Remarks Before The Society, September, 2006, Tuxedo Park, New York

Good (morning)(afternoon) everyone.

My name is Jane B. Cravan and today I am going to speak to you about one of the greatest and most famous mysteries in the field of cryptozoology, which is the study of still unknown species of animals. The cryptid, or unknown animal I am going to tell you about is the Loch Ness Monster.

The Loch Ness Monster, or "Nessie" as many people refer to her, is said to live in Loch Ness in Scotland, which is the largest and deepest lake on the island of Great Britain. It is more than 900 feet deep in some places – deep enough that if you stood Big Ben – the famous clock tower in London – end-to-end three times it still wouldn't reach the surface. It is almost as deep as the Empire State Building in New York is tall, and it is very, very cold and very, very murky.

The first person we know about who saw the Loch Ness Monster was Saint Columba, the man who brought the Christian religion to Scotland. In the year 565, Saint Columba heard that the monster murdered a man and the saint rowed out into the middle of the lake and told the monster never to do that again. As far as we know, the monster obeyed Saint Columba, and since then she has lived peacefully in the lake.

Many people have seen the creature since then, but it was only since the invention of photography that the whole world became interested in the Loch Ness Monster and learned what she looked like. In 1934, a doctor from London took her picture and after looking at her 50-foot body, humped back and long, thin neck, scientists began to say the monster was probably a plesiosaur, which is a swimming dinosaur from the Cretaceous period – 145 million years ago -- who survived in the isolated deep, cold lake. Many other people have taken her picture too and some people have taken movies. Some people think that the photos are fake and believe that the Loch Ness Monster is a log or a big otter or even an underwater wave that looks like a sea creature on the surface of the lake.

Last summer, I went on a search for the Loch Ness Monster. My Mom, Dad and I traveled to Loch Ness. We walked on the shoreline and took a boat down all 24 miles of the lake. When we were walking back to our hotel from the pier, we saw exactly what looked like a baby "Nessie" feeding on some vegetation on a small island near the shoreline. It looked happy and very peaceful. Unfortunately, it was too misty to get a picture, but I'm sure that what we saw wasn't a log, an otter or a wave. It had a humped back and a long, thin neck and looked just like the photos we'd seen.

Next summer, I am going to go back to Loch Ness and will try to bring back better evidence that the Loch Ness Monster exists. And when I grow up, I would like to be a cryptozoologist and look for the Yeti (or Abominable Snowman), Sasquatch (or Bigfoot) and other cryptids.

Thank you.