Loch Ness Exhibition Centre (Drumnadrochit, Scotland)

I've been to Loch Ness a handful of times now, but I had never been to the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre at Drumnadrochit, located in a village near Loch Ness. My parents were over for for three weeks in November and December, and we went to Scotland at the end of November. They have always wanted to see Loch Ness, so I took them there, and we decided to have a look around the exhibition centre.

Actually, I was not expecting much as I don't believe in Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. I thought that this museum would be a "gimmick" but I was actually pleasantly surprised. This museum explored the lake itself as well as the famous "creature" and plausible explanations for what the sightings could be attributed to. It first discusses the history of the lake from its formation and then the sightings of the lake monster. The exhibition continues and explores the science, technology, and the hype around the famous lake resident, and this also led to some important discoveries and environmental research.

I will not spoil it, but I did see some documentaries and unsolved mysteries with similar phenomenon of lake monsters, and it is believed that they are schools of fish or the motion of water circulating. Loch Ness itself is an extremely deep lake, so equipment and sonar has been sent down to explore the lake, which is no feat to be taken lightly. The exhibition goes on to explain this and shows off some of the equipment, which has had to be built to withstand the high levels of pressure in the lake.

The most important aspect to take away from the exhibition for me is that the lake is so deep and has been able to monitor humankind's environmental influences on the world by measuring the soil at the depths of the lake. It's actually quite astonishing when you think about it that you can see the effects of pollution and weapons on the environment.

In addition, the exhibition also had a small display on boats and planes lost in the lake over the years. The exhibition itself is a part of a large gift shop, and visitors can also get their photographs taken with the "Nessie" sculptures. There's also a tea room near here and games.