Morag (loch monster)

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Morag

Creature

Name:	Morag
AKA:	Mòrag (Scottish Gaelic)
Classification
Grouping:	Cryptid
Sub grouping:	Lake monster
Data
First reported:	1887
Country:	Scotland
Region:	Loch Morar
Habitat:	Water
Status:	Unconfirmed

Morag or Mòrag (Scottish Gaelic) is a loch monster reported to live in Loch Morar, Scotland. After Nessie herself, it is among the best known of Scotland's legendary monsters.

The name "Morag" is a pun on the name of the lake in which the creatures lives, and of the Scottish female name, "Morag". Sightings date back to 1887, and include some 34 incidents, as of 1981. Sixteen of these involved multiple witnesses.

The best known encounter, in 1969, featured two men, Duncan McDonnel and William Simpson, and their speedboat, with which they accidentally struck the creature, prompting it to hit back. McDonnel retaliated with an oar, and Simpson opened fire with his rifle, whereupon it sank slowly out of sight. they described it as being brown, 25-30 feet long, and with rough skin. It had three humps rising 18 inches above the loch's surface, and a head a foot wide, held 18 inches out of the water.

A pair of photographs taken in 1977 by Miss M Lindsay show an object in the loch which is claimed to be Morag. The object appears to have moved several yards from one picture to the other. The first picture shows a round back, while the second picture seems to show two humps.

Physiologically, the creature is alleged to be similar to Nessie (having a relatively serpentine appearance, and frequently being depicted as a plesiosaur. However, plesiosaurs were unable to raise their necks in the manner described of Morag.

The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau expanded its search to include Loch Morar in February 1970.

Several expeditions with the aim to prove or find the monster have been made, but no evidence for an unknown, large creature has been found.

[edit] See also

Loch Ness Monster
Muc-sheilch (Loch Maree and environs)
Lake monster - a list of such creatures from all over the world can be found here.

[edit] Further reading

Campbell, Elizabeth Montgomery & David Solomon, The Search for Morag (Tom Stacey 1972) ISBN 085468 093 4
Peter Costello, In Search of Lake Monsters (Garnstone) 1974
Michael Newton, Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology A Global Guide
Janet and Colin Bord, "Alien Animals" (Granada 1980, revised 1985), ISBN 0-586-06469-9, pages 13-14(McDonnell and Simpson sighting).
"Modern Mysteries of Britain" (Guild Publishing 1987), pp 160-1 (Morag photographs)