Mythical Beasts (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 10 - Hunting the Loch Ness Monster - full transcript
New discoveries reveal the truth behind the Loch Ness Monster, and experts investigate the world's most mysterious waters in search of evidence that a prehistoric monster could still be lurking in the deep.
Narrator: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
A MYTHICAL BEAST IN THE MODERN WORLD.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER DATES
BACK TO A MYTH THAT'S CENTURIES OLD.
IT WAS TERRIFYING. IT COULD EAT YOU,
IT COULD DRAG YOU TO YOUR DEATH.
[ ROARS ]
IT'S TRULY A MONSTER.
Narrator: WHAT IS REALLY IN THESE WATERS?
THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT
MAYBE IT IS STILL OUT THERE.
IT'S JUST REAL ENOUGH
TO KEEP THE HOPE ALIVE.
Narrator: NOW INVESTIGATORS
USE THE LATEST SCIENCE
TO UNRAVEL THIS LAST GREAT MONSTER MYSTERY.
COULD THE CREATURE BE A LIVING FOSSIL...
A SURVIVOR FROM THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS?
Brusatte: THESE WERE
NOT SWEET LITTLE ANIMALS.
THEY WERE EVERY BIT
AS FEROCIOUS AS A T. REX.
Narrator: OR DOES ANOTHER
BEAST LURK IN THIS LAKE?
Dr. Reidenberg: SO, IF YOU
SAW THIS IN LOCH NESS,
YOU MIGHT THINK YOU WERE
LOOKING AT AN ALLIGATOR.
Narrator: THE HUNT FOR THE
TRUTH BEHIND THIS MONSTER
WILL REVEAL OUR DEEPEST FEARS...
MYTH-MAKING IS NOT UNIQUE
TO THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT IS STILL HAPPENING ALL THE TIME.
Narrator: ...AND THE INCREDIBLE SECRET
AT THE BOTTOM OF LOCH NESS.
♪♪
IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND,
THERE'S A LAKE THAT'S THOUGHT TO BE HOME
TO A HUGE AND TERRIFYING CREATURE...
♪♪
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
Kerr: EVERYONE REALLY
HAS HEARD OF LOCH NESS.
IT IS UP THERE IN THE
TOP FIVE MONSTER MYTHS.
♪♪
WE HAVE THIS VERY KIND
OF TOURIST-FRIENDLY IMAGE
OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER, BUT IN ORIGIN,
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER WAS SOMETHING
THAT WAS ACTUALLY QUITE SCARY.
Narrator: KNOWN AS NESSIE,
THIS LEGENDARY BEAST
BAFFLES MODERN SCIENCE.
WHAT COULD EXPLAIN
NEARLY 3,000 SIGHTINGS HERE?
THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF PEOPLE
WHO BELIEVE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS AN ACTUAL LIVING BEING
THAT YOU CAN GO TO SCOTLAND,
AND IF YOU HANG OUT LONG
ENOUGH ALONG THE SHORE,
SOONER OR LATER, YOU'LL SEE
THIS THING COME CRUISING BY.
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE
ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
IS AN EXPERT ON MARINE BIOLOGY.
SHE'S ON A MISSION TO
FIND OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL
IF A REAL BEAST LIES BEHIND
THE LOCH NESS STORIES.
Dr. Reidenberg: THERE ARE LOTS OF
WATER MONSTERS IN MYTHOLOGY.
IN FACT, SOME OF THEM,
WE THINK WE UNDERSTAND.
THE PROBLEM WITH LOCH NESS
IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE AN ANIMAL
THAT WE CAN PIN IT ON.
Narrator: SO JOY TURNS
TO WHAT WE DO KNOW...
THE FIRST EVER RECORDED SIGHTING
OF A TERRIFYING MONSTER HERE.
IN THE 6th CENTURY, A
CHRISTIAN SAINT CALLED COLUMBA
TRAVELED TO SCOTLAND WITH HIS FOLLOWERS.
NEAR THE RIVER NESS,
THEY WITNESSED THE BURIAL OF A MAN.
THE LOCALS CLAIMED A GIANT WATER BEAST
MAULED HIS BODY AND DROWNED HIM.
AS COLUMBA'S MEN LOOKED
FOR A WAY TO CROSS THE RIVER,
THE BEAST REAPPEARED.
COLUMBA MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
TO PROTECT HIS DISCIPLE... [ BEAST ROARS ]
...AND MANAGED TO REPEL THE MONSTER,
FORCING IT TO RETREAT BACK
INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE RIVER NESS.
♪♪
THE BEST ACCOUNT WE HAVE
OF AN ACTUAL INTERACTION
WITH THE BEAST IS SAINT COLUMBA.
BUT IT DOESN'T GIVE US ANY EVIDENCE
OF WHAT THE BEAST LOOKED LIKE.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SHAPE,
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SIZE,
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT HAS TEETH.
Narrator: WHAT KIND OF MONSTER
COULD DRAG A MAN TO HIS DEATH?
JOY EXAMINES THE EARLIEST
PHOTOS OF WHAT MAY BE THE BEAST.
IN THE 1930s, THERE WAS A
SUDDEN EXPLOSION OF SIGHTINGS.
ONE PERSON DESCRIBES
SEEING A LONG-NECKED CREATURE
WITH A PONDEROUS BODY.
NEWSPAPERS DUBBED IT A PLESIOSAUR,
AN AQUATIC REPTILE SUPPOSEDLY
EXTINCT FOR 66 MILLION YEARS.
THERE'S THIS ONE OVER
HERE THAT SHOWS SOMETHING
SWIMMING IN THE WATER TOWARDS THE CASTLE.
AND YOU LOOK AT THIS ONE OVER HERE,
IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING
SPLASHING IN THE WATER
THAT HAS A SNAKE-LIKE TAIL TO IT.
Narrator: MOST OF THE IMAGES ARE BLURRY.
SOME ARE ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
IT LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE
A LONG-NECKED DINOSAUR
THAT I USED TO PLAY WITH AS A KID.
Narrator: SO, COULD A PLESIOSAUR
REALLY BE HIDING IN THIS LAKE?
♪♪
[ MAN SCREAMING ]
Dr. Reidenberg: STRANGER
THINGS HAVE HAPPENED,
AND WE HAVE TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND,
BECAUSE THERE ARE, AFTER ALL,
LOTS OF STORIES OF SIGHTINGS.
♪♪
Narrator: TODAY, THERE'S
ONLY ONE PLACE IN SCOTLAND
WHERE YOU'RE GUARANTEED
TO FIND A PLESIOSAUR...
THE HUNTERIAN MUSEUM IN GLASGOW.
♪♪
Dr. Reidenberg: THIS IS OUR PRIME SUSPECT.
THIS IS A PRETTY IMPRESSIVE-LOOKING ANIMAL.
WE'RE LOOKING AT SOMETHING
THAT'S ROUGHLY THE SIZE
OF A KILLER WHALE.
Narrator: THESE HUGE MARINE ANIMALS
WERE NOT QUITE AS AGILE
AS PEOPLE IMAGINED THEM IN THE 1930s.
BUT AS AN AIR-BREATHING REPTILE,
A PLESIOSAUR COULD HAVE
RAISED ITS HEAD ABOVE THE WAVES.
Dr. Reidenberg: IT COULD
LIFT ITS HEAD A LITTLE BIT
BUT NOT ALL THE WAY UP LIKE A SWAN.
THIS NECK HAS ALL THESE
SPINY PROCESSES STICKING UP.
THESE WOULD HAVE LIMITED HOW
FAR BACK IT COULD PULL ITS NECK,
BECAUSE ONCE THE
PROCESSES TOUCH EACH OTHER,
THAT'S THE LIMIT OF HOW FAR IT CAN GO.
Narrator: THE PLESIOSAUR WAS FEROCIOUS...
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
...JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL BEAST
IN THE LEGEND OF SAINT COLUMBA.
THIS IS A PREDATOR.
THIS ANIMAL WAS NOT EATING PLANTS.
THESE TEETH ARE GRASPING TEETH,
AND THEY'RE TO GRAB
SLIPPERY THINGS, LIKE FISH,
AND HOLD IT IN PLACE.
IT REMINDS ME A LOT OF
THE HEAD OF A CROCODILE.
Narrator: TO JOY, THE SHAPE
OF THE PREDATOR'S HEAD
SUGGESTS THAT IT COULD EVEN
AMBUSH PREY LIKE A CROCODILE.
IT'S REALLY ARROWHEAD-SHAPED,
WHICH MEANS IT COULD SNUG THAT HEAD IN
RIGHT AGAINST THE SHORELINE.
IT WOULD BE UNDER THE
WATER AND THEN... SURPRISE!
THIS MOUTH COMES UP WITH THESE TEETH
AND JUST GRABS WHATEVER'S
WALKING ALONG THE SHORELINE.
THAT'S A PRETTY SCARY THING TO ENCOUNTER.
Narrator: THE PLESIOSAUR TICKS MANY BOXES,
BUT COULD ONE STILL BE ALIVE TODAY?
IN HER LABORATORY, JOY EXAMINES
ONE TYPE OF SEA CREATURE
THAT PREDATES THE DINOSAURS.
Dr. Reidenberg: WE'RE LOOKING
AT A BEARSDEN SHARK.
IT'S A FOSSIL THAT WAS FOUND
NEAR GLASGOW IN SCOTLAND.
TESTS SHOW THAT THIS
FOSSIL IS 330 MILLION YEARS OLD,
AND YET, MODERN SHARKS
LOOK REMARKABLY LIKE THIS.
Narrator: SHARKS HAVE SURVIVED
FOR MORE THAN 400 MILLION YEARS.
TODAY'S SPECIES ARE SMALLER,
BUT THEY SHARE THE SAME
BASIC DESIGN AS THEIR ANCESTORS.
Dr. Reidenberg: THIS IS A DOGFISH,
A RELATIVELY SMALL MODERN SHARK.
AND IF WE LOOK AT THE TAIL, WHAT YOU NOTICE
IS THAT THE SKELETON
GOES INTO THE TOP PART.
IT DOESN'T FORK AND GO INTO BOTH PARTS
OR STOP AND JUST HAVE RAYS.
AND LOOK... THE BEARSDEN
SHARK HAS THE SAME THING,
AND THAT'S UNIQUE TO THESE FISH.
Narrator: ALL SPECIES THAT
HAVE SURVIVED FROM THE ERA
OF THE DINOSAURS OR EARLIER
HAVE EVOLVED AND CHANGED.
BUT SOME ARE STILL ALMOST INDISTINGUISHABLE
FROM THEIR PREHISTORIC COUSINS.
THIS FISH, CALLED A COELACANTH,
ACTUALLY EVOLVED HUNDREDS
OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO,
LONG BEFORE DINOSAURS.
THIS FISH WAS THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT.
IT WAS ONLY KNOWN FROM FOSSILS.
♪♪
Narrator: COELACANTHS LIVED
ALONGSIDE PLESIOSAURS
UNTIL ABOUT 66 MILLION YEARS
AGO WHEN BOTH DIED OUT,
OR SO IT SEEMED.
IN 1938, A SOUTH AFRICAN FISHERMAN
CAUGHT A LIVING COELACANTH.
AND IN THE 1990s,
ANOTHER ONE EVEN SHOWED UP
AT AN INDONESIAN FISH MARKET.
IT TURNS OUT THAT, AGAINST ALL THE ODDS,
A FEW COELACANTH SURVIVED,
HIDING IN THE DARK DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN.
COULD A PLESIOSAUR
NESSIE HAVE DONE THE SAME?
Dr. Reidenberg: SOMETIMES WE CAN BE WRONG.
SOMETHING WE THOUGHT WAS AN EXTINCT ANIMAL
WE ONLY KNEW FROM
FOSSILS IS STILL ALIVE TODAY,
RELATIVELY UNCHANGED,
IN THE SAME BODY FORM.
Narrator: IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE.
IS A PREHISTORIC RELIC REALLY HIDING
IN THIS REMOTE CORNER OF SCOTLAND?
THE HUNT FOR THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
S ACROSS THE WATER TO A
REAL LIVE DINOSAUR ISLAND.
[ MUFFLED SCREAM ]
[ THUNDER RUMBLES ]
♪♪
Narrator: THE HUNT IS ON FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE MYTH OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
A PLESIOSAUR SEEMS TO MATCH
SOME OF THE PHOTOS AND ACCOUNTS.
COULD THIS CREATURE FROM
THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS
BE LURKING IN THESE WATERS?
MOST OF THE MODERN MYTHICAL BEASTS
HAVE WAYS THAT BELIEVERS TRY
TO CONNECT THEM TO THE PAST.
