanwhile the London Daily Mail stood firmly beside its image.  Unlike the fake hippo print, this photograph proved much more difficult to question and to prove false.  Even better, the public was on their side.  To their satisfaction, the public was by and large completely convinced this photo was the real thing.

When asked who had taken the picture, the editors referred to the impeccable reputation of the source.  They told anyone who asked that the man who brought forward the picture did not wish to have his privacy violated, but that he was an upstanding pillar of the community. 

Of course, the mystery of the man's identity simply reinforced the skeptics' belief that the London Daily Mail would stop at nothing.

So who was this mystery man?

Lt Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson (1899-1969) fought in both world wars. Wilson was no ordinary pencil pusher who barked orders from a safe, comfortable office in London.  In WW I, Wilson had seen action at the front lines and received several promotions.  In the upcoming WWII, Wilson would join the Special Operations Executive to parachute behind enemy lines into Holland, France and Borneo. He was obviously a very brave man.

Wilson was a well-known expert on firearms.  He was asked to lecture on ballistics at the Old Bailey during the 1930s. He also wrote a definitive text on automatic pistols with editions published in 1943 and 1975.

Wilson was also an accomplished physician.  He was an Edinburgh Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (1926) who had a practice in general surgery and gynecology on Queen Anne Street and Harley Street during the 1930s.

In other words, R. Kenneth Wilson, MD, wasn't your average witness.  He was a highly respected member of the London medical community. If Wilson said he had taken a photo of the Loch Ness Monster, the London Daily Mail was not ready to rigorously interrogate the good doctor.

And why should they?  This photograph was worth a king's ransom.  The paper's circulation was at an all-time peak.  It was hardly in their best interests to ask too many hard questions.

This photograph would become the defining image of the Loch Ness. The picture itself was riveting. In many ways, the monster's new picture far exceeded the imaginations of most people.  Previous descriptions had included unflattering words such as "beast, abomination, snail-like".

Instead what people saw now was a classic portrait of an upraised head and long slender neck held over the waterline. To everyone's surprise, the monster was as poised and graceful as any swan, yet decidedly serpentine in its visage.

The subtlety of the shadowed figure on the gloomy waters made a dramatic impact.  People weren't afraid of it anymore.  As monsters go, whatever it was, it didn't seem particularly dangerous. In fact, this lost-in-time creature seemed vulnerable and very lonely.  It evoked a type of sympathy.

Furthermore, people could not help but look at the photo and think, "Hey, that's a damn good-looking monster!"  As any fan of Dracula will attest, if a monster is sexy and good-looking, people will forgive a lot of things.  And let's face it - Nessie was very sexy.

The picture was a real boon for the Monster Legend.  Without this photograph, the legend may very well have perished for good.  Instead, the goofy hippo prank was quickly forgotten and the Faithful returned.  Hopeful viewers of a wild spectacle flocked to the loch in droves.  Countless people lined the shores with binoculars, cameras and picnic lunches to peer out over the waters should Nessie decide to reappear for an encore.

The famous 1934 picture that started all the fuss

Thanks to the Surgeon's Photo, the media had a field day.  The world had become totally infatuated with the Monster. In fact, the picture had become so popular that the world begged to know the identity of the hero who had snapped the photo.  Noting the fanfare, Wilson, the reclusive surgeon, decided to come forward and identify himself. Do you remember Rupert T. Gould, the man who interviewed George Spicer?   Apparently R Kenneth Wilson contacted Gould and did an interview.  In turn, Gould put Wilson's "Surgeon's Photo" on the cover of his book The Loch Ness Monster and Others and published Wilson's identity for the first time.  This was quite a coup for Gould and guaranteed his book would become a best-seller. No one can be sure why Wilson chose to step forward, but people have speculated Wilson originally wanted to escape the kind of criticism and ridicule that had followed publication of Hugh Gray's "Blob" photo.  Once he realized his picture was a huge hit, perhaps Wilson wanted to bask in the adulation for breaking this mystery wide-open.

So what did Rupert Gould learn from Wilson's report? 

On April 19th, 1934, Wilson and a friend named Maurice Chambers were driving northward (note that Wilson changed his story about the 'married woman' who was his earlier reason for not saying much).  The two men had leased a wild fowl shoot near Inverness and meant to take some photographs of the birds.

