Loch Ness Monster Of England, 'Bownessie,' Allegedly Photographed In Lake Windermere (VIDEO)

Loch Ness Monster move over, England's version of the notorious mystery -- dubbed "Bownessie" by locals -- is hogging the spotlight after a kayaker's recent cell phone photo of something strange in Lake Windermere has been spreading fast around the web.

According to The Telegraph, the photo -- which shows multiple humps rising above the surface of the lake -- is said to be the best evidence to date of Bownessie, and reminiscent of similar photos that some have alleged were of the Loch Ness Monster.

According to CNET, 24-year-old Tom Pickles snapped the pic. "Each hump was moving in a rippling motion, and it was swimming fast," Pickles said of the Loch Ness Monster-like creature. "Its skin was like a seal's but its shape was completely abnormal--it's not like any animal I've ever seen before."

Naturally, the picture is stirring plenty of controversy, as the grainy image makes confirming any of the contents relatively impossible -- but peoples' curiosity certainly has been enticed as the Loch Ness Monster legend rages once more.

WATCH ABC's report of England's Loch Ness Monster:

Comments

[13champlain]

05:04 PM on 03/24/2011

anyone who has grown up on a freshwater lake, knows thats a boat wake.

[Tigerama]

03:41 PM on 03/24/2011

So it's that kind of a site now, eh? Yikes.

[Jim Milks]

07:33 AM on 02/22/2011

Simple ecology should tell us that there is no chance that monsters inhabit Loch Ness or Lake Windermere. First, minimum viable population size (MVP) for most vertebrates is ~5,000 individuals. Minimum viable population size is defined as the smallest population needed for a species to persist in the wild. Five thousand or even five or ten of those "monsters" would be rather difficult to miss, especially since people have lived around those lakes for a few thousand years.

Second, in the case of Loch Ness, the lake doesn't produce enough potential food on an annual basis for even one monster, let along a population of monsters (after all, they would need to breed). It's an oligotrophic lake, in technical terms (translation: small numbers of plants and algae, small populations of fish, extremely clear water, etc.). I haven't read any studies on the productivity of Lake Windermere, but I doubt it would be productive enough either.

Finally, in the case of Loch Ness (again), it was covered with glacial ice during the Pleistocene, which only ended 12,000 years ago. So somehow an oligotrophic lake that is 12,000 years old has somehow managed to support a viable population of monsters that resemble pleisiosaurs from the Mesozoic Era which ended 65 million years ago? I don't think so.

Results of analysis: Ecologically, neither "monster" measures up. Better luck next time, hoaxers.

[LeanLeftAmerica]

01:14 PM on 02/22/2011

Question: Has there ever been any instances of a species being declared extinct and then surfacing years later? Of course there have.

Also note the discovery of arsenic based life not too long ago...

Proving that traditional models do not always apply... Open your mind Quaid!!!!

Life is persistent... Your postulating should always begin with that!!!

[Jim Milks]

05:27 PM on 02/22/2011

Have you ever wondered why it's big news when a species is rediscovered after being declared extinct? It's because it's about as rare as someone being declared clinically dead and then coming back to life. While it does happen, it's normally small, cryptic species that live in remote rain forests or mountain ranges that are rediscovered. FYI, I'm among the scientists who are skeptical that the ivory billed woodpecker was really rediscovered–the evidence is too sketchy to say if it was and the lack of evidence since despite an intensive search is quite telling.

In this case, you're talking about breeding populations of large animals supposedly living in the middle of lakes in populated areas. What are the chances that such creatures would have escaped notice until the 1871 (for Loch Ness) or 2006 (for Lake Windermere)? I'm sure you'll agree that the chances are between nil and zilch.

As for the so-called "arsenic" based life, well, take a look:
http://www.slate.com/id/2276919/

And the comments on actual science-based sites are even more scathing.

[leorangerie]

11:38 PM on 02/21/2011

The story that just keeps on giving. Great for tourism.

[DG3]

10:46 PM on 02/21/2011

The humps aren't even spaced out enough.