THERE ARE THOSE THAT BELIEVE
THAT BIGFOOT OR SASQUATCH
OR THE YETI ARE THESE KIND
OF SURVIVING POPULATIONS
OF CREATURES.
THIS NOTION THAT THERE'S,
LIKE, A RELIC FROM PREHISTORY
THAT IS STILL OUT THERE SOMEWHERE
POINTS TO THE FACT THAT OUR WORLD
IS STILL NOT COMPLETELY EXPLAINABLE.
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST
JOY REIDENBERG INVESTIGATES
HOW A PLESIOSAUR MIGHT HAVE
MADE IT INTO THE MODERN WORLD.
Dr. Reidenberg: FOR A
PLESIOSAUR TO BE ALIVE TODAY,
IT WOULD HAVE TO OVERCOME
A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES.
IT'S EITHER IMMORTAL,
OR THERE'S A WHOLE FAMILY OF
THEM LIVING IN HERE UNDETECTED,
AND THEN, OF COURSE, IT WOULD
HAVE TO HAVE FOUND A WAY
INTO THIS LAKE FROM THE OCEAN.
IF THAT ALL HAPPENED,
THAT WOULD BE AMAZING.
Narrator: THE FIRST QUESTION TO ANSWER IS,
DID PLESIOSAURS EVER LIVE IN
THE SEAS AROUND SCOTLAND?
A CLUE LIES IN THE
WINDSWEPT ISLAND OF SKYE.
THE BEACHES HERE ARE A
PARADISE FOR FOSSIL HUNTERS.
PALEONTOLOGIST STEVE BRUSATTE
EXPLORES THIS LOST WORLD.
Brusatte: IF WE GO BACK TO
ABOUT 170 MILLION YEARS AGO,
SCOTLAND WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
THIS WAS A SUBTROPICAL
WORLD KIND OF LIKE FLORIDA
OR PARTS OF SPAIN ARE TODAY.
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
DISCOVERED PLESIOSAUR REMAINS
ON SKYE IN THE 1990s.
IN FRONT OF ME HERE ARE A
VARIETY OF DIFFERENT FOSSILS,
AND SOME OF THESE ARE PLESIOSAURS.
AND SO SOME OF THESE, OF
COURSE, COME FROM THE ISLE OF SKYE.
THIS IS ONE HERE, AND THIS
IS THE TOOTH OF A PLESIOSAUR
THAT WOULD GRAB AND PUNCTURE FISH.
Narrator: PLESIOSAURS WERE SOME
OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PREDATORS
ON THE PLANET.
PLESIOSAURS LIVED ALL OVER THE WORLD.
WE FIND THEIR FOSSILS PRETTY
MUCH ON EVERY CONTINENT.
THEY RANGED IN SIZE FROM LITTLE ONES
THAT WERE NOT REALLY MUCH BIGGER THAN ME
ALL THE WAY UP TO MONSTERS
THAT WOULD HAVE TERRORIZED THE OCEANS.
A LOT OF THEM WOULD'VE
BEEN AS FEROCIOUS AS A T. REX.
Narrator: BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY LOOK,
PALEONTOLOGISTS LIKE STEVE
CAN'T FIND ANY PLESIOSAUR FOSSILS
LATER THAN THE EVENT THAT
WIPED OUT THE DINOSAURS.
LONG BEFORE LOCH NESS WAS FORMED,
A COMET ALMOST THE SIZE OF MANHATTAN
HIT THE GULF OF MEXICO.
CASCADES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND FIRES
THREW UP MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ASH,
BLOTTING OUT THE SUN.
IT TURNED THE EARTH INTO
AN APOCALYPTIC WASTELAND.
MOST PLANTS DIED, AND
THE FOOD CHAIN BROKE DOWN.
FOR APEX PREDATORS LIKE PLESIOSAURS,
IT WAS CATASTROPHIC.
WITHOUT FISH, THEY WERE DOOMED.
WE SEE THE FOSSILS OF
PLESIOSAURS AND DINOSAURS
AND LOTS OF OTHER CREATURES DISAPPEAR
BASICALLY RIGHT AT THAT
MOMENT THE ASTEROID HIT.
♪♪
AS SCIENTISTS, WE NEVER LIKE
TO SAY ANYTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE,
BUT I AM 99.99999999
INFINITELY PERCENT SURE
THAT PLESIOSAURS DID NOT
SURVIVE THAT EXTINCTION
AND DO NOT LIVE ON IN THE WORLD TODAY.
Narrator: THE FOSSIL EVIDENCE TELLS US
THAT THE CONVENTIONAL PLESIOSAUR
DEFINITELY BECAME EXTINCT.
BUT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN
THE NESSIE PLESIOSAUR THEORY
INSIST THAT A LONE FAMILY
OF THESE CREATURES
COULD'VE SWUM INTO THE
LOCH THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF
THIS LAKE IS STILL A MYSTERY.
LEGEND HAS IT THAT THIS
PLACE WAS ONCE A LUSH VALLEY.
AT THE BOTTOM WAS A MAGICAL WELL,
FULL OF WATER THAT COULD CURE ALL ILLS.
ONE DAY, A WOMAN LEFT IT UNCOVERED
WHEN SHE HEARD HER CHILD CRYING.
WATER ROSE FROM THE WELL,
FLOODING THE VALLEY AND CREATING LOCH NESS.
NESSIE HUNTERS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY.
AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE,
THE SEA COVERED MUCH
OF THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS.
AS THE LAND ROSE AND THE WATERS RECEDED,
A FAMILY OF PLESIOSAURS
SUPPOSEDLY BECAME TRAPPED
IN LOCH NESS.
A RIVER STILL CONNECTS
LOCH NESS TO THE SEA,
SO COULD IT BE TRUE?
JOY REIDENBERG WANTS TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
AT THE MONSTER'S SUPPOSED HABITAT.
-GOOD TO SEE YOU. -GOOD TO SEE YOU, TOO.
WELCOME ABOARD. THANK YOU.
OH, IT'S EXCITING TO BE HERE.
Narrator: SHE JOINS BIOLOGIST ERIC VERSPOOR
TO FIND OUT IF A FAMILY OF PLESIOSAURS
COULD BE TRAPPED HERE.
IT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL SEA.
HOW BIG IS THIS BODY OF WATER?
IT'S MASSIVE.
YOU COULD CONSIDER IT A SEA.
IT'S GOT AS MUCH WATER IN IT
AS ALL THE OTHER LAKES
IN THE WHOLE OF THE U.K.
Narrator: THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM IN HERE
FOR A BIG REPTILE TO HIDE.
BUT IS THERE ENOUGH FOOD FOR ONE?
Dr. Reidenberg: WHENEVER
I SEE REALLY DARK WATER,
I THINK OF THE WATER NEAR WHERE I LIVE,
LONG ISLAND SOUND, OFF OF NEW YORK.
-YEAH. -AND IT'S SO FILLED WITH LIFE.
Narrator: ALL LIVING CREATURES
IN THE LOCH DEPEND ON SUNLIGHT.
ERIC IS GOING TO TEST THE
WATER WITH A REFLECTOR
TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH PENETRATES THE DEPTHS.
AND YOU CAN SEE, YEAH, IT'S PRETTY ORANGE.
AT JUST 10 FEET DOWN, THE
DISK DISAPPEARS FROM SIGHT.
SO, THERE WE ARE AT 4 METERS... GONE.
FISH EAT PLANTLIKE ORGANISMS CALLED ALGAE,
WHICH NEED LIGHT TO GROW.
BUT THE LOCH IS FULL OF
PEAT, WHICH MAKES IT MURKY.
SO IF YOU'RE REALLY AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT,
IT'S GONNA FEEL LIKE NIGHTTIME.
YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
THE BOTTOM OF LOCH NESS IS A DARK WORLD.
FEWER ALGAE MEAN FEWER FISH.
IT'S ONE OF THE LEAST
PRODUCTIVE LOCHS IN SCOTLAND.
JUST A WILD GUESS, BUT YOU MIGHT EXPECT
THAT YOU WOULD HAVE IN THE
ORDER OF 20,000 TO 40,000 FISH.
MOST OF THEM ARE VERY SMALL FISH.
Dr. Reidenberg: SO THIS LAKE
REALLY COULDN'T SUPPORT
AN EVEN BIGGER PREDATOR OF, LET'S SAY,
THE SIZE OF A PLESIOSAUR?
[ BOTH LAUGH ]
BOTTOM LINE IS, THERE WOULDN'T
BE A SUSTAINABLE POPULATION
OF ANY LARGER CREATURE IN HERE.
THERE'S MORE FOOD IN THE RIVERS THEMSELVES,
AND THERE'S FAR MORE
FOOD IN THE MORAY FIRTH.
AH, SO THAT'S WHERE WE
SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR NESSIE.
YES, ABSOLUTELY.
THE LOCH DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH FISH
TO SUSTAIN EVEN A SINGLE
TRAPPED PLESIOSAUR.
JOY SUSPECTS THAT THE LIVING-FOSSIL THEORY
HAS MORE TO DO WITH PEOPLE THAN MONSTERS.
Dr. Reidenberg: WHAT WAS
HAPPENING HERE THAT MADE US THINK
IT WAS A PLESIOSAUR?
PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE,
THE TURN OF THE 19th
INTO THE 20th CENTURY SAW THE DISCOVERY
OF LOTS OF BIG DINOSAURS.
THAT CAPTURED EVERYONE'S IMAGINATION,
AND PERHAPS THEY WANTED
THEIR OWN DINOSAUR RIGHT HERE.
Narrator: BUT COULD A SMALLER PREDATOR
BE SWIMMING IN AND OUT OF THE LAKE?
JOY NEEDS TO LOOK FOR A NEW SUSPECT.
SOME PHOTOS APPEAR TO SHOW A
SHADOWY, SERPENT-LIKE CREATURE
WITH SEVERAL HUMPS.
IF YOU SEE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER,
YOU USUALLY ONLY SEE THE HEAD POKING OUT
OR MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF
ITS BACK WITH A HUMP OR TWO,
MAYBE THE TAIL FLOUNDERING AROUND.
BUT YOU NEVER REALLY GET
TO SEE THE ENTIRE CREATURE.
THERE ARE MANY OTHER STRANGE BEASTS
IN THE SURROUNDING RIVERS.
COULD A SILENT MONSTER BE CREEPING
INTO THIS MYSTERIOUS LAKE?
♪♪
Narrator: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER,
A CENTURIES OLD MYSTERY.
MODERN SCIENCE HAS PROVED
THAT THE MOST FAMOUS CANDIDATE,
A PLESIOSAUR, DIED OUT WITH THE DINOSAURS.
♪♪
BUT DID ANOTHER ANIMAL INSPIRE THE MYTH?
Kerr: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER IS
LIKELY BASED ON REAL CREATURES.
WE OFTEN FIND A HINT OF
TRUTH IN OUR MONSTER STORIES,
AND THEN OUR IMAGINATION
AND CREATIVITY GO TO WORK,
AND WE GET THESE AMAZING BEASTS.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
Narrator: COMPARATIVE
ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
CASTS HER NET WIDER
TO LOOK AT THE SUSPECTS.
MOST SCOTTISH RIVER FISH ARE TOO SMALL
TO BE MISTAKEN FOR A BEAST.
BUT ONE CAN GROW TO MONSTROUS PROPORTIONS.
SO, WE'RE LOOKING AT A FISH
...A REALLY, REALLY BIG FISH.
THIS IS CALLED A STURGEON,
AND IT'S A VERY PRIMITIVE FISH.
THIS ONE'S ABOUT 6 FEET LONG,
BUT THIS IS ACTUALLY SMALL FOR A STURGEON.
THE LONGEST RECORDED
STURGEON IS OVER 15 FEET LONG.
Narrator: IN 1932,
ONE WOMAN TOLD OF A LONG
CROCODILE-LIKE CREATURE.
60 YEARS LATER, ANOTHER EYEWITNESS SAW
A SIMILAR BEAST WITH A
SCALY-PATTERNED BACK.
WAS THIS, IN FACT, A GIANT STURGEON?
THE SCALES OF THESE FISH
ARE MADE OF THE SAME
HARD MATERIAL AS A CROC.
THESE ARE MODIFIED SCALES CALLED SCOOTS,
AND THEY'RE BASICALLY ARMOR.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THE
HEAD IS ALL ARMORED LIKE THIS,
AND THEN THERE ARE THESE LITTLE
BONY PLATES ALL ALONG THE BACK,
AND THEY'RE ALSO ALL ALONG THE SIDE HERE,
AND THESE ARE SOLID.
HEAR THAT?
[ TAPPING ]
Narrator: STURGEONS CAN BE DANGEROUS.