Wilson had borrowed a camera with a telephoto lens for the occasion. It was 7 am in the morning. They stopped the car on a small promontory two miles north of Invermoriston.  As they stood watching the surface, they noticed signs of 'considerable commotion'. Wilson's friend Chambers shouted, "My God, it's the monster!"

Wilson rushed to the car, came back with the camera, and managed to expose four plates in such a hurry that he did not even look at what he was photographing. The creature almost immediately withdrew below the water surface.

Wilson said he never got much of a look at it.  Wilson claimed only to have seen "something in the water" some 200-300 yards from shore. Unsure whether he had captured anything, Wilson hurried to town and took the plates to a chemist named Morrison, announcing that he had just seen and photographed the Loch Ness Monster.  

The first two exposures were blank and the fourth one lackluster.  However the third photo was exceptional; it became the one known worldwide as the "Surgeon's Photograph". Oddly enough, the publication of Wilson's photo provided a closure of sorts.  People were much happier believing Wilson's photo was legitimate after the disappointment of the fake hippo print.  It was obvious that the public wanted there to be a Loch Ness Monster. Regardless, the Loch Ness Monster faded from public interest shortly afterward with the rise of a far greater monster, Adolph Hitler.  As threats of a Second World War loomed ominously, people now had a far more serious problem to concern themselves with. Indeed, for the next 60 years, outside of the Inverness area, Nessie was largely forgotten. There was an occasional new photograph, but none anywhere near as compelling as Wilson's had been. During this time, R Kenneth Wilson's picture became accepted in the public's mind as the true picture of the Loch Ness Monster.  Wilson had not only photographed Nessie, he had immortalized her.

1933 - 1993 

60 Years Later, the Truth comes out.

For over half a century, the Surgeon's Photo served as an enduring symbol to rally all true believers.  The photo was so compelling that the Believers based much of their defense upon its validity. Whenever the Skeptics appeared to be winning the Nessie-doesn't-exist argument, the Believers would trot out the cornerstone of their defense, "But what about the Surgeon's Photo?"

Try as they might, thanks to that photo, the Skeptics were getting nowhere debunking the story in the court of public opinion.  The Skeptics could churn out dozens of scientific reasons why the Monster had to be a Myth, but as long as that picture stood, the Loch Ness Monster was Real in the public's eye.

In 1991, researchers Alastair Boyd, a zoologist, and David Martin, a writer, were members of a scientific project dedicated to discern the truth of the Loch Ness mystery.

Leaving no stone unturned, they came across an obscure 1975 letter in the gossip column of a British news magazine in which Marmaduke Wetherell's son Ian claimed he and his father had once fabricated a photograph of the monster. 

Ian Wetherell, now 62, had written a letter to Mandrake of "Sunday Morning with Mandrake". (Note: Mandrake is the name of the long-established social diary in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper).

Ian Wetherell related how he had once helped his father and a man named Maurice Chambers pull off a fake Nessie picture.  

"We found an inlet where the tiny ripples would look like full size waves out on the loch, and with the actual scenery in the background. Then it was just a matter of winding up the sub and getting it to dive just below the surface so the neck and head drew a proper little V in the water."

Boyd and Martin stared at the yellowed newsprint in shock. This December 7, 1975, letter in the Sunday Telegraph was a real corker, but apparently the entire world had missed its significance.  Why had they never heard of this before?  And why didn't anyone follow up on it? 

At first thought, they assumed that no one knew how to put two and two together.

First, the monster's existence wasn't exactly a burning issue in 1975.  No one was keen on the Ness monster at the moment.  So 'apathy' was one explanation.

Second, Ian Wetherell did not specify which particular photograph of the monster he was speaking of.  Since there were at least a dozen or more possibilities to choose from, no one suspected this might have something to do with the most important photo of all, the Surgeon's Photo.

Finally, most people reading the paper had not the slightest idea in 1975 that the "Wetherell" name had been intimately connected to the monster from back in 1934.  Consequently the average citizen never gave the admission a second thought. 

