Less Exciting Explanations
There are many less exciting explanations for the sightings, such as birds, deer and 15)otters. The loch has a wealth of other 16)phenomena that could 17)lend a hand in a 18)logical explanation, such as gas bubbles arising from 19)decomposing matter, or shifting rocks, logs and debris around the water.
Other known creatures found 20)populating the loch are eels which live on the bottom, and seals which were videotaped in the loch in September 1998. The seals, which travel from the sea 21)via the River Ness, have led others to 22)speculate that the beast may be a whale travelling via the same route. Unfortunately, the chances of a whale swimming up the river unnoticed are 23)slim, as they need to surface regularly.
If there is a creature in the loch that’s been popping up to keep the tourist trade alive, then the best 24)contender so far is the 25)sturgeon. This fish, which can grow up to 20ft (6m) and live for a hundred years, would certainly 26)account for the many sightings, but why have no 27)carcasses been found?
本文原文
Whatever the monster is, if it exists, it is
extremely 28)elusive. No bones or bodies have ever been found, and it seems impossible to
disprove the existence of the creature. We can only wait and see if time and patience solves this most mysterious 29)riddle.
“尼斯湖水怪”一词是一位记者在1933年首宗近代尼斯湖怪物目击事件被报道后创造的。最古老的目击记载可追溯到公元565年，据说当时圣·哥伦巴曾看见尼斯河中出现一只巨大的怪物。自第一次见报以后，数以千计的目击事件被陆续报导。许多人声称见到水怪长长的脖子和头部伸出水面。另一些人则说看见在湖面上出现移动的影子和物体，甚至说有巨兽在面前经过。
尼斯湖水怪究竟是何方神圣？
至今已有超过50幅图像被收录，但其中仅有6幅经得起时间的考验。最著名的一张是由外科医生肯尼思·威尔森于1934年拍下的“外科医生照片”。
他的照片里展示的东西看起来像巨大的脖子和头冒出湖面。（然而背景中什么也看不见，因此图中物体的大小比例无从得知。）人们现在已普遍认同这张“外科医生照片”是用一个接在玩具潜水艇上的塑料和木制模型伪造的。
1968年，为了追踪尼斯湖里的巨大物体，人们进行了首次声纳测试。但这次测试没有成功。1987年的第二次尝试动用了20艘声纳船，并在77米到178米之间三次发现了疑似目标。最近的一次搜寻是在1992年。这次搜寻的目的是建立尼斯湖底的图像，但没有发现湖底有洞穴或异常物体的
证据。
人们提出过许多理论，试图解释湖里的东西到底是什么，但答案至今仍是一个谜。众多猜测之中，最流行当属蛇颈龙论——蛇颈龙是一种已经灭绝的恐龙，但有人相信千百万年来有蛇颈龙幸存下来，藏身于尼斯湖中。支持该理论的证据只有那张“外科医生照片”，而这个证据的可信度现在已被大部分严谨的研究者大加否定。