THEY'VE BEEN KNOWN TO LEAP OUT
OF THE WATER, INJURING HUMANS.
THEY DON'T HAVE ANY TEETH
THAT THEY CAN HURT YOU WITH,
BUT THESE ARMOR PLATES ARE
VERY ROUGH AND VERY POINTY.
IF ONE WERE TO KNOCK INTO YOU,
IT'D BE KIND OF LIKE BEING HIT BY A CLUB.
Narrator: IF AN OVERSIZED
STURGEON SWAM INTO THE LOCH,
IT COULD EASILY BE MISTAKEN
FOR A REPTILIAN BEAST.
THIS FISH HAS A GAS BLADDER,
WHICH IS A BUOYANCY DEVICE,
AND OCCASIONALLY, IT MAY NEED
TO GO BACK UP TO THE SURFACE
TO GET MORE AIR INTO THAT GAS BLADDER.
SO IF YOU SAW THIS, YOU MIGHT ASSUME
THAT THIS WAS SOME KIND OF PLESIOSAUR-LIKE
OR DINOSAUR-LIKE ANIMAL
SWIMMING IN THE LAKE.
IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT
A RIVER FISH LIKE THIS
COULD END UP IN LOCH NESS.
Narrator: THE PREHISTORIC
STURGEON FITS SOME ACCOUNTS.
IT COULD EVEN BE THE LARGE BEAST
IN THE STORY OF SAINT COLUMBA.
BUT COULD MORE THAN ONE ANIMAL EXPLAIN
WHY THERE ARE SO MANY
DIFFERENT REPORTS AND IMAGES?
SOME PHOTOS SHOW WHAT LOOKS
LIKE A HUGE MULTI-HUMPED SERPENT.
ONE MAN EVEN CLAIMED HE
SAW AN ANIMAL WRIGGLING
THROUGH THE WATER IN THE 1800s.
SOME OF THESE IMAGES HAVE
NEVER BEEN COMPLETELY EXPLAINED.
COULD NESSIE'S HUMPS BE
THE COILS OF A GIANT SNAKE?
WHEN WE THINK OF A WATER SERPENT,
WE USUALLY THINK OF
SNAKES, SUCH AS THIS ONE HERE.
THIS IS A KINGSNAKE.
EXCEPT THAT WE DON'T KNOW OF ANY SNAKES
THAT ARE SWIMMING IN LOCH NESS.
SO WHAT IT'S MORE LIKELY TO
BE IS SOMETHING THAT IS A FISH,
AN EEL-LIKE BODY SHAPE, SUCH AS THIS.
THIS IS A LAMPREY.
AND LAMPREYS DO LIVE IN THE LAKE
OR IN THE RIVERS NEXT TO THE LAKE.
Narrator: LAMPREYS AND EELS
LOVE SLOW-FLOWING DARK WATER.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT
THE APPEARANCE OF A LAMPREY
THAT EVOKES AN IMAGE OF A SNAKE.
IT'S SHINY, IT'S SMOOTH, IT'S DARK,
IT SLIPS THROUGH YOUR FINGERS
WHEN YOU TRY AND HOLD ON TO IT.
THAT IS NOT AN APPEALING, CUDDLY ANIMAL.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT MOST
PEOPLE WOULD BE AFRAID TO HOLD.
Narrator: A LAMPREY IS FAR TOO SMALL
TO BE A MYTHICAL SERPENT MONSTER.
BUT ONE SPECIES OF SCOTTISH
EEL CAN GROW UP TO 5 FEET LONG.
WHAT'S MORE, THE HUMBLE
SERPENT HAS INSPIRED
MANY TERRIFYING LAKE
MONSTERS THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
IN GREEK MYTH, THE HYDRA WAS A
POISONOUS SNAKE WITH MANY HEADS.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
ISN'T KIND OF ON ITS OWN.
WATER MONSTERS ARE ACTUALLY
QUITE POPULAR MYTHICAL BEASTS.
THE HYDRA LIVED IN A
LAKE IN ANCIENT GREECE.
THE SNAKE APPEARS IN
HUMAN MYTHOLOGY AS A BEAST,
AS AN ANIMAL, EITHER IN
THE FORM OF A SERPENT...
GARDEN OF EDEN...
OR AS A SERPENT/DRAGON
WITH A SERPENT-TYPE FACE,
LIKE A HYDRA WITH MANY HEADS.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER
THE SNAKE LIVES ON LAND OR IN SEA.
IT'S SOMETHING DANGEROUS.
IT'S SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY.
Narrator: TALES OF WATER SERPENTS
MAY HAVE HELPED INSPIRE THE
INCREDIBLE STORIES AT LOCH NESS.
BUT THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN
THE PHOTOS OF GIANT HUMPS
TAKEN IN THE 20th CENTURY.
COULD NESSIE BE A STRAY SERPENT-LIKE BEAST
FROM THE COLD, DARK WATERS
OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN?
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: THE HUNT IS ON FOR
THE REAL LOCH NESS MONSTER.
THE PREHISTORIC STURGEON
MIGHT EXPLAIN REPORTS
OF A LARGE, SCALY BEAST.
BUT SOME PHOTOS PURPORT
TO SHOW A MULTI-HUMPED NESSIE.
THEY'VE DEFIED ATTEMPTS TO DEBUNK THEM.
LOCH NESS IS ONLY A FEW MILES FROM THE SEA.
COULD A LOST SEA CREATURE
EXPLAIN THE STORIES
OF A MONSTROUS SERPENT?
PEOPLE LIVING IN NORTHERN
EUROPE HAD A HABIT
OF TRANSFORMING UNKNOWN OCEAN CREATURES
INTO MYTHICAL BEASTS.
THEY MISTOOK THE FINS OF KILLER WHALES
FOR THE TIP OF THE DEADLY ZIPHIUS,
A BEAST THAT CAN SINK BIG SHIPS.
THEY RECAST THE SNAKE ISH
AS A MONSTROUS KILLER SEA SERPENT...
...AND TURN THE TUSK OF
THE NARWHAL PORPOISE
INTO THE PRICELESS HORN OF A UNICORN.
A SEA MONSTER LENDED
MANY DIFFERENT QUALITIES
OF MANY DIFFERENT
CREATURES YOU'LL SEE IN THE SEA.
WE REALLY DON'T KNOW THE COMPLETE
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF THE SEA.
THERE'S A CREATURE CALLED AN OARFISH
WHICH IS EXTREMELY WEIRD-LOOKING.
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, ONE WILL
SHOW UP ON A BEACH SOMEWHERE,
AND IT JUST FREAKS PEOPLE OUT
BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS A MONSTER.
"IT'S A MONSTER! LOOK!
WHO'S EVER SEEN THIS BEFORE?!"
Narrator: IT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY
THAT A GIANT OARFISH
COULD BE SLIPPING IN AND
OUT OF THIS LOCH UNDETECTED.
THE WATER IS NOT SALTY ENOUGH
FOR THESE WEIRD OCEAN-DWELLING FISH.
BUT JOY WANTS TO FIND
OUT IF ANOTHER LOST ANIMAL
COULD SOMEHOW LOOK LIKE
A LEGENDARY SEA SERPENT.
SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SEEN
ONE HUMP OR TWO HUMPS
COMING OUT OF THE WATER.
AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THERE ISN'T ANYTHING
THAT SWIMS THAT WAY IN A LAKE.
BUT WE'RE NOT FAR FROM THE OCEAN,
AND I'M WONDERING IF SOME OF
THE THINGS WE MAY SEE OUT HERE
MIGHT'VE INSPIRED FOLKS AROUND THE LOCH
TO THINK THAT THERE WAS A LIVING ANIMAL
THAT WAS MAKING THOSE HUMPS.
[ ENGINE STARTS ]
Narrator: JOY HEADS OUT
TOWARDS THE NORTH SEA.
SHE SUSPECTS THAT A SEA MAMMAL
COULD BE CREATING THE
ILLUSION OF A SERPENTINE BEAST.
Dr. Reidenberg: THE SEAGULLS ARE PICKING
FISH OUT OF A GROUP THAT'S IN THERE,
AND THAT'S WHERE I SAW A FIN.
JOY THINKS SHE'S SEEN A DOLPHIN FEEDING
ALONGSIDE A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS,
BUT WHATEVER IT IS DISAPPEARS.
SO SHE HEADS INTO DEEPER WATER.
ARE THEY FEEDING ON THE
SAME FISH AS DOLPHINS?
SO THAT WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO CHECK OUT.
SUDDENLY, THERE IS MOVEMENT IN THE WATER.
THIS TIME, IT'S A HERD OF SEALS.
RIGHT. YOU'RE DEAD ON.
YOU SEE THE SEAL? IT'S LIKE AT 12 O'CLOCK.
JOY IS INTRIGUED BY THE
WAY THESE ANIMALS DIVE.
BACK ON LAND, JOY EXAMINES HER PHOTOS.
THE SEALS LOOK LIKE HUMPS
AS THEY DIVE INTO THE WATER.
OF ALL THE MARINE MAMMALS
THAT ARC THROUGH THE WATER,
THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE A SERPENT,
SEALS ARE PROBABLY THE BEST BET,
BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PROJECTIONS
STICKING OUT OF THEIR BACK.
Narrator: SEALS ARE KNOWN
TO SNEAK INTO THE RIVER NESS.
JOY THINKS THAT A GROUP OF
THEM COULD MIMIC THE APPEARANCE
OF A SINGLE CREATURE WITH HUMPS.
Dr. Reidenberg: USUALLY, I ONLY CAUGHT
ONE AT A TIME ON THE CAMERA HERE,
BUT IN THE DISTANCE, I COULD
SEE A FEW MORE OF THEM
ARCING AT THE SAME TIME.
SO IF YOU IMAGINE SEEING
THAT FROM FAR AWAY,
IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IT WAS
ONE LONG SNAKELIKE ANIMAL
MAKING EACH ONE OF THOSE ARCS.
AND SO YOU'D END UP WITH A
SERIES OF HUMPS ALL IN A ROW.
NOT TOO DIFFERENT FROM
SOME OF THE REPORTED SIGHTINGS
OF OUR LOCH NESS MONSTER.
Narrator: CENTURIES AGO,
THE PEOPLE OF LOCH NESS
WOULD'VE KNOWN LITTLE ABOUT SEA MAMMALS.
THEIR INFORMATION CAME FROM A BIBLE
OR STORIES OF SAINTS DRIVING OUT MONSTERS.
Nubia: SO THE IDEA OF NESSIE,
THE REPTILE THAT LURKS IN THE DARK,
IS CONNECTED TO A NOTION
ABOUT THE SERPENT, EVEN THE DEVIL.
AND IT GOES ALL THE WAY
BACK TO BABYLONIAN STORIES.
SO THERE'S THIS IDEA THAT
THE BLACKNESS AND THE EVIL
ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER.
Dr. Reidenberg: IF YOU
SEE SEALS IN THE OCEAN,
YOU WOULDN'T THINK ANYTHING
WEIRD IS HAPPENING THERE.
BUT IF YOU SEE SOMETHING
THAT'S OUT OF CONTEXT...
SEALS IN A LAKE...
IT MIGHT START PLAYING TRICKS ON YOUR MIND,
PARTICULARLY IF YOU START
COMBINING IT WITH LOCAL STORIES.
Narrator: SEALS MIGHT EXPLAIN
SOME OF THE SIGHTINGS,
BUT THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN PHOTOS LIKE THIS ONE
THAT APPEAR TO SHOW HUGE HUMPS.
IF THEY ARE GENUINE, COULD IT
BE THAT THE WATERS OF THE LOCH
ARE ALSO CREATING THE
ILLUSION OF A CREATURE?
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT OUR PERCEPTIONS
OF THERE BEING A BEAST IS
ENTIRELY A TRICK OF THE LIGHT...
OUR IMAGINATION EXPANDED THROUGH A DESIRE
TO SEE SOMETHING FABULOUS
WHEN, IN FACT, IT'S A NATURAL PHENOMENON.
Narrator: NOW THIS HUGE
ARTIFICIAL WAVE TANK
COULD AT LAST CRACK
THE SECRET OF LOCH NESS.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST
JOY REIDENBERG IS ON THE HUNT
FOR THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
A NUMBER OF CREATURES COULD EXPLAIN
THE HUNDREDS OF SIGHTINGS.
BUT FOR JOY, SO FAR, NONE COVERS ALL BASES.
Dr. Reidenberg: THE PROBLEM
WITH THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS THAT THE DESCRIPTIONS
ARE ALL VERY DIFFERENT.
SO MAYBE IT'S NOT AN ANIMAL.
MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE
ENVIRONMENT OF THE LAKE ITSELF
THAT EXPLAINS THESE SIGHTINGS.