What really aroused Boyd and Martin's curiosity were two unusual facts contained in the letter.  Ian Wetherell had named Maurice Chambers as a part of the conspiracy.  Boyd and Martin remembered Wilson had told Rupert Gould that Chambers was his companion on the day he took photo. Also Ian Wetherell had mentioned that the photo taken had included the far shoreline in the image. Very few people knew that the Surgeon's Photo was actually a crop taken from a much larger picture that had a stretch of the Loch Ness shoreline in the background.  However, Boyd and Martin were well aware of this obscure fact. This letter had a definite ring of authenticity about it!  Then Boyd and Martin stumbled on another mind-blowing fact.  They noted that the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau and Maurice Burton of the Natural History Museum possessed copies of the 1975 article, but had not given the information any apparent importance.  How could this be?  How could such an important lead as this have slipped through the cracks?

The more they thought about it, the more bewildered Martin and Boyd became.  Staring them in the face was clear evidence that certain authors of published works about the Loch Ness monster were behaving suspiciously.  These authors had access to correspondence and other information that should have made them realize the Surgeon's Photograph was a hoax.  But seemingly they had dropped the ball.

In Boyd and Martin's opinion, it likely would have taken a willful ignorance to ignore the true significance of what the materials meant. This was too big an oversight to be a mistake.

Then it dawned on them - there had been a cover-up.  Certain knowledgeable people had deliberately chosen to suppress the truth about the Surgeon's Photograph.  Obviously they had their reasons and agenda to allow the Surgeon's Photo to continue unchallenged.

Boyd and Martin took a while to let that sink in.  Both men continued to shake their heads in disbelief.  This was like a 4 year old learning there was no Santa Claus, but much worse. They had dedicated their lives to uncovering the truth only to find out they were being deceived by certain people they trusted.

After talking it over, they decided they wanted to know as much of the truth as possible.  Unfortunately, sixteen years had passed since the 1975 article.  They knew Wilson, Chambers, and Marmaduke Wetherell had already died. But what about Ian Witherell?  No luck.  They soon learned that Ian Wetherell had died five years earlier in 1986. 

However, there was one last hope.  Christian Spurling, Ian's 89 year-old step-brother, was still around... but just barely. 

David Martin took the lead.  Martin and his wife Jane met Spurling and his wife Joy at Spurling's home in February 1991. To Martin's undying relief, Spurling was more than willing to talk about the Surgeon's Photo.  Spurling said this whole affair had been a prank cooked up by his stepfather Marmaduke Wetherell.  Spurling's key comment at that meeting was: "It's not a genuine photograph. It's a load of codswallop and always has been." 

Spurling added the popularity of the photograph had long been a source of great amusement to his family.  In other words, the secret of the Surgeon's Photo was known to quite a few people in the family circle, but no one bothered to share this bombshell with the outside world.  Martin shook his head in disbelief.  With so many people aware of Marmaduke's shenanigans, how had the truth stayed hidden for so long?

Boyd and Martin decided there could be only one explanation.  The truth had stayed hidden this long because practically everyone associated with the monster wanted it to stay that way.   

Alistair Boyd asked to participate in the follow-up interview.  Boyd and Martin visited Spurling in June 1992.  This time Spurling was ready to tell everything that had happened down to the last detail.
 

Christian Spurling's Story

Spurling said he had been 30 years old when the fuss and fury surrounding the monster had reached its fever pitch.  Like anyone else, he and his younger stepbrother Ian, 21 at the time, had followed the events of 1933 in the paper closely.  So did his stepfather Marmaduke Wetherell. 

In his youth, Marmaduke had spent many years leading safari expeditions through the African bush in South Africa and surrounding areas.  As a big game hunter, he was no stranger to tracking large and very dangerous animals.  Those had definitely been his glory years.  But Duke Wetherell was 50 now.  Those days were long gone.  Now Wetherell missed the limelight badly. 

As Spurling explained, in the privacy of his home, it turned out Marmaduke believed in the existence of the monster.  In fact, Marmaduke was obsessed with the monster.  Almost daily he would speak of his ever-changing theories about the monster.  One day it was a hippo, the next day a giant salamander, a rhino, a giant tortoise, a sturgeon or a seal.  

Finally Duke Wetherell couldn't take it anymore.  He was itching to get back in the game and he had an idea how to do it.  He would approach the London Daily Mail and offer his services tracking down the Loch Ness monster.

