Does the Loch Ness Monster Have English Relatives?

I may be an armchair cryptozoologist, and I believe in the possible existence of a great many things, but one creature that I’m really on the fence about is the Loch Ness Monster (and other lake monsters). On the one hand, there is definitely something being seen in lakes around the world, with many of those reports dating back hundreds if not thousands of years. Most lake monster sightings all happen within a specific latitude on the globe, which points to something real, something flesh and blood. But is it a dinosaur? I’m not too sure about that. Most of the photos are dubious at best, and the rest have been proven to be hoaxes or misidentifications. Most of the lakes that supposedly have “monsters” in them don’t have enough of a food supply to adequately feed an entire breeding population of dinosaurs.

But AOL News is reporting that a lake in England has its own monster now.

The hunt is on for a new lake monster — not at Scotland’s Loch Ness, home of the fabled “Nessie,” but this time in nearby England.

Sky News reports that monster hunters are using sonar to try to find the elusive animal that reportedly lurks in the 220-foot-deep, 10-mile-long lake.

Lake Windermere, located in the northern part of England, is a popular holiday and summer home destination and is bordered by two towns, Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere — hence the clever monster nickname, Bow-Nessie.

Some suggest its name comes from the bow-like wave it has been reported making as it glides through the water.

One witness, hotel owner Thomas Noblett, said he had a very close encounter with Bow-Nessie. “All of a sudden, I felt something brush past my legs like a giant fish. And then I was lifted up by a 3-foot wave. I’ve no idea what it was.”

As a new legend is born, it probably won’t hurt local tourism, either — Bow-Nessie T-shirts can’t be too far away.