Narrator: SOME OF THE REPORTS
ARE HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS.
BUT CAN THOUSANDS OF SIGHTINGS
REALLY BE DISMISSED AS PRACTICAL JOKES?
SOME SKEPTICS BELIEVE
THAT WEIRD WAVE FORMATIONS
COULD ALSO LEAD PEOPLE TO
SEE A MONSTER THAT ISN'T THERE.
SCIENTIST GARETH WILLIAMS WANTS TO FIND OUT
IF WAVES COULD LOOK LIKE
THE HUMPS OF A SERPENT.
Williams: WE'VE HAD
THOUSANDS OF EYEWITNESSES,
AND I THINK THE NATURE OF THE MYSTERY
REALLY IS THE RANGE
OF POSSIBILITY OF THINGS
THAT THEY COULD'VE SEEN.
I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE
REPORT IT IN ALL HONESTY,
AND WE HAVE TO TAKE
THOSE REPORTS SERIOUSLY.
Narrator: HE INVESTIGATES AT THIS HUGE
ARTIFICIAL WAVE TANK AT PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND.
Williams: THIS IS OUR OCEAN BASIN.
SO WE'VE GOT FOUR HYDRAULIC JACKS
THAT LIFT OUR FLOOR UP AND DOWN.
SO THE WHOLE FLOOR GOES UP AND DOWN.
THE WHOLE FLOOR COMES UP AND DOWN.
THIS WAVE MACHINE WILL TRY TO
REPLICATE THE WAKE OF A BOAT.
LOCH NESS MAY LOOK EMPTY,
BUT IT'S A BUSY HIGHWAY.
IN THE CONTROL ROOM, ENGINEER MARTIN HAHN
FIRES UP THE MACHINE.
PADDLES SET OFF A SERIES OF GENTLE RIPPLES.
SUDDENLY, A BIGGER WAVE
APPEARS IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM.
THAT'S THE WAVE APPEARING NOW,
JUST COMING UP FROM NOWHERE.
Narrator: THIS IS WHAT'S
KNOWN AS A FOCUSED WAVE.
IT MAY NOT LOOK BIG AND IMPRESSIVE,
BUT IT CAN APPEAR COMPLETELY BY SURPRISE.
ON THE LOCH, THIS COULD HAPPEN
WHEN THE WIND WHIPS UP FAST WAVES
AND THEY CATCH UP WITH
THE BOW WAVE OF A SHIP.
THE WAVES COMBINE AND FORM LARGE CRESTS
THAT COULD BE MISTAKEN FOR MONSTER HUMPS
RISING OUT OF THE WATER
AND DISAPPEARING AGAIN.
♪♪
SO, WE SHOULD HAVE A WAVE. THERE IT IS.
SO, IF YOU'RE LOOKING
AT THAT FROM THE SHORE
AND IT WAS SOME DISTANCE
OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOCH,
IT WOULD LOOK LIKE SOMETHING VERY SOLID.
Narrator: THE WAVES WOULD
BE IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT
ON THE LOCH.
COULD THEY EXPLAIN GHOSTLY
HUMPS THAT RISE FROM THE WATER
AND THEN VANISH?
IF YOU'RE WALKING ALONG
THE SIDE OF THE LOCH,
WALKING YOUR DOG, CHATTING TO SOMEBODY,
SOMETHING CATCHES YOUR
EYE, YOU TURN AROUND,
AND YOU SEE SOMETHING,
LIKE, ALONG THE WATER,
BEHAVING PECULIARLY,
YOU COULD WELL BE FOOLED INTO THINKING
THAT IT WAS SOMETHING ANIMATE.
Narrator: ANOTHER THEORY
SUGGESTS THAT THE LAKE'S
UNUSUAL GEOGRAPHY COULD
ALSO CREATE STRANGE WAVES.
LOCH NESS IS OVER 23 MILES
LONG BUT VERY NARROW.
AND THE BANKS ARE STEEP AND ROCKY.
SO WHEN WAVES FROM BOATS HIT THE SIDES,
THEY CAN BE REFLECTED BACK INWARDS.
AS THEY COLLIDE, THEY
COULD APPEAR TO STAND STILL
AND LOOK LIKE A PROCESSION OF SOLID HUMPS.
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS COULD BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY SIGHTINGS.
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
IF THERE'S NOTHING OUT
OF THE ORDINARY HERE,
WHY IS THE MYTH OF THE
MONSTER SO UNSHAKABLE?
NO OTHER LOCH IN SCOTLAND
HAS SUCH AN ICONIC LEGEND.
♪♪
BUT AN ALMOST IDENTICAL
SERPENT IS SAID TO LURK IN ICELAND.
COULD THE ORIGINS OF BOTH MONSTERS
LIE IN OUR DEEPEST, DARKEST FEARS?
[ MAN SCREAMS ]
♪♪
Narrator: LOCH NESS IN SCOTLAND
IS FINALLY REVEALING ITS DARKEST SECRETS.
MANY DIFFERENT CREATURES MAY BE BEHIND
THE THOUSANDS OF SIGHTINGS.
BUT IF THERE IS NOTHING UNUSUAL HERE,
HOW DID THE MYTH BEGIN?
Li: IN CELTIC MYTHOLOGY,
THERE'S A LONG TRADITION
OF SUPERNATURAL CREATURES LIVING IN LAKES.
SO IT'S NOT JUST LOCH NESS.
WHY WOULD HUMAN BEINGS
CREATE MONSTERS, DRAGONS, BEASTS
OF THE WATERS, LEVIATHANS
IN THE LURKING DEPTHS?
Narrator: THE FINAL PIECE IN THE PUZZLE
LIES HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY
WITH ANOTHER LEGENDARY BEAST.
BENEATH THE SNOW-CAPPED
MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN ICELAND
SITS LAKE LAGARFLJOT.
ACCORDING TO LOCAL LEGEND,
IT'S HOME TO A FEROCIOUS WATER SERPENT.
THE TALE TELLS OF A YOUNG GIRL
WHO RECEIVES A GOLD RING FROM HER MOTHER.
SHE PUTS IT IN A BOX WITH A TINY SERPENT
THAT CAN MAGICALLY MULTIPLY GOLD.
THE SERPENT GROWS QUICKLY.
IT GETS SO LARGE THAT THE
GIRL THROWS IT INTO THE LAKE.
BUT EVEN THE ICY WATERS CAN'T STOP IT.
IT GROWS INTO A MONSTER
THAT TERRORIZES THE LOCALS.
[ CREATURE ROARS, MAN SCREAMS ]
EVENTUALLY, IT STRETCHES FOR MILES,
WITH HUMPS SO BIG, A
BOAT CAN PASS UNDER THEM.
ICELANDER STEFAN SVEINSSON INVESTIGATES
LAGARFLJOT'S MYSTERIOUS RESIDENT.
[ CREATURE ROARS, MAN SCREAMS ]
REPORTS OF A LAKE SERPENT
HERE GO BACK NEARLY 700 YEARS.
EARLY MAPS EVEN WARN TRAVELERS ABOUT IT.
YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THE LAKE LAGARFLJOT
IS ACTUALLY REPRESENTED QUITE WELL.
AND AN INSCRIPTION IN LATIN
STATES THAT, IN THIS LAKE,
THERE IS A HUGE MONSTER,
DANGEROUS TO PEOPLE,
AND IS OFTEN SEEN AHEAD
OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.
SO THIS IS VERY MUCH IN LINE
WITH THE LEGENDS OF THE TIME,
THAT THE MONSTER OF THE
LAKE WOULD SHOW ITSELF
AHEAD OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
OR DEATHS OF PEOPLE OF NOTE.
Narrator: THE MONSTER IS TERRIFYING.
BUT LIKE NESSIE,
THERE'S NO HARD PROOF THAT IT EXISTS.
SO WHY ARE SO MANY
PEOPLE CONVINCED IT'S REAL?
STEFAN.
STEFAN HEADS OUT ONTO THE LAKE.
HE THINKS THE ICELANDIC
LEGEND MAY HAVE STARTED
AS A PRACTICAL WARNING ABOUT THESE WATERS.
Sveinsson: THE MONSTER ITSELF CAN REPRESENT
HOW YOU HAVE TO RESPECT NATURE.
IT IS A DANGEROUS BODY OF WATER,
AND IT HAS CLAIMED A FEW HUNDRED
LIVES THROUGHOUT THE CENTURY.
Narrator: THE MURKINESS OF THESE WATERS
ALSO MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO
KNOW FOR SURE WHAT'S IN THEM.
THERE'S ALMOST NO VISIBILITY IN THE WATER.
AND IF YOU WOULD DROP
SOMETHING IN THE WATER...
IT WILL DISAPPEAR ALMOST INSTANTLY.
VISIBILITY IS A FEW CENTIMETERS, AT BEST.
YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL WHAT'S UNDERNEATH.
YOU KIND OF JUST HAVE
THE FEELING OF VASTNESS.
WHERE YOU LIVE IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT,
ENVIRONMENT SHAPES THE STORIES
AND THE MYTHS THAT YOU TELL.
Kamil: I THINK FOR THINGS LIKE THE SEA,
WHERE YOU CAN'T SEE TO THE BOTTOM OF IT
OR A DENSE FOREST WHERE
YOU CAN'T SEE ALL THE WAY IN,
IT'S VERY NATURAL TO WANT TO
SPECULATE ABOUT WHAT'S IN THERE,
ABOUT WHAT COULD BE IN THERE.
Narrator: A FEAR OF WILD PLACES
IS AT THE HEART OF THIS MYTH.
I THINK MOST ICELANDERS LIKE TO LEAVE
A LITTLE DOUBT WITH EVERYTHING.
WE DON'T NECESSARILY BELIEVE
IN ALL OF OUR FOLK STORIES
OR IN THE MONSTERS OR IN THE ELVES,
BUT WHEN YOU LOOK UPON THIS
HUGE BODY OF WATER LIKE THE LAKE,
WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT
THERE'S NOT A MONSTER IN THERE?
Narrator: JOY REIDENBERG
THINKS THESE SAME PRIMAL FEARS
COULD ALSO EXPLAIN THE
RISE OF THE LOCH NESS MYTH
AND ITS CONTINUING POPULARITY.
Dr. Reidenberg: THERE'S
SOMETHING VERY MYSTERIOUS
ABOUT DEEP, DARK WATERS
THAT WE CAN'T SEE INTO.
THEY REALLY ARE THE UNCHARTED FRONTIER.
BIG, SCARY AQUATIC BEASTS ARE
REALLY NOT NEW IN MYTHOLOGY.
BUT I THINK EACH GROUP OF PEOPLE
REPACKAGED IT FOR THEIR TIME,
DEPENDING ON WHAT WAS POPULAR.
Li: PUBLIC IMAGINATION STILL HAS
A HUGE APPETITE FOR MONSTERS.
I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT
MOVIES LIKE "JURASSIC PARK"
OR EVEN "KING KONG,"
THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THESE, LIKE,
HUGE CREATURES FROM THE PAST
THAT ARE STILL LIVING IN OUR WORLD TODAY.
Narrator: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
EXISTS IN A TWILIGHT WORLD
BETWEEN FACT AND FICTION.
MYTH-MAKING IS NOT UNIQUE
TO THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT IS STILL HAPPENING ALL THE TIME.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS A MODERN FAIRY TALE,
A MODERN STORY THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE TOLD.
I THINK IT'S IN EVERY HUMAN
THE DESIRE TO EXPLORE
AND TO HOLD ON TO THAT HOPE
THAT MAYBE YOU'RE THE ONE
THAT CAN MAKE THE NEXT BIG DISCOVERY.
Narrator: THIS FAMOUS MYTHICAL BEAST
IS THE CREATION OF OUR
DEEPEST, DARKEST FEARS
AND OUR DESIRE TO LIVE IN
A WORLD FULL OF MONSTERS.
PERHAPS THE ANSWER IS THAT
PEOPLE JUST LOVE A GOOD STORY.
THEY LOVE A MYSTERY.
SOMETHING THAT CAN
SCARE THEM JUST A LITTLE BIT.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
A MYTHICAL BEAST IN THE MODERN WORLD.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER DATES
BACK TO A MYTH THAT'S CENTURIES OLD.
IT WAS TERRIFYING. IT COULD EAT YOU,
IT COULD DRAG YOU TO YOUR DEATH.
[ ROARS ]
IT'S TRULY A MONSTER.
Narrator: WHAT IS REALLY IN THESE WATERS?
THERE IS THE POTENTIAL THAT
MAYBE IT IS STILL OUT THERE.
IT'S JUST REAL ENOUGH
TO KEEP THE HOPE ALIVE.
