Current Event Article Assignment

Read this article and answer the questions

NBC - Sept. 5, 2019, 7:07 AM CDT By Yuliya Talmazan

The Loch Ness monster is no monster, but if it is any consolation it may be a big eel.

On Thursday, an international group of scientists that compiled the genetic profiles of living creatures in
Scotland’s mysterious Loch Ness said they had found no evidence that the fabled creature was lurking in the
lake.

“We have no definitive evidence of a monster,” said Professor Neil Gemmell of the University of Otago, New
Zealand, who led the study.

The Loch Ness monster, or Nessie for short, is one of Scotland’s most enduring tales. Alleged sightings have
given birth to stories of a prehistoric creature living in the loch. The team of researchers led by Gemmell
analyzed the environmental DNA — or genetic material shed by all life in Loch Ness — from around 250
samples of water collected from the lake last year, and compared it to large databases of genetic sequences from
known species.

The scientists did not find evidence of DNA sequences similar to those predicted to come from a large extinct
marine reptile.

A shadowy shape that some people believe is a photo of the Loch Ness monster from April 19 1934.Keystone /
Getty Images

Speaking in Drumnadrochit on the western shore of Loch Ness, Gemmell told reporters the scientists found no
reptilian DNA sequences, which makes him fairly certain that there is no "giant scaly reptile" swimming in the
loch. Scientists also explored the possibility of giant fish, such as catfish or sturgeon, being responsible for
sightings, but Gemmel said that was a dead end too.

The team did find a surprisingly large amount of eel DNA in the loch, he said. Gemmell said eel can grow 4 to
6 feet in length, but reported Loch Ness sightings usually involve a much bigger creature. There is no way to
tell how big these eels are from DNA evidence, he said.

“Is it a giant eel? I don’t know, but it is something that we can test further,” he said.
 Current Event Article Assignment
Read this article and answer the questions
While the myth of the Loch Ness monster goes back hundreds of years, the first modern sighting of Nessie as a
“whale-like fish” was reported in 1933.

Since then, there have been thousands of alleged sightings, inspiring numerous books, TV shows and films, and
attracting thousands of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive monster.

At the end of his presentation, Gemmel dangled the tantalizing possibility that the team had missed something.

"There may well be a monster in Loch Ness, but we didn’t find it," he said.

Questions

1. The Loch Ness monster is large marine creature believed by some people to inhabit Loch Ness,
Scotland. However, much of the evidence supporting its existence has been discredited, and it is widely
thought that the monster is a myth. How did scientists in this article use scientific methods to support
their claim that the Loch Ness monster isn’t actually a “monster”?

2. All living organisms are made from DNA. This is also refered to as genetic information. DNA contains
the instructions to make every part of the species it belongs to. Scientists took samples of water in order
to look at the DNA and find out what kind of life lives in the lake. For example, a water sample that had
the DNA sequence / Genetic Material of a fish, would determine that fish live in the lake. How many
water samples did these scientists take?

3. Do you think the amount of water samples they took is enough to determine all these species that live in
the lake? Should they have taken more, less , or the same number of samples?

4. What species do these scientists determine The Loch Ness Monster to be?

5. The picture in this article is what spiked interest in the World. Do you think this image shows a
“monster” or something else? From this article, and other information you might know about this topic,
do you think the Loch Ness Monster is real?