Loch Ness is the deepest Loch in Scotland at 226m (740 feet). It is so deep that London's BT Tower would be completely submerged if it was dropped into the Loch. It is found in the 'Great Glen,' a geological fault which was formed by glaciers during a previous ice age and runs from Inverness to Fort William. The Loch has around 40 rivers and burns (the Scottish word for stream), most of which are small, running into it. Loch Ness contains more water than all the other lakes or lochs in Scotland, England, and Wales put together. The Loch is about twenty-two and half miles in length, and stretches south from Dores, which is 5 miles outside of Inverness, to Fort William. The volume of water contained in Loch Ness is so large that 10 times the world population could be submerged beneath the water. The bottom of the loch could be compared to a bowling green because of its smooth surface. It is said that in 565AD, St Colomba saw the Loch Ness monster, making his sighting the first recorded sighting in history. He supposedly rescued a man who was being attacked by the monster. The 'surgeon's photo,' was taken on April 19, 1934 by A British gynecologist called Robert Keneth Wilson, and is the most famous photograph ever taken of the monster. Due to the large amount of peat in the soil surrounding the loch, the water is very murky, and visibility is normally restricted to about 4 inches. |
