PODCAST SWAP — History Daily: The Loch Ness Monster
In this special podcast swap episode, Math Science History teams up with History Daily to bring you one of the most enduring mysteries in modern folklore: the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. From ancient Scottish lore to one of the most infamous photographic hoaxes of the 20th century, this captivating narrative blends history, myth, and media manipulation.
Enjoy this rich collaboration with History Daily, and discover how a blend of mystery, myth, and media shaped the global fascination with Nessie.
3 Things Listeners Will Learn:
- How a 1933 eyewitness account sparked worldwide interest in the Loch Ness Monster.
- The shocking truth behind the famous “Surgeon’s Photograph” and the man who staged it.
- How hoaxes, headlines, and history intersected to build a lasting legend.
Resources & Links:
Listen to History Daily on your favorite podcast platform.
History Daily is a coproduction of Airship and Noiser
On History Daily, we do history, daily. Every weekday, host Lindsay Graham (American Scandal, American History Tellers) takes you back in time to explore a momentous event that happened ‘on this day’ in history.
Whether it’s to remember the tragedy of December 7th, 1941, the day “that will live in infamy,” or to celebrate that 20th day in July, 1969, when mankind reached the moon, History Daily is there to tell you the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world—one day at a time.So if you’re stuck in traffic, bored at work—wherever you are, listen to History Daily to remind yourself that something incredible happened to make that day historic.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPTS
Welcome to Math, Science, History. I’m Gabrielle Birchak, your host. Today, we’re doing a podcast swap with History Daily.
Today’s feature tells us all about the legend of the Loch Ness Monster. Every now and then, history blurs the line between myth and mystery, and few tales capture the imagination quite like the ones swelling beneath the waters of the Loch Ness. For more information, you can find a link to History Daily in our show notes.
In the year 415, the infamous philosopher and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, Egypt, was savagely murdered by church monks. This murder shocked the Roman community and its government leaders. Hypatia was known far and wide as a respected philosopher, mathematician, government advisor, and a professor.
Hypatia, the sum of her life, is a book that I wrote that looks not just at the circumstances surrounding her death, but also at the sum of her entire life. I weave in the details of her education, disciples, Neoplatonic philosophies, female contemporaries, and the many mathematics that she wrote and taught about. There is truly more to Hypatia’s life than her death.
Hypatia, the sum of her life, written by me, Gabrielle Birchak, is now on sale on Amazon. Buy your copy today. Welcome to today’s podcast, Swap with History Daily.
I really love listening to History Daily. They release an episode every weekday and tell stories of what happened on this day in history. They offer a very broad mix of history, from historical battles to fashion firsts.
The History Daily podcast covers every topic you can imagine, including science, technology, medicine, sports, and even mystery. Lindsey Graham, the host of History Daily, not the senator, but the host of History Daily, shares with us those intriguing stories and events that captivated us over the years and through time. History Daily keeps those intriguing stories from disappearing and serve to remind us that history is human.
So, after you’re done listening to today’s podcast, be sure to look up History Daily on your favorite podcast platform, subscribe, and enjoy a trip back in time to discover our histories. We will also put a link to History Daily in our show notes, as well as at our website, mathsciencehistory.com. So, without further ado, let’s take a listen to the story about the Loch Ness Monster.
It’s April 14th, 1933, in the Scottish Highlands near the town of Inverness.
Audie Mackay sits in the passenger seat as her husband drives along a quiet country road. Audie rolls down the window to let in the afternoon breeze, poking her head out to look in the dark water of the lake next to them. She begins to turn her head back to the road where something catches her eye, a mysterious movement on the lake.
Audie looks across the water, which has been completely still until just seconds ago. Now she watches as it churns. She traces the waves back to their source and lets out a gasp.
Audie cries for her husband to stop the car. As the car screeches to a halt, Audie shouts for him to look at the lake, and with a shaking hand, she points to a shape rising out of the lake’s depths. Audie’s stomach sinks as she watches an enormous, black, whale-like creature emerging from the water and then crashing back down below.
Audie watches as waves big enough to have been caused by a steamship reverberate through the lake before disappearing in a mass of foam. Audie and her husband stare in shock as the lake grows still once more. They wait on the roadside for half an hour, but the creature never reappears.
Audie’s account of these events will soon be published by the Inverness Courier. Her story of a monster lurking in the depths of Loch Ness will send reporters and sightseers flocking to the lake in hopes of spotting the infamous Loch Ness monster for themselves. And as sightings continue, the legend of Loch Ness will continue to grow.
But evidence of the creature’s existence will be scarce, until the newspaper The Daily Mail sparks an international sensation when it publishes an alleged photo of the Loch Ness monster on April 21st, 1934. From Noiser and Airship, I’m Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily. History is made every day.
On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is April 21st, 1934. The Loch Ness photograph.