Sure enough, he set up an appointment.  Duke Wetherell started the interview by boasting of his prowess in the African bush. He told stories how he had led wealthy men deep into the wilderness and how he always came through for them.  He could track any animal in the world.

However, the men at the Daily Mail were very skeptical.  Tracking a lion in Botswana was one thing, but how did he expect to find an underwater monster when not one local person in the area had the slightest clue?  Where was he going to look first?  What was he going to use for bait? 

Wetherell was unfazed.  He confidently predicted he could pull this off.  Bankroll him for two weeks and he would guarantee results. 

The Daily Mail editors rolled their eyes. This seemed like a waste of money.  However, that's when Wetherell reminded them how people had said the same thing about Christopher Columbus and look how that gamble had turned out.

In the end, Wetherell's brazen confidence and fast-talk had won him the job.  The editors could not believe the brass of this guy, but heck, why not?  What did they have to lose? 

But now Wetherell felt pressure to produce quick results.  In fact, he was worried he had bitten off more than he chew.  He was desperate for the attention any sort of discovery would bring him, but he had no more idea how to find the monster than the next guy.  It wasn't like the monster was going to leave bread crumbs in the water for him to follow.

Now Christian Spurling dropped a bombshell.  It was Marmaduke's desperation to justify his big talk quickly that had prompted him to fake the hippo print in the first place.

Boyd and Martin were incredulous.  They could hardly believe their ears.  In the past, Marmaduke had always denied that he had been the one to fake the footprint.  So they asked Spurling to elaborate.

Spurling said that the night prior to leaving for Loch Ness to begin his expedition, Marmaduke had been talking about how important it was to produce immediate results for the newspaper.  Marmaduke had already decided this expedition was his last hope at a big score. He wanted to recapture the glory of his youth when all cameras were focused on him. He was determined to milk this opportunity for a long ride back to fame.  As he smoked a cigarette in his den, Marmaduke noticed his solid silver ashtray was set on top of an actual hippopotamus foot. Hmm. He picked it up and ran his fingers over the four-toed base.  The wheels of his mind turned. On the spot, Marmaduke decided to pack the hippo ashtray and bring it along with him.  In other words, Marmaduke Wetherell had come fully prepared to create his own discovery.  After exploring the area for a couple days, one night Wetherell slipped out of his hotel and returned to the investigation area to make the footprints while there was no one around. Wetherell thought he was so clever. And then to his dismay, he got busted by the Museum of Natural History.

Spurling said he had not known in advance what his stepfather had tried to pull off, but once he learned the truth, he was proud of the old man.  What a brilliant trick!

His stepfather was quite a guy. He had more guts than any man he had ever met.  Marmaduke had attempted to fool the entire world with an ashtray hippo print.  How would anyone ever be able to top that?

On the other hand, his grandfather had been also been a real fool. In retrospect, this hippo foot prank probably didn't have the slightest chance in hell to succeed.  Unfortunately, Wetherell had simply not thought this through properly. 

Too bad it hadn't worked out.  Nice try though! 

Now Wetherell had to face the music.  The editors at the London Daily Mail reamed him inside and out.  Wetherell had ruined the credibility of their paper.  His stupid stunt had made their paper not just the laughingstock of London, but the entire goddamn world!  What the hell was he thinking?

Wetherell lamely tried to bluster his way out by saying someone in the Loch Ness area had played a dirty trick on him, but the editors weren't buying it.  They had correctly guessed that Wetherell would say anything to save his skin.  After all, what was that nonsense about the footprint's "spoor" being only a few hours old?  Gosh, Marmaduke, are you telling us you can't tell a hippo track from a sea monster track? What were you DOING in Africa all those years?

That's when they told him to get the hell out of their office and go jump in a loch.  Then for good measure, the Daily Mail printed a story publicly castigating Wetherell for the entire scandal. If the public wanted to blame someone for the deception, go take it up with Marmaduke Wetherell, not the paper.

Marmaduke was incensed at the way those snobs at the Daily Mail had treated him.  No one had the right to talk to him like that!  No one had the right to publicly embarrass him like that!  He was completely and utterly humiliated. 

Spurling paused for a moment. He pointed out that Wetherell had a lot of pride.  He didn't handle some of the things those editors called him very well.  "Scam artist, buffoon, rhino chaser, big talker."  His oversized ego was badly wounded.  But the worst part was the public criticism.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much Wetherell could do to fight back.  It wasn't libel for a paper to tell the truth.

