Double Down on "Nessie": Two Loch Ness Monster Candidate Species

Client: New York Times Bestselling Author Steve Alten, in both December of 2004 and March of 2005 for advertising the release of "The Loch."

Book: "The Loch," and any future special editions for which Steve planned well in advance that would include the publication of my reports of investigation pertaining to the Loch Ness Kill Zone I first discovered for "Sightings" TV series in the late spring and early summer of 1993--at the Glendow Waterfall immediately southwest of the Horseshoe Craig rockslide zones--along with the historical infrastructure of the nine towns along the forty-six-plus miles of shoreline where seven major rivers feed into the Loch Ness lake system. Further, my report detailed my findings as an undercover private investigator of the natural history of Loch Ness and the Great Glen, and the cultural peculiarities, unique to the northern Scots who populate the nine communities surrounding that lake.

Render: This illustration was completed using assorted Prismacolor markers, quill-point inks from Dr. Martin and F/W, Prisma pencils, assorted ball point pens and Black india ink from sketches made at a variety of stops around both Loch Ness and Inverness where I utilized live Anguilla anguilla and Conger conger eels in various lakes, Koi ponds and fish tanks. My attempt to render my impression of the water was derived from me SCUBA diving in the Loch Ness water column. I finished this drawing in my seat on a Continental Airlines 767 at 37,000 feet over the Atlantic ocean, having departed from London Gatwick and was approaching Newark New Jersey. Being married, I had to remain respectful of my most sacred vows despite the interest expressed by several female flight attendants and passengers. My dear wife was the beneficiary of all this five-mile-high fun when I arrived home.

Significance: While serving in an intelligence capacity during the eight-month OPERATION DESERT SHIELD 1990 buildup to OPERATION DESERT STORM I had encountered a number of actively serving members of the queen's Scottish Regiments for the OPERATION GRANBY contribution whom had family in Lochend, Brachla, Drumnadrochit, Invermoriston, Fort Augustus, Foyers, and Dores as well as in the communities of Achmony and Lewiston immediately to the west and uphill of the Great Glen. They and their families provided accurate accounts of what they witnessed and what the community actually knew for well over six hundred years: That "Nessie" was a gigantic "Guivre" (Medieval French word for a River Seine "Water Dragon")--stage giant "thick-bodied" Anguilliforme eel of either Genus Anguilla or Genus Conger.

NOTE: The giant amphibious freshwater slug was included as a salute to a number of glassblower artists who made their homes and their shops in Fort Augustus at the extreme southwest end of the lake.

NOTE: SCUBA diving in the 42 degree Fahrenheit waters of Loch Ness was among the most strange dives of my life. The visibility is nearly as poor as diving at the extreme south end of Manhattan Island which is brown, filthy, disease-ridden brown water diving , except that the lake water in Loch Ness is far cleaner. The water in daylight is the color of dark avocado skins with the rare exception of when the sun rises above the mountains in line to the southeast or is setting in line with the southwest headwaters which turns the shallow water facing in those directions to the near same amber shades as their Highland Park or Scapa Single Malt whiskeys or their contributions from their Macallan Distilleries. The reason is because Loch Ness is utterly loaded with particles of peat moss suspended in the water column which makes visibility nearly as difficult as that caused by an underwater landslide or a sperm whale's bowel evacuation when a diver gets too close. The water is clean enough to be enjoyed from the tap, but as it gathers in the sink, it is a permanent, light pisswater yellow.

From stevealten.com:

"The Loch:
Loch Ness holds secrets, ancient and deadly. Does a monster inhabit its depths, or is it just myth? Why, after thousands of reported sightings and dozens of expeditions, is there still no hard evidence? Marine biologist Zachary Wallace knows, but the shock of his near-drowning as a child on Loch Ness have buried all memories of the incident.

Now, a near-death experience suffered while on expedition in the Sargasso Sea has caused these long-forgotten memories to re-surface. Haunted by vivid night terrors, stricken by a sudden fear of the water, Zach finds he can no longer function as a scientist. Unable to cope, his career all but over, he stumbles down a path of self-destruction…until he receives contact from his estranged father…a man he has not seen since his parents’ divorced and he left Scotland as a boy. Angus Wallace, a wily Highlander who never worked an honest day in his life, is on trial for murdering his business partner."