It’s the afternoon of July 22nd, 1933, near Loch Ness, three months after Audie Mackay’s alleged sighting of a monster in the lake. A gentleman named George Spicer hums a tune as he drives down a hill toward Loch Ness, his wife in the passenger seat next to him. George turns on the road that runs alongside the lake, ready to begin the long drive back to their home in London.
Between the trees, George catches glimpses of the glistening surface of Loch Ness. Staring at the inky water, George briefly wonders if the rumors around town of a mysterious monster are true. Though Audie Mackay’s account of a creature in the lake sent shockwaves through the community, she was not the first to allege that a monster lurked in Loch Ness.
Stories of a mysterious aquatic animal in the Loch are rooted in Scottish folklore, with accounts dating back over a thousand years, but Audie’s story reignited local fascination with the lake. But today, mythical monsters feels like an outlandish notion to George. Loch Ness is just another beautiful Scottish lake to be enjoyed on a scenic drive during summer weather.
But an exclamation from his wife interrupts his reverie. George, what on earth is that? George turns his eyes back to the road. In the distance, George can make out a large, grey lump stretching across the entire width of the road.
He squints harder, and as he gets closer to the mysterious object, he realizes it’s not an object at all. George slams on the brakes, his eyes glued on an animal, taking in its long, thin neck, and enormous, limbless body. George watches as the creature jerks left and right, sliding across the road toward the lake.
In a matter of seconds, the creature arrives at the water’s edge, and George stares as the animal descends into the lake and out of sight. On August 4th, 1933, George Spicer’s account will be published by the Inverness Courier, and soon picked up by major papers throughout the country. Spicer’s story of a prehistoric abomination with a three-arched neck and a body four feet high will spark a new level of public interest in the mysterious Loch Ness monster.
London newspapers will send correspondence to the lake. Updates on the latest news from Loch Ness will frequently interrupt radio programs, and soon boats will fill the lake with outdoorsmen and Boy Scouts scouring the depths. Deck chairs will adorn the lake shores as sightseers wait for the monster to reappear.
Traffic jams will fill the roadways. A circus will even put up a reward for the beast’s capture. But all evidence of a monster will remain anecdotal.
It’s December 1933, four months after George Spicer’s monster sighting. Marmaduke Wetherell paces the lake’s rocky shore, intently looking out over the water and inspecting the ground beneath him for any evidence of the fabled Loch Ness monster. In recent weeks, excitement over the beast has reached a fever pitch.
Eager to capitalize on the moment, the Daily Mail commissioned Wetherell, a well-known actor and big-game hunter, to track down the creature. For the past several days, Wetherell has been at Loch Ness, hunting for any evidence of the beast’s existence. So far he’s come up empty-handed, but today Wetherell hopes that will change.
Wetherell ventures farther from the water’s edge, walking toward the grassy banks. As he does, something catches his eye. Just a few yards from where he stands, Wetherell sees an indentation in the ground.
Wetherell approaches the strange pattern, careful not to step on what looks like a series of animal prints. Wetherell’s heart soars as he inspects them closer. To his experienced eye, the prints appear big enough to have come from a very powerful, soft-footed animal 20 feet long.
Wetherell follows the prints that lead him right to the water. He smiles, knowing that this is the evidence he’s been looking for. Wetherell rushes to find a phone and report his discovery to the Daily Mail, which publishes Wetherell’s report with the headline reading, Monster of Loch Ness is not legend but a fact.
Wetherell claims the prints are foolproof evidence of the Loch Ness monster’s existence. But at the Daily Mail’s request, Wetherell agrees to send casts of the footprints to London’s Natural History Museum for analysis. Wetherell waits in anticipation for the museum’s conclusion.
But when the results come in, Wetherell is devastated. The prints he so meticulously casted belong to a hippopotamus. Obviously, Wetherell knows there’s no hippo living in the Loch.
It’s clear someone is pulling a prank. And indeed, the prints were man-made, likely by a hippo foot converted into an umbrella stand or ashtray, a popular taxidermy choice of the day. Against Wetherell’s wishes, the Daily Mail will publish the museum’s findings, turning Wetherell into a subject of ridicule.
And his misidentification will sully the investigation of the Loch Ness monster. Sightings will be viewed with skepticism and quickly dismissed as hoaxes or optical illusions. Before long, Wetherell will return to London in disgrace.
And utterly humiliated, he will retreat from public view. But Wetherell won’t give up his search for a Loch Ness monster. Instead, he will hatch a new plan and put into motion a plot to prove the existence of the Loch Ness monster once and for all.
We’ll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers. It’s April 1934 in London, four months after the Daily Mail published the results of Wetherell’s embarrassing mix-up. Inside his living room, Wetherell and his two sons huddle around a toy submarine.
But they’re not playing a game. They’re plotting the best way to make this toy look like the Loch Ness monster in a staged photograph. Wetherell stares at the small toy and smiles, reveling in the absurdity of his plan and the thrill of possible revenge.
The hippo foot fiasco left an indelible stain upon Wetherell’s reputation as a big game hunter. After the Daily Mail published his embarrassing mistake, Wetherell’s resentment toward the publication grew into a thirst for revenge. Now the time has come for Wetherell to execute it.