Narrator: NOW INVESTIGATORS
USE THE LATEST SCIENCE
TO UNRAVEL THIS LAST GREAT MONSTER MYSTERY.
COULD THE CREATURE BE A LIVING FOSSIL...
A SURVIVOR FROM THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS?
Brusatte: THESE WERE
NOT SWEET LITTLE ANIMALS.
THEY WERE EVERY BIT
AS FEROCIOUS AS A T. REX.
Narrator: OR DOES ANOTHER
BEAST LURK IN THIS LAKE?
Dr. Reidenberg: SO, IF YOU
SAW THIS IN LOCH NESS,
YOU MIGHT THINK YOU WERE
LOOKING AT AN ALLIGATOR.
Narrator: THE HUNT FOR THE
TRUTH BEHIND THIS MONSTER
WILL REVEAL OUR DEEPEST FEARS...
MYTH-MAKING IS NOT UNIQUE
TO THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT IS STILL HAPPENING ALL THE TIME.
Narrator: ...AND THE INCREDIBLE SECRET
AT THE BOTTOM OF LOCH NESS.
♪♪
IN THE HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND,
THERE'S A LAKE THAT'S THOUGHT TO BE HOME
TO A HUGE AND TERRIFYING CREATURE...
♪♪
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
Kerr: EVERYONE REALLY
HAS HEARD OF LOCH NESS.
IT IS UP THERE IN THE
TOP FIVE MONSTER MYTHS.
♪♪
WE HAVE THIS VERY KIND
OF TOURIST-FRIENDLY IMAGE
OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER, BUT IN ORIGIN,
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER WAS SOMETHING
THAT WAS ACTUALLY QUITE SCARY.
Narrator: KNOWN AS NESSIE,
THIS LEGENDARY BEAST
BAFFLES MODERN SCIENCE.
WHAT COULD EXPLAIN
NEARLY 3,000 SIGHTINGS HERE?
THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF PEOPLE
WHO BELIEVE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS AN ACTUAL LIVING BEING
THAT YOU CAN GO TO SCOTLAND,
AND IF YOU HANG OUT LONG
ENOUGH ALONG THE SHORE,
SOONER OR LATER, YOU'LL SEE
THIS THING COME CRUISING BY.
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE
ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
IS AN EXPERT ON MARINE BIOLOGY.
SHE'S ON A MISSION TO
FIND OUT ONCE AND FOR ALL
IF A REAL BEAST LIES BEHIND
THE LOCH NESS STORIES.
Dr. Reidenberg: THERE ARE LOTS OF
WATER MONSTERS IN MYTHOLOGY.
IN FACT, SOME OF THEM,
WE THINK WE UNDERSTAND.
THE PROBLEM WITH LOCH NESS
IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE AN ANIMAL
THAT WE CAN PIN IT ON.
Narrator: SO JOY TURNS
TO WHAT WE DO KNOW...
THE FIRST EVER RECORDED SIGHTING
OF A TERRIFYING MONSTER HERE.
IN THE 6th CENTURY, A
CHRISTIAN SAINT CALLED COLUMBA
TRAVELED TO SCOTLAND WITH HIS FOLLOWERS.
NEAR THE RIVER NESS,
THEY WITNESSED THE BURIAL OF A MAN.
THE LOCALS CLAIMED A GIANT WATER BEAST
MAULED HIS BODY AND DROWNED HIM.
AS COLUMBA'S MEN LOOKED
FOR A WAY TO CROSS THE RIVER,
THE BEAST REAPPEARED.
COLUMBA MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS
TO PROTECT HIS DISCIPLE... [ BEAST ROARS ]
...AND MANAGED TO REPEL THE MONSTER,
FORCING IT TO RETREAT BACK
INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE RIVER NESS.
♪♪
THE BEST ACCOUNT WE HAVE
OF AN ACTUAL INTERACTION
WITH THE BEAST IS SAINT COLUMBA.
BUT IT DOESN'T GIVE US ANY EVIDENCE
OF WHAT THE BEAST LOOKED LIKE.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SHAPE,
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SIZE,
WE DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT HAS TEETH.
Narrator: WHAT KIND OF MONSTER
COULD DRAG A MAN TO HIS DEATH?
JOY EXAMINES THE EARLIEST
PHOTOS OF WHAT MAY BE THE BEAST.
IN THE 1930s, THERE WAS A
SUDDEN EXPLOSION OF SIGHTINGS.
ONE PERSON DESCRIBES
SEEING A LONG-NECKED CREATURE
WITH A PONDEROUS BODY.
NEWSPAPERS DUBBED IT A PLESIOSAUR,
AN AQUATIC REPTILE SUPPOSEDLY
EXTINCT FOR 66 MILLION YEARS.
THERE'S THIS ONE OVER
HERE THAT SHOWS SOMETHING
SWIMMING IN THE WATER TOWARDS THE CASTLE.
AND YOU LOOK AT THIS ONE OVER HERE,
IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING
SPLASHING IN THE WATER
THAT HAS A SNAKE-LIKE TAIL TO IT.
Narrator: MOST OF THE IMAGES ARE BLURRY.
SOME ARE ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE.
IT LOOKS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE
A LONG-NECKED DINOSAUR
THAT I USED TO PLAY WITH AS A KID.
Narrator: SO, COULD A PLESIOSAUR
REALLY BE HIDING IN THIS LAKE?
♪♪
[ MAN SCREAMING ]
Dr. Reidenberg: STRANGER
THINGS HAVE HAPPENED,
AND WE HAVE TO KEEP AN OPEN MIND,
BECAUSE THERE ARE, AFTER ALL,
LOTS OF STORIES OF SIGHTINGS.
♪♪
Narrator: TODAY, THERE'S
ONLY ONE PLACE IN SCOTLAND
WHERE YOU'RE GUARANTEED
TO FIND A PLESIOSAUR...
THE HUNTERIAN MUSEUM IN GLASGOW.
♪♪
Dr. Reidenberg: THIS IS OUR PRIME SUSPECT.
THIS IS A PRETTY IMPRESSIVE-LOOKING ANIMAL.
WE'RE LOOKING AT SOMETHING
THAT'S ROUGHLY THE SIZE
OF A KILLER WHALE.
Narrator: THESE HUGE MARINE ANIMALS
WERE NOT QUITE AS AGILE
AS PEOPLE IMAGINED THEM IN THE 1930s.
BUT AS AN AIR-BREATHING REPTILE,
A PLESIOSAUR COULD HAVE
RAISED ITS HEAD ABOVE THE WAVES.
Dr. Reidenberg: IT COULD
LIFT ITS HEAD A LITTLE BIT
BUT NOT ALL THE WAY UP LIKE A SWAN.
THIS NECK HAS ALL THESE
SPINY PROCESSES STICKING UP.
THESE WOULD HAVE LIMITED HOW
FAR BACK IT COULD PULL ITS NECK,
BECAUSE ONCE THE
PROCESSES TOUCH EACH OTHER,
THAT'S THE LIMIT OF HOW FAR IT CAN GO.
Narrator: THE PLESIOSAUR WAS FEROCIOUS...
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
...JUST LIKE THE ORIGINAL BEAST
IN THE LEGEND OF SAINT COLUMBA.
THIS IS A PREDATOR.
THIS ANIMAL WAS NOT EATING PLANTS.
THESE TEETH ARE GRASPING TEETH,
AND THEY'RE TO GRAB
SLIPPERY THINGS, LIKE FISH,
AND HOLD IT IN PLACE.
IT REMINDS ME A LOT OF
THE HEAD OF A CROCODILE.
Narrator: TO JOY, THE SHAPE
OF THE PREDATOR'S HEAD
SUGGESTS THAT IT COULD EVEN
AMBUSH PREY LIKE A CROCODILE.
IT'S REALLY ARROWHEAD-SHAPED,
WHICH MEANS IT COULD SNUG THAT HEAD IN
RIGHT AGAINST THE SHORELINE.
IT WOULD BE UNDER THE
WATER AND THEN... SURPRISE!
THIS MOUTH COMES UP WITH THESE TEETH
AND JUST GRABS WHATEVER'S
WALKING ALONG THE SHORELINE.
THAT'S A PRETTY SCARY THING TO ENCOUNTER.
Narrator: THE PLESIOSAUR TICKS MANY BOXES,
BUT COULD ONE STILL BE ALIVE TODAY?
IN HER LABORATORY, JOY EXAMINES
ONE TYPE OF SEA CREATURE
THAT PREDATES THE DINOSAURS.
Dr. Reidenberg: WE'RE LOOKING
AT A BEARSDEN SHARK.
IT'S A FOSSIL THAT WAS FOUND
NEAR GLASGOW IN SCOTLAND.
TESTS SHOW THAT THIS
FOSSIL IS 330 MILLION YEARS OLD,
AND YET, MODERN SHARKS
LOOK REMARKABLY LIKE THIS.
Narrator: SHARKS HAVE SURVIVED
FOR MORE THAN 400 MILLION YEARS.
TODAY'S SPECIES ARE SMALLER,
BUT THEY SHARE THE SAME
BASIC DESIGN AS THEIR ANCESTORS.
Dr. Reidenberg: THIS IS A DOGFISH,
A RELATIVELY SMALL MODERN SHARK.
AND IF WE LOOK AT THE TAIL, WHAT YOU NOTICE
IS THAT THE SKELETON
GOES INTO THE TOP PART.
IT DOESN'T FORK AND GO INTO BOTH PARTS
OR STOP AND JUST HAVE RAYS.
AND LOOK... THE BEARSDEN
SHARK HAS THE SAME THING,
AND THAT'S UNIQUE TO THESE FISH.
Narrator: ALL SPECIES THAT
HAVE SURVIVED FROM THE ERA
OF THE DINOSAURS OR EARLIER
HAVE EVOLVED AND CHANGED.
BUT SOME ARE STILL ALMOST INDISTINGUISHABLE
FROM THEIR PREHISTORIC COUSINS.
THIS FISH, CALLED A COELACANTH,
ACTUALLY EVOLVED HUNDREDS
OF MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO,
LONG BEFORE DINOSAURS.
THIS FISH WAS THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT.
IT WAS ONLY KNOWN FROM FOSSILS.
♪♪
Narrator: COELACANTHS LIVED
ALONGSIDE PLESIOSAURS
UNTIL ABOUT 66 MILLION YEARS
AGO WHEN BOTH DIED OUT,
OR SO IT SEEMED.
IN 1938, A SOUTH AFRICAN FISHERMAN
CAUGHT A LIVING COELACANTH.
AND IN THE 1990s,
ANOTHER ONE EVEN SHOWED UP
AT AN INDONESIAN FISH MARKET.
IT TURNS OUT THAT, AGAINST ALL THE ODDS,
A FEW COELACANTH SURVIVED,
HIDING IN THE DARK DEPTHS OF THE OCEAN.
COULD A PLESIOSAUR
NESSIE HAVE DONE THE SAME?
Dr. Reidenberg: SOMETIMES WE CAN BE WRONG.
SOMETHING WE THOUGHT WAS AN EXTINCT ANIMAL
WE ONLY KNEW FROM
FOSSILS IS STILL ALIVE TODAY,
RELATIVELY UNCHANGED,
IN THE SAME BODY FORM.
Narrator: IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE.
IS A PREHISTORIC RELIC REALLY HIDING
IN THIS REMOTE CORNER OF SCOTLAND?
THE HUNT FOR THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
S ACROSS THE WATER TO A
REAL LIVE DINOSAUR ISLAND.
[ MUFFLED SCREAM ]
[ THUNDER RUMBLES ]
♪♪
Narrator: THE HUNT IS ON FOR THE TRUTH
BEHIND THE MYTH OF THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
A PLESIOSAUR SEEMS TO MATCH
SOME OF THE PHOTOS AND ACCOUNTS.
COULD THIS CREATURE FROM
THE AGE OF THE DINOSAURS
BE LURKING IN THESE WATERS?
MOST OF THE MODERN MYTHICAL BEASTS
HAVE WAYS THAT BELIEVERS TRY
TO CONNECT THEM TO THE PAST.
THERE ARE THOSE THAT BELIEVE
THAT BIGFOOT OR SASQUATCH
OR THE YETI ARE THESE KIND
OF SURVIVING POPULATIONS
OF CREATURES.
THIS NOTION THAT THERE'S,
LIKE, A RELIC FROM PREHISTORY
THAT IS STILL OUT THERE SOMEWHERE
POINTS TO THE FACT THAT OUR WORLD
IS STILL NOT COMPLETELY EXPLAINABLE.
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST
JOY REIDENBERG INVESTIGATES
HOW A PLESIOSAUR MIGHT HAVE
MADE IT INTO THE MODERN WORLD.