As Spurling put it, "My stepfather was an extrovert, an eccentric, a likeable rogue.  But most of all, he was a vain attention seeker. The paper had insulted him and slapped him the face.  He vowed to get even."  

(Note:  One really has to wonder why a doctor like Wilson risked his entire career and reputation to participate in this scheme when there was nothing in it for him.  Wilson had nothing to gain and much to lose.)

On April 19, 1934, Duke and Ian Wetherell drove one car to Loch Ness while Wilson and Chambers drove another.

They found a quiet bay at the edge of the loch and put the submarine in motion.  Ian Wetherell took four photos.  Despite the small size of the model, once surrounded by water, the men agreed the monster model looked very realistic.

Now it was time for Robert Kenneth Wilson to offer the pictures to the Daily Mail.  This was the easy part.  The Daily Mail took the bait faster than you can say 'Trojan Horse'.

So history was made and Wetherell got his revenge.  Or did he?

Wetherell's newest stunt backfired in a very strange way. The irony is that the fake picture was the luckiest thing to ever happen to the Daily Mail.  The paper saw its circulation explode and never suffered the slightest negative consequence in the process.

Wetherell's original plan was to expose the newspaper for its greedy tendency to publish anything without regard for the truth.  However, to the astonishment of the five conspirators, the fake monster trick had worked far too well.  The photo of the monster had become international news!  Even more amazing, the Scientific Community by and large gave its approval.

Spurling's model had been perfect. Maybe too perfect. The idea of the moving submarine was brilliant. The illusion of motion really helped sell the authenticity. By mounting the fake monster on a toy submarine, the waves created around the serpent helped create a highly realistic photo.   In the photo, the waves suggested this monster was clearly moving through the water.  This helped dispel any suspicion of a fake photo. 

But the real coup was getting someone respectable like Dr. Wilson to join the plot and draw suspicion away from Duke Wetherell.

The original plan was for Marmaduke to come forward and tell an competing newspaper how he had pulled one over on the Daily Mail.  But Duke had not expected the photo would be widely accepted by the public as real.  That surprise changed everything.  Now the conspirators realized they would taking a real chance were they to come clean.  The pranksters were trapped by their own success.  Their trick had aroused such a huge fuss, now they were afraid to confess.

Dr. Wilson had the most to lose.  His medical practice depended on the respect of every professional person in London.  One slip and his reputation was ruined.  Christian Spurling, Marmaduke and Ian Wetherell weren't in the clear either.  At the least, they might be facing criminal prosecution, but at the worst the wrath of an entire world might drop on their heads for tricking them.  If the truth came out, would some disappointed monster lover beat them up or burn their house down? 

All five men agreed that to expose the monster as fake now would doom them to be regarded as the worst people on the planet.  The pranksters decided the smartest path was to keep quiet. That explains why Marmaduke abandoned his revenge angle. He felt things had gotten too out of hand to speak up now. Instead he wisely chose to laugh quietly to himself. So Marmaduke remained uncharacteristically silent until his death in the 1950's.

Dr. Wilson had gone a separate route.  As the clamor rose for the identity of the photographer, he knew someone at the Daily Mail would eventually leak his name.  At that point, there would be many questions.

Seeing how there was no way he was going to dodge being identified at some point, Wilson took the bull by the horns and decided to step forward.  Better to speak up and play the hero than wait to be identified.  Wilson granted the Commander Rupert Gould an interview.  By wrapping himself in the respectability of Gould's upcoming book on the Loch Ness monster, Wilson could establish his 'alibi' and pray that it took hold. 

Although Wilson had earlier claimed his friend was a married woman, now he admitted it had been Maurice Chambers who was in the car with him. Wilson figured the more truth he told, the better his chances of coming out unscathed.

 

And with that, Spurling concluded his story.  He pointed out that he didn't care what anyone thought about him.  And the other four were long gone.  Duke Wetherell and Maurice Chambers died in the mid-Fifties. R. Kenneth Wilson died in Australia in 1969. His stepbrother Ian Wetherell had died in 1986. 