Dudes, if you're going to do a fake, do a better job next time.

[tonewheel]

04:50 PM on 03/24/2011

What's the rule for spaced out humps?

[DG3]

04:58 PM on 03/24/2011

About 3 feet is the rule.

=]

[LefttoBeaver]

06:05 PM on 02/21/2011

Too all the smug debunkers decrying the blurriness of the shot: try to take a clear picture of a car crash as it happens. How many of those are there every day?

I'm not an apologist for this being proof of anything, but to claim certainty that it represents no unknown phenomenon is as unscientific as claiming it establishes the existence of lake monsters.

[fumes]

04:40 PM on 02/21/2011

more proof of global warming!

as if we need any..

[Dr Juan]

02:38 PM on 02/21/2011

This explains everything:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSYXrWIA618&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zSrg0IxHzI&feature=related

[kcinpa]

02:09 PM on 02/21/2011

Why do these photos always look like they were taken about 100 years ago? I mean, with technology what it is today, even the worst cell phone camera could take a better picture than that...

[LefttoBeaver]

06:08 PM on 02/21/2011

I have a feeling that the blurriness is a result of cropping and zooming so as yield the "best" view of the alleged creature.

[firstwizard]

01:44 PM on 02/21/2011

That's just my ex-mother in law out for a swim. No worries..

[Gaus]

03:24 PM on 02/21/2011

That cant be..I could swore it was my ex-mother in law :-)

[firstwizard]

04:19 PM on 02/22/2011

Birds (ahh serpents) of a feather

[Gaus]

01:37 PM on 02/21/2011

Heala Monster is the only monster That exists in the world, but then how come I have a viral You Tube video about Montauk Monster? After all in the video I explain its just a dead bloated dog....Yet no one is watching my video on how to make a crop circle But they love my Photo Shopped crop circle video even though I told them its just a National Geographic photo which is available on their sight without my artwork, heck! I also took a digitally produced movie of a flying UFO, re filmed it with a shaky camera added some grainy picture defect and said its a UFO filmed by US troops in Afghanistan, Boy! they loved it even though I explained it was a fake...
Bottom line: this one is just a big snake...If the Kayakers first took it as a dog then it can't be too big...Some of you may say there are no snakes in that lake ,I say there shouldn't be parakeets in the snowy state of Connecticut, but due to an accidental release and some mutation ,yes there are parakeets "Cunehticet" and yes there are fish that adapted to live in PCB contaminated pools around Hudson river ...No they are not monsters but please don't eat them or the fish that dines on them...
So, it is y'all who are looking for monsters not the other way round :-)

[lunacougar]

12:19 PM on 02/21/2011

And I can sell you this special camera for taking fuzzy,out of focus shots.

[trainer3]

12:11 PM on 02/21/2011

Ok, since you are all struggling with the real answer, I'll tell you what Lake Monsters are, and Bigfoot creatures are.
They are walk ins. They live in a place outside of our vision (visible light is small on the spectrum) and outside of any place we currently know. Yes, call it another 'dimension', as if that helps. It doesn't.
You'll never find a skeleton, physical proof (yes, the hair, scat and prints are real, the Lake Monsters, Champ, Ogopogo, Nessie, all at the similar latitude...yes...real.)
Walk ins. They come here to feed, they walk back.
You are welcome.

[novabird]

12:26 PM on 02/21/2011

Skeptics and science fundamentalists will summarily dismiss this with an insult to your intelligence. However I like to keep an open mind and examine a range of possibilities and evidence. There are many potential answers to this and others mysteries but the existence of transdimensionals would explain a lot.

[dubbleplusgood]

08:47 AM on 02/23/2011

LSD much? ;)

[Deleuzian Nomad]

11:34 AM on 02/21/2011

Has Scotland's economy tanked recently (!) ? Break out yet another fuzzy "picture" of the Loch Ness delusion to get the tourists coming...And while I am at it, why does the media continue perpetuating these idiotic myths?

[classicalgeek]

12:32 PM on 02/21/2011

Read the article. It's in England.