# There soon will be no Loch Ness Monster **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 21, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995 "2010-06-21T15:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/21 "2010-06-21T21:49:32Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I’m just glad that this thread isn’t, as I had feared, about Loch Ness drying up due to climate change. I thought that BP had decided to drill there. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/22 "2010-06-21T22:07:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The place must need a good cleaning, after millions of years of dinosaur poop have been collecting on the bottom. Wonder it isn’t filled in already. Come on. The idea of there being a dinosaur in Loch Ness is ridiculous. No one would believe that. Everyone knows Nessy is a Plesiosaur!! ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/23 "2010-06-21T22:13:00Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > That’s not how it works. There are different methods of profiling DNA to classify it, but all of them look for and expand specific markers in the DNA chain to match them with a known genetic profile. There is a lot of garbage DNA that isn’t classified because it isn’t useful, and in fact there are large numbers of alleles that are shared across species and even genera. So finding “unidentified DNA” is the rule rather than the exception and doesn’t generally let you rule out anything. > > Stranger Ahem. [Shotgun metagenomics.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metagenomics#Shotgun_metagenomics) If you have a whole lot of money and a big bucket of water, it’s now possible to sequence whatever DNA is in there, known or unknown, and compare the large unknown sequences to databases of all the known critters that have been sequenced. So you could get an unknown eukaryote or even an unknown chordate, in theory, and be all “Eureka! The monster! Or a new…mudpuppy…or something…” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/24 "2010-06-21T22:13:36Z")
Isn’t Nessie working as a door greater at Mr. Burn’s casino these days? ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/25 "2010-06-22T01:14:42Z")
I guess the real question is: When we prove the LNM doesn’t exist will that mean we’ve killed it? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/26 "2010-06-22T06:31:24Z")
Oh, that’s just like you, **Scylla** , getting all concerned about the health of mythical water-monsters. Where were you when it was the aliens under attack, or the sasquaches? ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/27 "2010-06-22T06:57:03Z")
> [@](#): > > but surely no one believes there’s actually a sea monster in Loch Nes I attended an evalingcial Christian camp one year as a teen. They claimed that the existance of the Loch Ness Monster disproved evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/28 "2010-06-22T08:11:36Z")
But surely everyone knows that the LNM is a product of Zygon days? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/29 "2010-06-22T09:02:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > \*You can knock it, > You can rock it, > You can go to Timbuktu, > But you’ll never find a Nessy in the zoo! > You may see an Anaconda, or Giraffe and Kangaroo, > But you’ll never see a Nessy in a zoo! \* Exactly - who needs all this DNA flimflammery. Just blow your thistle whistle and up she’ll pop! ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/30 "2010-06-22T16:40:39Z")
> [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](#): > > I attended an evalingcial Christian camp one year as a teen. They claimed that the existance of the Loch Ness Monster disproved evolution. But so does the fact that we still have monkeys and apes. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/31 "2010-06-22T17:17:52Z")
Wasn’t the LNS disproven a few decades ago by sweeping the entire loch with sonor? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/32 "2010-06-22T17:37:14Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Wasn’t the LNS disproven a few decades ago by sweeping the entire loch with sonor? No, the crack Emergency Response Unit of the Highlands and Islands Tourist Board successfully debunked those “findings”. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/33 "2010-06-22T17:44:15Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Wasn’t the LNS disproven a few decades ago by sweeping the entire loch with sonor? It has stealth capability. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/34 "2010-06-22T17:44:18Z")
I think most rational people don’t believe in the LNM. However, I gotta tell ya’ I looked and looked at the Loch when I visited, just hoping to catch a glimpse of something, _anything._ I bet everyone here would too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/35 "2010-06-22T17:47:04Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Do people really believe in the Loch Ness monster? I thought it was just a charming local folktale. I mean I know people have fun going through the motions and all, but surely no one believes there’s actually a sea monster in Loch Ness. You’d be amazed at how many people you could get to believe anything. Anyway, no. Once you enter the sort of mindset that makes you totally convinced there’s a loch ness monster (or vaccines cause autism or the moon landing was faked or whatever) then there’s no evidence you’re willing to accept that you are wrong. You have unshakable faith in the idea and any evidence against your idea either gets explained away with special pleading or it actually gets integrated into your belief in the form of a conspiracy theory. “Aha, the CDC has released a conclusive study indicating no correlation between autism and vaccination… BECAUSE THEY’RE IN ON THE CONSPIRACY! MORE PROOF!” There’s nothing we could do to disprove the loch ness monster. Even if we drained the whole lake someone would just say they used the teleportation technology the aliens gave them 6000 years ago to teleport to the planet gofnarg. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/36 "2010-06-22T18:01:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Oh, that’s just like you, **Scylla** , getting all concerned about the health of mythical water-monsters. Where were you when it was the aliens under attack, or the sasquaches? First, they came for the sasquatches and I said nothing because I wasn’t a sasquatch Then they came for the greys and I said nothing because I wasn’t an alien… ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/37 "2010-06-22T18:12:21Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Do people really believe in the Loch Ness monster? I thought it was just a charming local folktale. I mean I know people have fun going through the motions and all, but surely no one believes there’s actually a sea monster in Loch Ness. There are a few deeply eccentric people who live on the banks of the Loch, maintaining an endless watch, but otherwise it’s very much a tongue in cheek thing. It’s a nice part of the world even without monsters, and the tourist centres provide a vital outlet for the wares of the hard-pressed tartan-tat factories of South-east Asia. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/38 "2010-06-22T23:07:51Z")
Geek Joke Bah, every Scientist knows that the Conventions voted Nessie out of the Consensus decades ago! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/39 "2010-06-23T18:52:33Z")
I wouldn’t mind visiting Loch Ness, just so I could say I did. (And I would totally lie to my friends and tell them I saw Nessie). I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland, anyways. Plus, I’d love to see Urquhart Castle. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995/40 "2010-06-23T20:57:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think most rational people don’t believe in the LNM. However, I gotta tell ya’ I looked and looked at the Loch when I visited, just hoping to catch a glimpse of something, _anything._ > > I bet everyone here would too. 🙂 Absolutely. It would be so cool if the LNM existed (although, it doesn’t), and you may as well look while you’re there. The surprising thing about all this, for me, is how famous Nessie apparently is. And all it took was a couple of really crap, easily-explained, photos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-soon-will-be-no-loch-ness-monster/543995.md?page=3)