In an odd turn, Christian Spurling himself died in November 1993.  This happened just weeks after finishing the interviews regarding his strange tale.  With Spurling deceased, there was no hurry.  So the researchers decided to time their scoop to the 60th anniversary of the photograph.  They deliberately waited four months after his death before breaking the news.  Boyd and Martin released the story of the scandal to the public on March 11, 1994.

Of course, the media immediately termed Spurling's story a "deathbed confession", but that wasn't exactly true.  After all, Boyd and Martin had sought out Spurling, not the other way around. 

However, terming it "deathbed confession" made it seem more dramatic, so that's how people referred to it.

Five years later in 1999, Boyd and Martin would go on to offer every juicy detail in a book, Nessie: the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed.

In case anyone is curious, Spurling said the fake model is buried at Loch Ness.  Apparently shortly after the photo shoot, Duke Wetherell heard the water bailiff approaching.  Panicked at being caught, Wetherell stuck his foot out and crushed the fragile model.  Then he mashed it into the sand beneath the shallow waters.

So one can assume there truly is at least one Loch Ness Monster lying down at the bottom of Loch Ness.

(For a wonderful 2 minute National Geographic recap of this story, click here)

Here We Go Again!!

Rick Archer's Note:  Just when you think things can't get any weirder, it turns out there has been a recent 2013 replay of the Surgeon's Photo scenario.  And what is especially funny is that our old friend the Daily Mail is carrying the story.  Some things never change!

Cruise Boat Skipper Admits Hoax!

By Lizzie Edmonds
The Daily Mail Online
5 October 2013

George Edwards' March 2012 photo was billed as some of the most convincing evidence that the Loch Ness Monster did exist.

But now the skipper behind the image of Nessie has now confirmed it is a fake.

George Edwards owned up to the hoax - saying he'd created the fraud for 'a bit of fun'.

The 61-year-old simply photographed the same fake hump that was featured in the 2011 National Geographic documentary, Truth Behind the Loch Ness Monster.

Today Mr Edwards, who was involved in the production of the documentary and had access to the fake hump, said he had no regrets about the picture despite fooling people for over a year.

The image will now join a host of other fakes, including the now notorious image taken by Dr Robert Kenneth Wilson in 1934 showing the monster's head and long neck.

Fraud: George Edwards, pictured in his tour boat,
says the mystery of the monster brings tourism to the area.
He does not regret publishing his fake photo.

Back when Edwards was first questioned about his Monster photo in 2012, he said at the time: "I did not want to mention my sighting until I was sure that I had not photographed a log or something inanimate in the water in the water. I have friends in the USA who have friends in the military. They had my photo analyzed and they have no doubt that I photographed an animate object in the water. I was really excited as I am sure that some strange creatures are lurking in the depths of Loch Ness." Edwards told how he spent his life on the loch - around 60 hours a week - taking tourists out on his boat Nessie Hunter IV. He has led numerous Nessie hunts over the years. Edwards said the image he photographed in 2012 convinced him that there really was a monster out there.  The image showed a mysterious dark hump moving in the water towards Urquhart Castle in the distance.

This is the picture George Edwards published in March 2012. He has now admitted that this picture is a fake.  Edwards said he did it for "the fun of it".

At the time Mr Edwards first released his picture, he was adamant it was genuine. 'Unequivocal': Edwards said he had the picture independently verified by a team of US military monster experts as well as a Nessie sighting specialist.  He now says he released the image for 'a bit of fun'

Back in 2012, Edwards said this about his photograph: "I was just about to return to Temple Pier in Drumnadrochit and I went to the back of the boat which was facing the pier and that’s when I saw it. It was slowly moving up the loch towards Urquhart Castle and it was a dark grey colour. It was quite a fair way from the boat, probably about half a mile away but it’s difficult to tell in water. I watched the object for five to ten minutes, then it slowly sank below the surface and never resurfaced. I’m convinced I was seeing Nessie as I believe in these creatures. Far too many people have being seeing them for far too long." The first recorded sighting was in 565 AD and there have been thousands of eye witness reports since then. All these people can’t be telling lies. And the fact the reports stretch over so many years mean there can’t just be one of them. I’m convinced there are several monsters."

Meanwhile, local people are up in arms. 

