Near the Svalbard Islands on the Arctic Circle an ancient aquatic monster, billed as the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the Oceans, was discovered. The report appeared on December 4, 2007 and primal instinct pulled me to this story. There are creatures out there; big creatures who may want to kill me. The tingle of fear gave way to an odd joy. I can't be the only human to enjoy stories of myth and the unknown. Myths of lake monsters abound. From Australia to Canada's Lake Manitoba, from Malaysia to  Zimbabwe, from ancient times to as recent as 1993, if not more humans have enjoyed myths, monsters and the unknown. This article, however, is not an article about myth, this is about possibility. The ancient fossil discovered in the Far North made me consider the idea that the Loch Ness monster, the most famous of the cryptids, could be real.

The fossil has been identified as a relative of the plesiosaur. Nessie, as well as her relatives in lakes across the world, is a plesiosaur. I decided this before I did my research, which was very unscientific of me. Here is what I discovered.

Since plesiosaur's went extinct 65 million years ago, a population of plesiosaurs would have to survive in cold dark water with limited food and still have a large enough population to prevent inbreeding. This makes sense from a biological standpoint, is quite irrefutable. But my science fiction mind refuses to accept the logic of this explanation and instead I think: What about cryogenics? Couldn't a flash-frozen plesiousaur thaw in the waters of Loch Ness and other glacial lakes? Glaciers have been known to push mountains and boulders and shape landscape. Surely some flash frozen plesiosaur could have been pushed southward and deposited with the rest of the glacial waste. When the weather warmed and the conditions for miraculous rebirth arrived then the ancient plesiosaur could shake off its frost and rise from the lake. Human beings on the shore could behold the creature with respectful awe. What would those humans see?

Sightings of Nessie describe her as a bus-sized, thirty foot long beastie with a large neck and Land of the Lost silhouette. Many accounts describe an undulated,humped back. Scientists believe this is indicative of a mammal as reptiles are said to move from side to side. This brings up another point of concern. Plesiosaurs are reptiles. Reptiles depend on a warm environment for survival. With no internal heat regulation a deep freeze would have killed my ancient plesiosaur, not plunged it into a millenia-long hibernation.

Chronology alone kills off my fantasy. Loch Ness is 10,000 years old. Plesiousaurs, 65 million years old. States expert Richard Forrest  "one thing is for sure: even if there is a large animal in Loch Ness, it's not a plesiosaur." He suggests that it could be a sturgeon. "It has a low metabolism and eats mud, more or less..."

All hope for the theory of ancient dinosaur Nessie is not lost. Sofía Fernández, a marine biologist from Chile raises the possibility that the loch could support a small population of small monsters.

"You should read a paper about this subject, although I think it is rather difficult for you to find it. It's called "The population density of monsters in Loch Ness" (R.W. Sheldon & S.R. Kerr, Limniology and Oceanography Vol 17 number 5, september 1972). Basically it is a production study of the lake, and according to the calculations [...] by the authors, Loch Ness is able to support a population of 10-20 monsters of approximately 1,5 tons. The smaller the monsters, the denser the population can be. ... Loch ness could support a small population of small monsters that could be genetically viable. well that was it, hope I was some help."

I'm not certain I would like to think of the Loch Ness monster as being one member of a community of tiny animals. I like the mythic image of a great beast surfacing and diving in the mist. I want Lake Monsters to be awesome, mysterious and to evoke fear.

On Christmas Day the movie "The Water Horse" will be released in America and will be on screens worldwide by March 2008. Imaginations from Malaysia to Sweden, from Zimbabwe to Japan will be entertained by a boy who discovers an egg which hatches into a Loch Ness like creature. In previews of this film the animal seems gentle, it splashes in a human bathtub, attempts speech and in short, is adorable. I will go to this movie and most likely enjoy it. But, illogical as it may be, I want my mythic animals to be real. A real animal is a wild animal.

Somehow, Water Horse goes against the very primal instinct which will take me to the movie. Interestingly it is the scientists who are keeping these creatures wild while our wild imaginations tame the images of these monsters.

(Thank you http://www.plesiosaur.com/lochness.php, for invaluable scientific information)