David Ross, Highland Correspondent
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29 Dec 2010
It is shaping up to be the biggest test of the Loch Ness Monster’s reputation as a top drawer tourist attraction since a surgeon’s photographs of the mythical beast were found to be faked.
The 500,000 tourists who visit Loch Ness every year from across the world have been urged to forget their search for Nessie and go to see real live bottlenose dolphins.
The Banffshire Coast Tourism Partnership began promoting itself as a key part of Scotland’s Dolphin Coast yesterday with the launch of a new website
Chairman Roger Goodyear said: “No-one, and certainly those who depend on the mythology for a living, cares to admit that Nessie doesn’t exist except in the imagination of visitors. Is Nessie real? As they say in all the best pantos ‘Oh no, she isn’t’ ... She’s not even behind you.
“We want people to know that instead of spending valuable holiday time looking for something that doesn’t exist they should come to Scotland’s Dolphin Coast instead and see something that most certainly does – our dolphins, porpoises and even minke whales.
“And, we can assure our visitors that the dolphins they encounter will be 100% genuine and not a floating log, an upturned rowing boat or a trick of the light.”
He said visitors to the Banffshire coast often had the chance to see the resident population of bottle nosed Moray Firth dolphins frolic close enough to the shores to view without binoculars.
The Moray Firth is home to the largest bottle nosed dolphins in the world, growing to nearly four metres long. It is estimated that around 130 dolphins live along the Moray Firth.
Graeme Ambrose, managing director of Destination Loch Ness Ltd, which represents 100 businesses around the loch, retorted: “I don’t think there really was any call for such an attack on Nessie. ”
David Alston, Highland Council’s head of budget and a Black Isle Councillor, said: “We certainly wouldn’t encourage visitors to forget about our legendary monster and take off to Banffshire.”
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/transport-environment/forget-nessie-watch-the-dolphins-1.1076919
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