Steve Feltham, a man who has dedicated the past 22 years to hunting for Nessie, was praising Edwards' photo a year ago.  Mr. Feltham  was unequivocal when he said in 2012:

'It is the best photograph [of the monster] I think I have ever seen.'

'I think the images are fantastic - that’s the animal I have been looking for all this time.

'I would say it doesn’t prove what Nessie is, but it does prove what Nessie isn’t.  A sturgeon is a fish that has been put forward as one of the main explanations as to what Nessie could be.  But this hasn’t got a serrated spine like the sturgeon.'

Yesterday, Mr Feltham said the admission harmed Mr Edwards’ credibility and the Loch Ness Monster brand. Feltham added that the skipper is nothing more than a fake and a fraud.

'It does the subject [of the monster] no good and damages his own reputation.'

'When you read things like this in the papers, people will think it’s all just a fairytale.'

'But if you read the reports and books you’re more likely to think that something is there to be explained. He’s supposed to be taking people out on tours but he’s nothing more than a faker and a liar.'

The Loch Ness area is no stranger to controversy.  Over the years, the Monster has been the subject of many sightings in the Scottish Highlands.  Out of the hundreds of supposed sightings over the years, most have been dismissed as hoax or fantasy.

In the past, Mr Edwards has criticized area's tourist community, who he says takes a 'scientific' rather than a 'fun' approach to Nessie. Edwards has said the Drumnadrochit Chamber of Commerce treats the monster as 'a myth' which damages the tourist industry. In June, Edwards wrote an open letter to the group in which he said: "Most of the people I talk to on my boat know that it’s just a bit of fun. What brings more people to Loch Ness - my little stories about Nessie, or the so-called experts going on about big waves and big fish?  They should stop taking themselves so seriously. At the end of the day there’s no such thing as an expert on Loch Ness, just people with an opinion."

Local residents confirmed that something very weird had been dragged out of the water.  For example, Robert MacKenzie, a 23-year-old Inverness musician, claimed he had the nerve to touch the beast.  MacKenzie said, "I touched it and put my hand in its mouth.  It's real, all right.  I thought it looked half-bear and half-seal... scaly, green in color... with a horrific head like a bear with flat ears.  I was shocked."

Over the phone, witnesses told reporters the creature was somewhere between 12 and 18 feet in length.  Although in reality the beast was 350 pounds, it was estimated to weigh 1½ tons.  Asked what it resembled, someone recalled what the scientist team had told him.  He told the reporter the animal was like a cross between a walrus and a seal, but 'very different'.

Next a reporter contacted Don Robinson, Director of the Flamingo Park Zoo.  Robinson was not in on the hoax, so he was just as intrigued as everyone else.  Robinson was quoted as saying, "I've always been skeptical about the Loch Ness Monster, but this is definitely a monster, no doubt about that. From the reports I've had, no one has ever seen anything like it before... a fishy, scaly body with a massive head and big protruding teeth."

That was exactly the quote the reporters needed.  A reputable source had just given them a printable description of the animal.  Unable to make the long trip to Loch Ness in the far northern part of Scotland, they had enough material to write the story sight unseen.  

The next morning, April 1... yes, April Fool's Day... the discovery made front-page headlines around the world.  "Nessie is Found!"  The British press dubbed the creature "Son of Nessie."  The prank of John Shields had worked far beyond his wildest imagination. 

While the reporters spread the news far and wide, there was a fascinating development back at Loch Ness.  After dragging the carcass to shore, the scientists from the Flamingo Park Zoo sent a telegram to their boss, Don Robinson.  After Robinson told them to bring it back to Flamingo Zoo for inspection, the men quickly loaded the body into their truck and took off. 

Mrs. Margrete Good, manager of the hotel, later told the press, "The zoologists were thrilled to bits.  This was a dream come true.  They could not wait to transport the monster back to the zoo for study."

Only one problem.  According to the 1933 Act of Parliament, it was illegal to remove the Loch Ness Monster from the area.   Granted it was unlikely these scientists were familiar with this obscure 40 year old law, but, as they say, ignorance of the law is not an excuse.

The moment the local Inverness police were informed the scientists had hightailed it with the Loch Ness Monster, they were infuriated.  These were 'English' scientists, after all, who appeared to be hell-bent on removing Scotland's most famous lake monster.  With visions of the vast, lucrative tourist trade about to be destroyed, the police mobilized. 

