Sunday 27 September 2009

Shielagh , the Loch Shiel Creature


Loch Shiel is a freshwater loch, 120 metres ( about 390 feet) deep, situated west of Fort William in the Highlands of Scotland. Loch Shiel is only marginally above sea level and was a sea loch a few thousand years ago when sea levels were higher. Loch Shiel is said to be home to a lake monster, Shielagh.

It is said to be about 70 feet (20 metres) long and show three large humps in the water .

Reports of sightings of Shielagh can be traced back to the 1870’s; as documented by a Benedictine priest, Father Cyril Dieckhoff, before he passed away in 1970. Amongst the sightings he wrote about was that of Ian Crookback and Ewan MacIntoch who, along with two boys, claimed to have seen three animate humps breaking the surface of the loch from the bow of a mail steamer named Clan Ranald.

List of sightings :

1874, 1905, 1911, 1925, 1926, 1997, June 1998

Descriptions: 3 humps moving fast in the water.. 4 animals were seen at once in 1997. Long necks, upturned-boat back.

I have been unable to find anything about the 1997 or 1998 sighting. If anyone knows anything about it please post a comment. The descriptions are typical of most lake creature sightings, the humps, the fast moving through the water, more than one animal etc. The similarities between so many lake creature sightings would surely lead logically to thinking there are similar creatures or phenomena in these lakes that should be investigated? The scientific world can be very blind sometimes.

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