Wetherell watches as his son Ian begins layering wood over the toy submarine’s tower. Slowly, Wetherell recognizes the shape of a neck beginning to take form. Wetherell nods approving, before helping his stepson Christian attach strips of lead to the submarine’s base.
Wetherell finds a paintbrush and opens a can of gray paint, ready to put the finishing touches on their creation. Wetherell stands back to examine their handiwork and smiles at their 12-inch tall model of the fabled Loch Ness monster. Wetherell turns to his sons and sneers, they want a monster? We’ll give them their monster.
Soon Wetherell returns to Loch Ness with his son Ian and their newly crafted creature. He finds a quiet bay and then lays the makeshift monster on its surface, making sure to include the scenery of Loch Ness in the background. Satisfied with its position, Wetherell sets up a camera and snaps a photo of the monster.
Wetherell prepares to take another photo, but the sound of nearby footsteps deters him. Quickly, Wetherell sinks his model into the water and rushes back to his car. As he drives back to London, Wetherell ponders how to get his photo developed and out onto the front page of the Daily Mail.
He knows he can’t do it himself, not after the hippo foot fiasco. He needs someone else, someone respectable and credible. It’s the morning of April 21st, 1934, at the Daily Mail’s headquarters in London.
At his desk, a reporter inspects the front page of the day’s paper. Taking up most of the page is an image of a long serpent-like neck jutting out of the water of a lake, underneath a headline that screams London Surgeon’s Photo of the Monster. The reporter smiles, knowing sales will be good today.
The photo came to the Daily Mail from Dr. Robert Wilson, a highly respected London surgeon. Wilson claimed to have been driving along the northern shore of Loch Ness when he spotted something moving in the water. With a camera luckily on hand, Wilson stopped his car to snap a photo of the mysterious animal.
The reporter picks up the paper again, closely inspecting the dark silhouette of the mysterious creature. He knows this photo corroborates the description of the monster given by the many alleged witnesses over the years. But after the hippo foot incident, doubt still lingers in his head.
Still, the reporter knows they did their due diligence early this time. The Daily Mail already had Scottish experts examine the photograph yesterday. None believed the creature to be any marine animal or fish known to inhabit British waters.
In fact, they couldn’t hazard a guess as to what the animal could be. Plus, Dr. Wilson, a respected surgeon, hardly seems like a man to be party to some elaborate hoax. Still, the reporter does not know the answer to the question in the story’s subheading, Does Monster Really Exist? For many, the surgeon’s photograph, as it will come to be known, is irrefutable evidence of the Loch Ness monster’s existence.
The photo will even launch the popular theory that the creature in Loch Ness is actually a plesiosaur, a prehistoric marine reptile that has been extinct for over 65 million years. And for decades, the photo will be considered the best evidence of the Loch Ness monster. But then, in 1994, 60 years after the photo’s first publication, a man named Alistair Boyd will unveil the truth, revealing the photograph as nothing more than another hoax.
We’ll be right back after a quick word from my advertisers. Boyd is a retired art teacher, but has researched the Loch Ness ever since he spotted the large animal in the lake 15 years ago. For years, Boyd has sought evidence to corroborate what he thinks he saw that day.
And for years, the surgeon’s photograph was the most convincing evidence that Boyd and others were not just imagining things. Though Ian’s interview, rebutting the validity of the photograph, was released almost two decades prior, the article never gained much traction. But as Boyd reads and rereads Ian Wetherell’s claims, he’s struck by the feeling that the media missed a major story, that the famous photograph may indeed be fraudulent.
Boyd decides to investigate further. Ian Wetherell is deceased, so Boyd tracks down Ian’s stepbrother, Christian Sperling, and drives down to the south of England to meet him. Now 93 years old and near death, Christian confesses his stepdad’s elaborate ploy to get revenge on the Daily Mail.
And during their interview, Boyd makes one more discovery, a suspicious Wetherell family heirloom, an ashtray with a stuffed hippo foot at its base. Whether Marmaduke Wetherell made the prints at Loch Ness himself is unclear, but a few months after meeting with Christian Sperling, Boyd will reveal to the media that the surgeon’s photograph was a hoax. But far from becoming one of the legend’s biggest detractors, Aleister Boyd will remain a stalwart supporter of the existence of the Loch Ness monster, and he will not be alone in his conviction.
Marmaduke Wetherell’s deception will not spell the end for the legend of the Loch Ness monster. The mythology of the monster, as well as the hunt for its existence, will endure, captivating audiences long after the Daily Mail first captured the world’s attention with its infamous photograph, published on April 21st, 1934. Next, on History Daily, April 22nd, 1993.
While waiting for a bus, 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack that changes Britain forever. From Noiser & Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham.
Audio editing and sound design by Molly Baum. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Alexandra Curry Buckner.
Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes from Noiser. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode, brought to you from History Daily. Again, be sure to check them out.
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