The scientists had too much of a lead for Inverness authorities to track down, but the magic of electronics solved the problem.   Immediately the police radioed their colleagues in the Fifeshire County police department.  After explaining the situation, the Fifeshire police were asked them to chase down the fleeing truck and apprehend the heinous monster-nappers.

Spurred by patriotism and outrage, the entire police force sped off with sirens wailing, red lights flashing.  They soon caught up with the team of alleged rogue scientists.  

Out of nowhere, the scientists were stunned to see a fleet of six police vehicles chasing them.  Intimidated by the sirens and flashing lights, the terrified scientists swiftly pulled over to the side of the road.  From there, the frightened zoologists were surrounded by a dozen policemen.  As one might gather, they readily cooperated with the police.  They wasted no time opening the back of the truck to show the officers what they were carrying.

There it was.  Sure enough, according to the subsequent police report, lying inside the truck was a large "green and scaly" creature, quite dead. 

The men turned white when one of the officers accused them of killing the animal.  Fortunately, the scientists were able to convince the officers that the animal had been dead for some time, but it wasn't easy.   The police officers were absolutely convinced these men had tried to escape with a national treasure.  Unsure what to do next, the cops radioed back to the station for advice. They were told to take the monster to the nearest town, Dunfermline, where it could be examined by Scottish scientists.

Searching for a Scottish scientist to examine the creature, they were able to persuade Michael Rushton, general curator of the Edinburgh Zoo, to come take a look.  With Edinburgh only 15 miles away, it did not take Rushton long to arrive.  He walked slowly around the carcass a few times, poked it twice, and then announced his verdict.

In Rushton's opinion, this was indeed a strange creature, but it was no lake monster.  Instead, it was a bull elephant seal, whose natural home was the South Atlantic Ocean located vast thousands of miles away.  Furthermore, the body showed signs of having been frozen for an extended period of time.  Very suspicious.  The eight scientists stared at each other.  Why hadn't they noticed this? 

Rushton continued, "This animal is a typical member of its species. It is about 3 to 4 years old. Since their natural habitat is in the South Atlantic, Falkland Islands or South Georgia, I have never known them to come near Great Britain.  I don't know how long it's been kept in a deep freeze, but this has obviously been done by a human hand."

Uh oh.  It was about this time the Flamingo Park scientific team realized there was something very fishy going on, pun intended.   How on earth did a bull elephant seal from the other end of the earth come to be floating in Loch Ness?  What was the answer?  Since they had no idea their buddy John Shields was behind this, the men had not yet figured out they had been set up.  Instead they phoned their boss Don Robinson back at the zoo.  He told the men to return home and he would try to get to the bottom of it.

Just about this time, Robinson noticed Shields walk by.  When Robinson told the young man what had happened, Shields turned white.  Uh oh.  What should he do?   The answer could very easily have remained a mystery for some time, but Shields knew he would never get away with it.  Eventually someone from Dudley Zoo would hear the story and put two and two together.  Realizing the joke had gotten way out of hand when his colleagues were chased down by the police, Shields wasted no time confessing to his boss what he had done.  His boss was instantly irate, but that quick confession probably saved his life and his job. 

Now it was up to Don Robinson to phone the authorities.  In the end, on Sunday, April 2, the anxious world got the bad news... the whole thing was just a hoax.  Furthermore, the creature was nowhere near as impressive as initial press reports had claimed.  It was only nine feet long, not 18 as some reports had listed, and weighed a disappointing 350 pounds.  With the parade ruined, everyone was bummed out.  Much ado about nothing. 

It was left to Police Superintendent Inas McKay of Inverness to give the press the final, official verdict on the incident:

"It was all just an elaborate April Fool's Day joke."

Boyd has categorically stated that in spite of the hoax he helped unveil, he is still an ardent believer in the creature's existence.  Why?  Because Boyd says he has personally seen the beast at close quarters.  Boyd had his own sighting of the creature on July 30, 1979, as he related in the 1999 documentary, "The Beast of Loch Ness".

Seeing is believing.  To emphasize his point, Alastair Boyd spent three weeks in 1996 observing the Loch.  Although he himself was not fortunate enough to obtain a sighting at that time, 16 other people staying at the Craigdarroch Hotel did, much to their delight.