Dr. Reidenberg: FOR A
PLESIOSAUR TO BE ALIVE TODAY,
IT WOULD HAVE TO OVERCOME
A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES.
IT'S EITHER IMMORTAL,
OR THERE'S A WHOLE FAMILY OF
THEM LIVING IN HERE UNDETECTED,
AND THEN, OF COURSE, IT WOULD
HAVE TO HAVE FOUND A WAY
INTO THIS LAKE FROM THE OCEAN.
IF THAT ALL HAPPENED,
THAT WOULD BE AMAZING.
Narrator: THE FIRST QUESTION TO ANSWER IS,
DID PLESIOSAURS EVER LIVE IN
THE SEAS AROUND SCOTLAND?
A CLUE LIES IN THE
WINDSWEPT ISLAND OF SKYE.
THE BEACHES HERE ARE A
PARADISE FOR FOSSIL HUNTERS.
PALEONTOLOGIST STEVE BRUSATTE
EXPLORES THIS LOST WORLD.
Brusatte: IF WE GO BACK TO
ABOUT 170 MILLION YEARS AGO,
SCOTLAND WAS VERY DIFFERENT.
THIS WAS A SUBTROPICAL
WORLD KIND OF LIKE FLORIDA
OR PARTS OF SPAIN ARE TODAY.
Narrator: INVESTIGATORS
DISCOVERED PLESIOSAUR REMAINS
ON SKYE IN THE 1990s.
IN FRONT OF ME HERE ARE A
VARIETY OF DIFFERENT FOSSILS,
AND SOME OF THESE ARE PLESIOSAURS.
AND SO SOME OF THESE, OF
COURSE, COME FROM THE ISLE OF SKYE.
THIS IS ONE HERE, AND THIS
IS THE TOOTH OF A PLESIOSAUR
THAT WOULD GRAB AND PUNCTURE FISH.
Narrator: PLESIOSAURS WERE SOME
OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PREDATORS
ON THE PLANET.
PLESIOSAURS LIVED ALL OVER THE WORLD.
WE FIND THEIR FOSSILS PRETTY
MUCH ON EVERY CONTINENT.
THEY RANGED IN SIZE FROM LITTLE ONES
THAT WERE NOT REALLY MUCH BIGGER THAN ME
ALL THE WAY UP TO MONSTERS
THAT WOULD HAVE TERRORIZED THE OCEANS.
A LOT OF THEM WOULD'VE
BEEN AS FEROCIOUS AS A T. REX.
Narrator: BUT NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY LOOK,
PALEONTOLOGISTS LIKE STEVE
CAN'T FIND ANY PLESIOSAUR FOSSILS
LATER THAN THE EVENT THAT
WIPED OUT THE DINOSAURS.
LONG BEFORE LOCH NESS WAS FORMED,
A COMET ALMOST THE SIZE OF MANHATTAN
HIT THE GULF OF MEXICO.
CASCADES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS AND FIRES
THREW UP MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ASH,
BLOTTING OUT THE SUN.
IT TURNED THE EARTH INTO
AN APOCALYPTIC WASTELAND.
MOST PLANTS DIED, AND
THE FOOD CHAIN BROKE DOWN.
FOR APEX PREDATORS LIKE PLESIOSAURS,
IT WAS CATASTROPHIC.
WITHOUT FISH, THEY WERE DOOMED.
WE SEE THE FOSSILS OF
PLESIOSAURS AND DINOSAURS
AND LOTS OF OTHER CREATURES DISAPPEAR
BASICALLY RIGHT AT THAT
MOMENT THE ASTEROID HIT.
♪♪
AS SCIENTISTS, WE NEVER LIKE
TO SAY ANYTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE,
BUT I AM 99.99999999
INFINITELY PERCENT SURE
THAT PLESIOSAURS DID NOT
SURVIVE THAT EXTINCTION
AND DO NOT LIVE ON IN THE WORLD TODAY.
Narrator: THE FOSSIL EVIDENCE TELLS US
THAT THE CONVENTIONAL PLESIOSAUR
DEFINITELY BECAME EXTINCT.
BUT THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN
THE NESSIE PLESIOSAUR THEORY
INSIST THAT A LONE FAMILY
OF THESE CREATURES
COULD'VE SWUM INTO THE
LOCH THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF
THIS LAKE IS STILL A MYSTERY.
LEGEND HAS IT THAT THIS
PLACE WAS ONCE A LUSH VALLEY.
AT THE BOTTOM WAS A MAGICAL WELL,
FULL OF WATER THAT COULD CURE ALL ILLS.
ONE DAY, A WOMAN LEFT IT UNCOVERED
WHEN SHE HEARD HER CHILD CRYING.
WATER ROSE FROM THE WELL,
FLOODING THE VALLEY AND CREATING LOCH NESS.
NESSIE HUNTERS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY.
AFTER THE LAST ICE AGE,
THE SEA COVERED MUCH
OF THE SCOTTISH HIGHLANDS.
AS THE LAND ROSE AND THE WATERS RECEDED,
A FAMILY OF PLESIOSAURS
SUPPOSEDLY BECAME TRAPPED
IN LOCH NESS.
A RIVER STILL CONNECTS
LOCH NESS TO THE SEA,
SO COULD IT BE TRUE?
JOY REIDENBERG WANTS TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK
AT THE MONSTER'S SUPPOSED HABITAT.
-GOOD TO SEE YOU. -GOOD TO SEE YOU, TOO.
WELCOME ABOARD. THANK YOU.
OH, IT'S EXCITING TO BE HERE.
Narrator: SHE JOINS BIOLOGIST ERIC VERSPOOR
TO FIND OUT IF A FAMILY OF PLESIOSAURS
COULD BE TRAPPED HERE.
IT SEEMS LIKE A SMALL SEA.
HOW BIG IS THIS BODY OF WATER?
IT'S MASSIVE.
YOU COULD CONSIDER IT A SEA.
IT'S GOT AS MUCH WATER IN IT
AS ALL THE OTHER LAKES
IN THE WHOLE OF THE U.K.
Narrator: THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM IN HERE
FOR A BIG REPTILE TO HIDE.
BUT IS THERE ENOUGH FOOD FOR ONE?
Dr. Reidenberg: WHENEVER
I SEE REALLY DARK WATER,
I THINK OF THE WATER NEAR WHERE I LIVE,
LONG ISLAND SOUND, OFF OF NEW YORK.
-YEAH. -AND IT'S SO FILLED WITH LIFE.
Narrator: ALL LIVING CREATURES
IN THE LOCH DEPEND ON SUNLIGHT.
ERIC IS GOING TO TEST THE
WATER WITH A REFLECTOR
TO FIND OUT HOW MUCH PENETRATES THE DEPTHS.
AND YOU CAN SEE, YEAH, IT'S PRETTY ORANGE.
AT JUST 10 FEET DOWN, THE
DISK DISAPPEARS FROM SIGHT.
SO, THERE WE ARE AT 4 METERS... GONE.
FISH EAT PLANTLIKE ORGANISMS CALLED ALGAE,
WHICH NEED LIGHT TO GROW.
BUT THE LOCH IS FULL OF
PEAT, WHICH MAKES IT MURKY.
SO IF YOU'RE REALLY AT THE BOTTOM OF THAT,
IT'S GONNA FEEL LIKE NIGHTTIME.
YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
THE BOTTOM OF LOCH NESS IS A DARK WORLD.
FEWER ALGAE MEAN FEWER FISH.
IT'S ONE OF THE LEAST
PRODUCTIVE LOCHS IN SCOTLAND.
JUST A WILD GUESS, BUT YOU MIGHT EXPECT
THAT YOU WOULD HAVE IN THE
ORDER OF 20,000 TO 40,000 FISH.
MOST OF THEM ARE VERY SMALL FISH.
Dr. Reidenberg: SO THIS LAKE
REALLY COULDN'T SUPPORT
AN EVEN BIGGER PREDATOR OF, LET'S SAY,
THE SIZE OF A PLESIOSAUR?
[ BOTH LAUGH ]
BOTTOM LINE IS, THERE WOULDN'T
BE A SUSTAINABLE POPULATION
OF ANY LARGER CREATURE IN HERE.
THERE'S MORE FOOD IN THE RIVERS THEMSELVES,
AND THERE'S FAR MORE
FOOD IN THE MORAY FIRTH.
AH, SO THAT'S WHERE WE
SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR NESSIE.
YES, ABSOLUTELY.
THE LOCH DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH FISH
TO SUSTAIN EVEN A SINGLE
TRAPPED PLESIOSAUR.
JOY SUSPECTS THAT THE LIVING-FOSSIL THEORY
HAS MORE TO DO WITH PEOPLE THAN MONSTERS.
Dr. Reidenberg: WHAT WAS
HAPPENING HERE THAT MADE US THINK
IT WAS A PLESIOSAUR?
PERHAPS IT WAS BECAUSE,
THE TURN OF THE 19th
INTO THE 20th CENTURY SAW THE DISCOVERY
OF LOTS OF BIG DINOSAURS.
THAT CAPTURED EVERYONE'S IMAGINATION,
AND PERHAPS THEY WANTED
THEIR OWN DINOSAUR RIGHT HERE.
Narrator: BUT COULD A SMALLER PREDATOR
BE SWIMMING IN AND OUT OF THE LAKE?
JOY NEEDS TO LOOK FOR A NEW SUSPECT.
SOME PHOTOS APPEAR TO SHOW A
SHADOWY, SERPENT-LIKE CREATURE
WITH SEVERAL HUMPS.
IF YOU SEE THE LOCH NESS MONSTER,
YOU USUALLY ONLY SEE THE HEAD POKING OUT
OR MAYBE A LITTLE BIT OF
ITS BACK WITH A HUMP OR TWO,
MAYBE THE TAIL FLOUNDERING AROUND.
BUT YOU NEVER REALLY GET
TO SEE THE ENTIRE CREATURE.
THERE ARE MANY OTHER STRANGE BEASTS
IN THE SURROUNDING RIVERS.
COULD A SILENT MONSTER BE CREEPING
INTO THIS MYSTERIOUS LAKE?
♪♪
Narrator: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER,
A CENTURIES OLD MYSTERY.
MODERN SCIENCE HAS PROVED
THAT THE MOST FAMOUS CANDIDATE,
A PLESIOSAUR, DIED OUT WITH THE DINOSAURS.
♪♪
BUT DID ANOTHER ANIMAL INSPIRE THE MYTH?
Kerr: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER IS
LIKELY BASED ON REAL CREATURES.
WE OFTEN FIND A HINT OF
TRUTH IN OUR MONSTER STORIES,
AND THEN OUR IMAGINATION
AND CREATIVITY GO TO WORK,
AND WE GET THESE AMAZING BEASTS.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
Narrator: COMPARATIVE
ANATOMIST DR. JOY REIDENBERG
CASTS HER NET WIDER
TO LOOK AT THE SUSPECTS.
MOST SCOTTISH RIVER FISH ARE TOO SMALL
TO BE MISTAKEN FOR A BEAST.
BUT ONE CAN GROW TO MONSTROUS PROPORTIONS.
SO, WE'RE LOOKING AT A FISH
...A REALLY, REALLY BIG FISH.
THIS IS CALLED A STURGEON,
AND IT'S A VERY PRIMITIVE FISH.
THIS ONE'S ABOUT 6 FEET LONG,
BUT THIS IS ACTUALLY SMALL FOR A STURGEON.
THE LONGEST RECORDED
STURGEON IS OVER 15 FEET LONG.
Narrator: IN 1932,
ONE WOMAN TOLD OF A LONG
CROCODILE-LIKE CREATURE.
60 YEARS LATER, ANOTHER EYEWITNESS SAW
A SIMILAR BEAST WITH A
SCALY-PATTERNED BACK.
WAS THIS, IN FACT, A GIANT STURGEON?
THE SCALES OF THESE FISH
ARE MADE OF THE SAME
HARD MATERIAL AS A CROC.
THESE ARE MODIFIED SCALES CALLED SCOOTS,
AND THEY'RE BASICALLY ARMOR.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THE
HEAD IS ALL ARMORED LIKE THIS,
AND THEN THERE ARE THESE LITTLE
BONY PLATES ALL ALONG THE BACK,
AND THEY'RE ALSO ALL ALONG THE SIDE HERE,
AND THESE ARE SOLID.
HEAR THAT?
[ TAPPING ]
Narrator: STURGEONS CAN BE DANGEROUS.
THEY'VE BEEN KNOWN TO LEAP OUT
OF THE WATER, INJURING HUMANS.
THEY DON'T HAVE ANY TEETH
THAT THEY CAN HURT YOU WITH,
BUT THESE ARMOR PLATES ARE
VERY ROUGH AND VERY POINTY.
