Saturday 16 September 2017

A New Nessie Book for 2018



 Figure 1
  Figure 2
 Figure 3
 Figure 4
 Figure 5
 Figure 6
 Figure 7
 Figure 9
 Figure 10
 Figure 11
 Figure 12
 Figure 13
 Figure 14
 Figure 15
 Figure 16
 Figure 17
 Figure 20
 Figure 21
 Figure 22
 Figure 23
 Figure 24
 Figure 25
 Figure 26
 Figure 27
 Figure 28
 Figure 29
 Figure 30
 Figure 31
 Figure 32
 Figure 33
 Figure 34
 Figure 35
 Figure 36
 Figure 37
 Figure 38
 Figure 39
 Figure 40
 Figure 41
 Figure 42
 Figure 43
 Figure 44
 Figure 45
 Figure 46
 Figure 47
 Figure 48
 Figure 49
 Figure 50
 Figure 51
 Figure 52
 Figure 53
 Figure 54
 Figure 55
 Figure 56
 Figure 57
 Figure 58
 Figure 59
 Figure 60
 Figure 61
 Figure 62
 Figure 63
 Figure 64
 Figure 65
 Figure 66
 Figure 67
 Figure 68
 Figure 69
 Figure 70
 Figure 71
 Figure 72
 Figure 73
 Figure 74
 Figure 75
 Figure 76
 Figure 77
 Figure 78 (a)
 Figure 78 (b)
 Figure 79
 Figure 80
 Figure 81
 Figure 82
 Figure 83
 Figure 84
Figure 85

Sunday 10 September 2017

More on the eDNA testing Project




I had written previously on how Professor Neil Gemmill of the University of Otago in New Zealand planned to take water samples at Loch Ness in an attempt to discover what species of animal may be resident in the loch. That was back in April and things then went quiet.

The last update I read was from the Inverness Courier on August 17th which told us how Neil had visited Loch Ness to size up what was required and enlist local help. The proof of his visit was this selfie with the curator of the Loch Ness Centre, Adrian Shine. He had also paid a visit to sceptic, Darren Naish, since he had picked up on the idea of an eDNA hunt from Darren's book, "Hunting Monsters", published in 2016.




Actually, Darren's idea is not new as I had suggested it back in May 2014 in this article. Whether he got it from me, I cannot tell. Of course, such ideas are only going to carry more weight if they come from a sceptical scientist.

Adrian offered the centre's help with boats and people but then the bombshell was dropped. Neil reckons he needs £100,000 to fund the entire project. I'll say that again - one hundred thousand pounds. He plans to raise this money through crowdfunding and as of today, I cannot see any reference yet to this on his twitter account.

I had assumed some kindly scientific department had offered their facilities to process the water samples, but I guess not. There will obviously be costs, such as the transport of the large amount of water samples and running the DNA tests, but I was surprised by the £100K price tag.

Which makes me wonder if this project will ever get off the ground? On reading various comments on newspapers, you had people deriding this as a waste of money and it would be better spent on hospitals, nurses, etc. If that was true, you could probably close down most science research.

Interest has been expressed by film companies who wish to track his ventures for a documentary. They may put up some of the cash, grants may even be available if it could be argued that this experiment provides great publicity and awareness for the science of environmental DNA and ecology (a bit like using Nessie to promote food chain studies in schools). However, when the phrase "Loch Ness Monster" is mentioned in polite, scientific circles, they usually run a mile.

One thing I am quite certain of and that is the business people who are raking it in every year from tourists at Loch Ness will not be putting their hands in their pockets. As one Nessie man told me once of a local entrepreneur, he doubted he could even point you to the loch, as he was too busy with his nose in the till.


The author can be contacted at lochnesskelpie@gmail.com