IF ONE WERE TO KNOCK INTO YOU,
IT'D BE KIND OF LIKE BEING HIT BY A CLUB.
Narrator: IF AN OVERSIZED
STURGEON SWAM INTO THE LOCH,
IT COULD EASILY BE MISTAKEN
FOR A REPTILIAN BEAST.
THIS FISH HAS A GAS BLADDER,
WHICH IS A BUOYANCY DEVICE,
AND OCCASIONALLY, IT MAY NEED
TO GO BACK UP TO THE SURFACE
TO GET MORE AIR INTO THAT GAS BLADDER.
SO IF YOU SAW THIS, YOU MIGHT ASSUME
THAT THIS WAS SOME KIND OF PLESIOSAUR-LIKE
OR DINOSAUR-LIKE ANIMAL
SWIMMING IN THE LAKE.
IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT
A RIVER FISH LIKE THIS
COULD END UP IN LOCH NESS.
Narrator: THE PREHISTORIC
STURGEON FITS SOME ACCOUNTS.
IT COULD EVEN BE THE LARGE BEAST
IN THE STORY OF SAINT COLUMBA.
BUT COULD MORE THAN ONE ANIMAL EXPLAIN
WHY THERE ARE SO MANY
DIFFERENT REPORTS AND IMAGES?
SOME PHOTOS SHOW WHAT LOOKS
LIKE A HUGE MULTI-HUMPED SERPENT.
ONE MAN EVEN CLAIMED HE
SAW AN ANIMAL WRIGGLING
THROUGH THE WATER IN THE 1800s.
SOME OF THESE IMAGES HAVE
NEVER BEEN COMPLETELY EXPLAINED.
COULD NESSIE'S HUMPS BE
THE COILS OF A GIANT SNAKE?
WHEN WE THINK OF A WATER SERPENT,
WE USUALLY THINK OF
SNAKES, SUCH AS THIS ONE HERE.
THIS IS A KINGSNAKE.
EXCEPT THAT WE DON'T KNOW OF ANY SNAKES
THAT ARE SWIMMING IN LOCH NESS.
SO WHAT IT'S MORE LIKELY TO
BE IS SOMETHING THAT IS A FISH,
AN EEL-LIKE BODY SHAPE, SUCH AS THIS.
THIS IS A LAMPREY.
AND LAMPREYS DO LIVE IN THE LAKE
OR IN THE RIVERS NEXT TO THE LAKE.
Narrator: LAMPREYS AND EELS
LOVE SLOW-FLOWING DARK WATER.
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT
THE APPEARANCE OF A LAMPREY
THAT EVOKES AN IMAGE OF A SNAKE.
IT'S SHINY, IT'S SMOOTH, IT'S DARK,
IT SLIPS THROUGH YOUR FINGERS
WHEN YOU TRY AND HOLD ON TO IT.
THAT IS NOT AN APPEALING, CUDDLY ANIMAL.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT MOST
PEOPLE WOULD BE AFRAID TO HOLD.
Narrator: A LAMPREY IS FAR TOO SMALL
TO BE A MYTHICAL SERPENT MONSTER.
BUT ONE SPECIES OF SCOTTISH
EEL CAN GROW UP TO 5 FEET LONG.
WHAT'S MORE, THE HUMBLE
SERPENT HAS INSPIRED
MANY TERRIFYING LAKE
MONSTERS THROUGHOUT HISTORY.
IN GREEK MYTH, THE HYDRA WAS A
POISONOUS SNAKE WITH MANY HEADS.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
ISN'T KIND OF ON ITS OWN.
WATER MONSTERS ARE ACTUALLY
QUITE POPULAR MYTHICAL BEASTS.
THE HYDRA LIVED IN A
LAKE IN ANCIENT GREECE.
THE SNAKE APPEARS IN
HUMAN MYTHOLOGY AS A BEAST,
AS AN ANIMAL, EITHER IN
THE FORM OF A SERPENT...
GARDEN OF EDEN...
OR AS A SERPENT/DRAGON
WITH A SERPENT-TYPE FACE,
LIKE A HYDRA WITH MANY HEADS.
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER
THE SNAKE LIVES ON LAND OR IN SEA.
IT'S SOMETHING DANGEROUS.
IT'S SOMETHING OTHERWORLDLY.
Narrator: TALES OF WATER SERPENTS
MAY HAVE HELPED INSPIRE THE
INCREDIBLE STORIES AT LOCH NESS.
BUT THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN
THE PHOTOS OF GIANT HUMPS
TAKEN IN THE 20th CENTURY.
COULD NESSIE BE A STRAY SERPENT-LIKE BEAST
FROM THE COLD, DARK WATERS
OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN?
♪♪
♪♪
Narrator: THE HUNT IS ON FOR
THE REAL LOCH NESS MONSTER.
THE PREHISTORIC STURGEON
MIGHT EXPLAIN REPORTS
OF A LARGE, SCALY BEAST.
BUT SOME PHOTOS PURPORT
TO SHOW A MULTI-HUMPED NESSIE.
THEY'VE DEFIED ATTEMPTS TO DEBUNK THEM.
LOCH NESS IS ONLY A FEW MILES FROM THE SEA.
COULD A LOST SEA CREATURE
EXPLAIN THE STORIES
OF A MONSTROUS SERPENT?
PEOPLE LIVING IN NORTHERN
EUROPE HAD A HABIT
OF TRANSFORMING UNKNOWN OCEAN CREATURES
INTO MYTHICAL BEASTS.
THEY MISTOOK THE FINS OF KILLER WHALES
FOR THE TIP OF THE DEADLY ZIPHIUS,
A BEAST THAT CAN SINK BIG SHIPS.
THEY RECAST THE SNAKE ISH
AS A MONSTROUS KILLER SEA SERPENT...
...AND TURN THE TUSK OF
THE NARWHAL PORPOISE
INTO THE PRICELESS HORN OF A UNICORN.
A SEA MONSTER LENDED
MANY DIFFERENT QUALITIES
OF MANY DIFFERENT
CREATURES YOU'LL SEE IN THE SEA.
WE REALLY DON'T KNOW THE COMPLETE
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF THE SEA.
THERE'S A CREATURE CALLED AN OARFISH
WHICH IS EXTREMELY WEIRD-LOOKING.
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, ONE WILL
SHOW UP ON A BEACH SOMEWHERE,
AND IT JUST FREAKS PEOPLE OUT
BECAUSE THEY THINK THIS IS A MONSTER.
"IT'S A MONSTER! LOOK!
WHO'S EVER SEEN THIS BEFORE?!"
Narrator: IT'S HIGHLY UNLIKELY
THAT A GIANT OARFISH
COULD BE SLIPPING IN AND
OUT OF THIS LOCH UNDETECTED.
THE WATER IS NOT SALTY ENOUGH
FOR THESE WEIRD OCEAN-DWELLING FISH.
BUT JOY WANTS TO FIND
OUT IF ANOTHER LOST ANIMAL
COULD SOMEHOW LOOK LIKE
A LEGENDARY SEA SERPENT.
SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE SEEN
ONE HUMP OR TWO HUMPS
COMING OUT OF THE WATER.
AND AS FAR AS WE KNOW, THERE ISN'T ANYTHING
THAT SWIMS THAT WAY IN A LAKE.
BUT WE'RE NOT FAR FROM THE OCEAN,
AND I'M WONDERING IF SOME OF
THE THINGS WE MAY SEE OUT HERE
MIGHT'VE INSPIRED FOLKS AROUND THE LOCH
TO THINK THAT THERE WAS A LIVING ANIMAL
THAT WAS MAKING THOSE HUMPS.
[ ENGINE STARTS ]
Narrator: JOY HEADS OUT
TOWARDS THE NORTH SEA.
SHE SUSPECTS THAT A SEA MAMMAL
COULD BE CREATING THE
ILLUSION OF A SERPENTINE BEAST.
Dr. Reidenberg: THE SEAGULLS ARE PICKING
FISH OUT OF A GROUP THAT'S IN THERE,
AND THAT'S WHERE I SAW A FIN.
JOY THINKS SHE'S SEEN A DOLPHIN FEEDING
ALONGSIDE A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS,
BUT WHATEVER IT IS DISAPPEARS.
SO SHE HEADS INTO DEEPER WATER.
ARE THEY FEEDING ON THE
SAME FISH AS DOLPHINS?
SO THAT WOULD BE A GOOD PLACE TO CHECK OUT.
SUDDENLY, THERE IS MOVEMENT IN THE WATER.
THIS TIME, IT'S A HERD OF SEALS.
RIGHT. YOU'RE DEAD ON.
YOU SEE THE SEAL? IT'S LIKE AT 12 O'CLOCK.
JOY IS INTRIGUED BY THE
WAY THESE ANIMALS DIVE.
BACK ON LAND, JOY EXAMINES HER PHOTOS.
THE SEALS LOOK LIKE HUMPS
AS THEY DIVE INTO THE WATER.
OF ALL THE MARINE MAMMALS
THAT ARC THROUGH THE WATER,
THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE A SERPENT,
SEALS ARE PROBABLY THE BEST BET,
BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANY PROJECTIONS
STICKING OUT OF THEIR BACK.
Narrator: SEALS ARE KNOWN
TO SNEAK INTO THE RIVER NESS.
JOY THINKS THAT A GROUP OF
THEM COULD MIMIC THE APPEARANCE
OF A SINGLE CREATURE WITH HUMPS.
Dr. Reidenberg: USUALLY, I ONLY CAUGHT
ONE AT A TIME ON THE CAMERA HERE,
BUT IN THE DISTANCE, I COULD
SEE A FEW MORE OF THEM
ARCING AT THE SAME TIME.
SO IF YOU IMAGINE SEEING
THAT FROM FAR AWAY,
IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IT WAS
ONE LONG SNAKELIKE ANIMAL
MAKING EACH ONE OF THOSE ARCS.
AND SO YOU'D END UP WITH A
SERIES OF HUMPS ALL IN A ROW.
NOT TOO DIFFERENT FROM
SOME OF THE REPORTED SIGHTINGS
OF OUR LOCH NESS MONSTER.
Narrator: CENTURIES AGO,
THE PEOPLE OF LOCH NESS
WOULD'VE KNOWN LITTLE ABOUT SEA MAMMALS.
THEIR INFORMATION CAME FROM A BIBLE
OR STORIES OF SAINTS DRIVING OUT MONSTERS.
Nubia: SO THE IDEA OF NESSIE,
THE REPTILE THAT LURKS IN THE DARK,
IS CONNECTED TO A NOTION
ABOUT THE SERPENT, EVEN THE DEVIL.
AND IT GOES ALL THE WAY
BACK TO BABYLONIAN STORIES.
SO THERE'S THIS IDEA THAT
THE BLACKNESS AND THE EVIL
ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER.
Dr. Reidenberg: IF YOU
SEE SEALS IN THE OCEAN,
YOU WOULDN'T THINK ANYTHING
WEIRD IS HAPPENING THERE.
BUT IF YOU SEE SOMETHING
THAT'S OUT OF CONTEXT...
SEALS IN A LAKE...
IT MIGHT START PLAYING TRICKS ON YOUR MIND,
PARTICULARLY IF YOU START
COMBINING IT WITH LOCAL STORIES.
Narrator: SEALS MIGHT EXPLAIN
SOME OF THE SIGHTINGS,
BUT THEY CAN'T EXPLAIN PHOTOS LIKE THIS ONE
THAT APPEAR TO SHOW HUGE HUMPS.
IF THEY ARE GENUINE, COULD IT
BE THAT THE WATERS OF THE LOCH
ARE ALSO CREATING THE
ILLUSION OF A CREATURE?
IT'S POSSIBLE THAT OUR PERCEPTIONS
OF THERE BEING A BEAST IS
ENTIRELY A TRICK OF THE LIGHT...
OUR IMAGINATION EXPANDED THROUGH A DESIRE
TO SEE SOMETHING FABULOUS
WHEN, IN FACT, IT'S A NATURAL PHENOMENON.
Narrator: NOW THIS HUGE
ARTIFICIAL WAVE TANK
COULD AT LAST CRACK
THE SECRET OF LOCH NESS.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
♪♪
Narrator: COMPARATIVE ANATOMIST
JOY REIDENBERG IS ON THE HUNT
FOR THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LOCH NESS MONSTER.
A NUMBER OF CREATURES COULD EXPLAIN
THE HUNDREDS OF SIGHTINGS.
BUT FOR JOY, SO FAR, NONE COVERS ALL BASES.
Dr. Reidenberg: THE PROBLEM
WITH THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS THAT THE DESCRIPTIONS
ARE ALL VERY DIFFERENT.
SO MAYBE IT'S NOT AN ANIMAL.
MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE
ENVIRONMENT OF THE LAKE ITSELF
THAT EXPLAINS THESE SIGHTINGS.
Narrator: SOME OF THE REPORTS
ARE HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS.
BUT CAN THOUSANDS OF SIGHTINGS
REALLY BE DISMISSED AS PRACTICAL JOKES?
SOME SKEPTICS BELIEVE
THAT WEIRD WAVE FORMATIONS
COULD ALSO LEAD PEOPLE TO
SEE A MONSTER THAT ISN'T THERE.
SCIENTIST GARETH WILLIAMS WANTS TO FIND OUT
IF WAVES COULD LOOK LIKE
THE HUMPS OF A SERPENT.
Williams: WE'VE HAD
THOUSANDS OF EYEWITNESSES,
AND I THINK THE NATURE OF THE MYSTERY
REALLY IS THE RANGE
OF POSSIBILITY OF THINGS
THAT THEY COULD'VE SEEN.
I BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE
REPORT IT IN ALL HONESTY,
AND WE HAVE TO TAKE
THOSE REPORTS SERIOUSLY.
Narrator: HE INVESTIGATES AT THIS HUGE
ARTIFICIAL WAVE TANK AT PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
IN SOUTHERN ENGLAND.
Williams: THIS IS OUR OCEAN BASIN.
SO WE'VE GOT FOUR HYDRAULIC JACKS
THAT LIFT OUR FLOOR UP AND DOWN.
SO THE WHOLE FLOOR GOES UP AND DOWN.
THE WHOLE FLOOR COMES UP AND DOWN.
THIS WAVE MACHINE WILL TRY TO
REPLICATE THE WAKE OF A BOAT.
LOCH NESS MAY LOOK EMPTY,
BUT IT'S A BUSY HIGHWAY.
IN THE CONTROL ROOM, ENGINEER MARTIN HAHN
FIRES UP THE MACHINE.
PADDLES SET OFF A SERIES OF GENTLE RIPPLES.
SUDDENLY, A BIGGER WAVE
APPEARS IN THE MIDDLE OF THEM.
THAT'S THE WAVE APPEARING NOW,
JUST COMING UP FROM NOWHERE.
Narrator: THIS IS WHAT'S
KNOWN AS A FOCUSED WAVE.
IT MAY NOT LOOK BIG AND IMPRESSIVE,
BUT IT CAN APPEAR COMPLETELY BY SURPRISE.
ON THE LOCH, THIS COULD HAPPEN
WHEN THE WIND WHIPS UP FAST WAVES
AND THEY CATCH UP WITH
THE BOW WAVE OF A SHIP.
THE WAVES COMBINE AND FORM LARGE CRESTS
THAT COULD BE MISTAKEN FOR MONSTER HUMPS
RISING OUT OF THE WATER
AND DISAPPEARING AGAIN.
♪♪
SO, WE SHOULD HAVE A WAVE. THERE IT IS.
SO, IF YOU'RE LOOKING
AT THAT FROM THE SHORE
AND IT WAS SOME DISTANCE
OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LOCH,
IT WOULD LOOK LIKE SOMETHING VERY SOLID.
Narrator: THE WAVES WOULD
BE IMPOSSIBLE TO PREDICT
ON THE LOCH.
COULD THEY EXPLAIN GHOSTLY
HUMPS THAT RISE FROM THE WATER
AND THEN VANISH?
IF YOU'RE WALKING ALONG
THE SIDE OF THE LOCH,
WALKING YOUR DOG, CHATTING TO SOMEBODY,
SOMETHING CATCHES YOUR
EYE, YOU TURN AROUND,
AND YOU SEE SOMETHING,
LIKE, ALONG THE WATER,
BEHAVING PECULIARLY,
YOU COULD WELL BE FOOLED INTO THINKING
THAT IT WAS SOMETHING ANIMATE.
Narrator: ANOTHER THEORY
SUGGESTS THAT THE LAKE'S
UNUSUAL GEOGRAPHY COULD
ALSO CREATE STRANGE WAVES.
LOCH NESS IS OVER 23 MILES
LONG BUT VERY NARROW.
AND THE BANKS ARE STEEP AND ROCKY.
SO WHEN WAVES FROM BOATS HIT THE SIDES,
THEY CAN BE REFLECTED BACK INWARDS.
AS THEY COLLIDE, THEY
COULD APPEAR TO STAND STILL
AND LOOK LIKE A PROCESSION OF SOLID HUMPS.
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS COULD BE
RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY SIGHTINGS.
THE MYSTERY DEEPENS.
IF THERE'S NOTHING OUT
OF THE ORDINARY HERE,
WHY IS THE MYTH OF THE
MONSTER SO UNSHAKABLE?
NO OTHER LOCH IN SCOTLAND
HAS SUCH AN ICONIC LEGEND.
♪♪
BUT AN ALMOST IDENTICAL
SERPENT IS SAID TO LURK IN ICELAND.
COULD THE ORIGINS OF BOTH MONSTERS
LIE IN OUR DEEPEST, DARKEST FEARS?
[ MAN SCREAMS ]
♪♪
Narrator: LOCH NESS IN SCOTLAND
IS FINALLY REVEALING ITS DARKEST SECRETS.
MANY DIFFERENT CREATURES MAY BE BEHIND
THE THOUSANDS OF SIGHTINGS.
BUT IF THERE IS NOTHING UNUSUAL HERE,
HOW DID THE MYTH BEGIN?
Li: IN CELTIC MYTHOLOGY,
THERE'S A LONG TRADITION
OF SUPERNATURAL CREATURES LIVING IN LAKES.
SO IT'S NOT JUST LOCH NESS.
WHY WOULD HUMAN BEINGS
CREATE MONSTERS, DRAGONS, BEASTS
OF THE WATERS, LEVIATHANS
IN THE LURKING DEPTHS?
Narrator: THE FINAL PIECE IN THE PUZZLE
LIES HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY
WITH ANOTHER LEGENDARY BEAST.
BENEATH THE SNOW-CAPPED
MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN ICELAND
SITS LAKE LAGARFLJOT.
ACCORDING TO LOCAL LEGEND,
IT'S HOME TO A FEROCIOUS WATER SERPENT.
THE TALE TELLS OF A YOUNG GIRL
WHO RECEIVES A GOLD RING FROM HER MOTHER.
SHE PUTS IT IN A BOX WITH A TINY SERPENT
THAT CAN MAGICALLY MULTIPLY GOLD.
THE SERPENT GROWS QUICKLY.
IT GETS SO LARGE THAT THE
GIRL THROWS IT INTO THE LAKE.
BUT EVEN THE ICY WATERS CAN'T STOP IT.
IT GROWS INTO A MONSTER
THAT TERRORIZES THE LOCALS.
[ CREATURE ROARS, MAN SCREAMS ]
EVENTUALLY, IT STRETCHES FOR MILES,
WITH HUMPS SO BIG, A
BOAT CAN PASS UNDER THEM.
ICELANDER STEFAN SVEINSSON INVESTIGATES
LAGARFLJOT'S MYSTERIOUS RESIDENT.
[ CREATURE ROARS, MAN SCREAMS ]
REPORTS OF A LAKE SERPENT
HERE GO BACK NEARLY 700 YEARS.
EARLY MAPS EVEN WARN TRAVELERS ABOUT IT.
YOU CAN SEE HERE THAT THE LAKE LAGARFLJOT
IS ACTUALLY REPRESENTED QUITE WELL.
AND AN INSCRIPTION IN LATIN
STATES THAT, IN THIS LAKE,
THERE IS A HUGE MONSTER,
DANGEROUS TO PEOPLE,
AND IS OFTEN SEEN AHEAD
OF CATASTROPHIC EVENTS.
SO THIS IS VERY MUCH IN LINE
WITH THE LEGENDS OF THE TIME,
THAT THE MONSTER OF THE
LAKE WOULD SHOW ITSELF
AHEAD OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
OR DEATHS OF PEOPLE OF NOTE.
Narrator: THE MONSTER IS TERRIFYING.
BUT LIKE NESSIE,
THERE'S NO HARD PROOF THAT IT EXISTS.
SO WHY ARE SO MANY
PEOPLE CONVINCED IT'S REAL?
STEFAN.
STEFAN HEADS OUT ONTO THE LAKE.
HE THINKS THE ICELANDIC
LEGEND MAY HAVE STARTED
AS A PRACTICAL WARNING ABOUT THESE WATERS.
Sveinsson: THE MONSTER ITSELF CAN REPRESENT
HOW YOU HAVE TO RESPECT NATURE.
IT IS A DANGEROUS BODY OF WATER,
AND IT HAS CLAIMED A FEW HUNDRED
LIVES THROUGHOUT THE CENTURY.
Narrator: THE MURKINESS OF THESE WATERS
ALSO MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE TO
KNOW FOR SURE WHAT'S IN THEM.
THERE'S ALMOST NO VISIBILITY IN THE WATER.
AND IF YOU WOULD DROP
SOMETHING IN THE WATER...
IT WILL DISAPPEAR ALMOST INSTANTLY.
VISIBILITY IS A FEW CENTIMETERS, AT BEST.
YOU CAN'T REALLY TELL WHAT'S UNDERNEATH.
YOU KIND OF JUST HAVE
THE FEELING OF VASTNESS.
WHERE YOU LIVE IN YOUR ENVIRONMENT,
ENVIRONMENT SHAPES THE STORIES
AND THE MYTHS THAT YOU TELL.
Kamil: I THINK FOR THINGS LIKE THE SEA,
WHERE YOU CAN'T SEE TO THE BOTTOM OF IT
OR A DENSE FOREST WHERE
YOU CAN'T SEE ALL THE WAY IN,
IT'S VERY NATURAL TO WANT TO
SPECULATE ABOUT WHAT'S IN THERE,
ABOUT WHAT COULD BE IN THERE.
Narrator: A FEAR OF WILD PLACES
IS AT THE HEART OF THIS MYTH.
I THINK MOST ICELANDERS LIKE TO LEAVE
A LITTLE DOUBT WITH EVERYTHING.
WE DON'T NECESSARILY BELIEVE
IN ALL OF OUR FOLK STORIES
OR IN THE MONSTERS OR IN THE ELVES,
BUT WHEN YOU LOOK UPON THIS
HUGE BODY OF WATER LIKE THE LAKE,
WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT
THERE'S NOT A MONSTER IN THERE?
Narrator: JOY REIDENBERG
THINKS THESE SAME PRIMAL FEARS
COULD ALSO EXPLAIN THE
RISE OF THE LOCH NESS MYTH
AND ITS CONTINUING POPULARITY.
Dr. Reidenberg: THERE'S
SOMETHING VERY MYSTERIOUS
ABOUT DEEP, DARK WATERS
THAT WE CAN'T SEE INTO.
THEY REALLY ARE THE UNCHARTED FRONTIER.
BIG, SCARY AQUATIC BEASTS ARE
REALLY NOT NEW IN MYTHOLOGY.
BUT I THINK EACH GROUP OF PEOPLE
REPACKAGED IT FOR THEIR TIME,
DEPENDING ON WHAT WAS POPULAR.
Li: PUBLIC IMAGINATION STILL HAS
A HUGE APPETITE FOR MONSTERS.
I MEAN, IF YOU LOOK AT
MOVIES LIKE "JURASSIC PARK"
OR EVEN "KING KONG,"
THEY'RE ALL ABOUT THESE, LIKE,
HUGE CREATURES FROM THE PAST
THAT ARE STILL LIVING IN OUR WORLD TODAY.
Narrator: THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
EXISTS IN A TWILIGHT WORLD
BETWEEN FACT AND FICTION.
MYTH-MAKING IS NOT UNIQUE
TO THE ANCIENT WORLD.
IT IS STILL HAPPENING ALL THE TIME.
THE LOCH NESS MONSTER
IS A MODERN FAIRY TALE,
A MODERN STORY THAT PEOPLE WANT TO BE TOLD.
I THINK IT'S IN EVERY HUMAN
THE DESIRE TO EXPLORE
AND TO HOLD ON TO THAT HOPE
THAT MAYBE YOU'RE THE ONE
THAT CAN MAKE THE NEXT BIG DISCOVERY.
Narrator: THIS FAMOUS MYTHICAL BEAST
IS THE CREATION OF OUR
DEEPEST, DARKEST FEARS
AND OUR DESIRE TO LIVE IN
A WORLD FULL OF MONSTERS.
PERHAPS THE ANSWER IS THAT
PEOPLE JUST LOVE A GOOD STORY.
THEY LOVE A MYSTERY.
SOMETHING THAT CAN
SCARE THEM JUST A LITTLE BIT.
[ CREATURE ROARS ]
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