Lochend--Monster Hunting on the Run

Cryptozoologist-turned-maritime-archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski's new book LOCHEND--MONSTER HUNTING ON HE RUN is about the golden age of monster hunting at Loch Ness, Scotland. The Saratoga County, New York author chronicles the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when sophisticated technology was first employed trying to solve the Nessie enigma. That specialized equipment was developed because Cold War tensions necessitated advanced remote sensing to probe the deepest oceans.

Since April 1933, when Aldie and John Mackay, Drumnadrochit, Scotland residents, sighted a strange creature splashing about on the surface of the 22 ½ mile-long Loch Ness, the world has been fascinated that the waterway might be the habitat of a colony of large unidentified animals. Soon afterwards, expeditions were organized to the Scottish Highlands trying to solve the world's most challenging zoological puzzle.

Beginning in the 1960s, more advanced scientific equipment was brought to the deep waterway hoping that state-of-the-art electronics and optics might decipher the scientific mystery. In the 1970s, some of the best scientists in the world traveled to the legendary loch with teams of scuba divers, side scan sonar, customized underwater cameras, and other remote sensing apparatus. In a sense, well-publicized Loch Ness became a testing ground for some of this cutting-edge underwater technology.

The 200-page book, with over 90 photographs and illustrations, likewise tells the story of a little-known athletic accomplishment at Loch Ness. In 1984, Joseph W. Zarzynski, a self-described "average" marathoner and ultramarathoner, completed a 28.5-mile solo run along the loch. He may have been the first person to have run the full length of fabled Loch Ness. The author uses his overland jaunt to tell anecdotes about the heyday of pursuing the elusive Nessie animals.

Included in the book are also stories about other Loch Ness mysteries. These include: an ancient artificial island called a crannog, a hill where local lore has it that a dragon is buried there, possible monster hoaxes perpetrated at the waterway, a reputed 1934 sighting of a Nessie monster crossing a shoreside road, strange stone circles found on the waterway's bottomlands, a full-scale movie monster prop that sank in the loch, a giant fiberglass net sunk in the loch to snare a beastie, and a rare World War II bomber discovered during a Loch Ness monster search. Moreover, Zarzynski provides a primer into other denizens of the deep known by these nicknames—Morag (Loch Morar, Scotland), Seileag (Loch Shiel, Scotland), and Champ (Lake Champlain, New York, Vermont, and Quebec).

From 1974–1991, Joseph W. Zarzynski conducted numerous cryptozoological expeditions at Loch Ness, Scotland and at "North America's Loch Ness"—Lake Champlain. Readers will enjoy this real-life adventure set during the high watermark of seeking Nessie.

Joseph W. Zarzynski is a maritime archaeologist and writer who lives in Saratoga County, New York. For 31 years he taught social studies, but spent his summers searching for legendary water monsters and studying historic shipwrecks. His career included years as a cryptozoologist (monster hunter), maritime archaeologist, author, newspaper columnist, and documentary scriptwriter. He has a BA degree (History, 1973) from Ithaca College, a MAT degree (Social Sciences, 1975) from Binghamton University, and a MA degree (Archaeology and Heritage, 2001) from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom. From 1974–1991, Zarzynski conducted numerous cryptozoological expeditions to Loch Ness, Scotland and also at "North America's Loch Ness"—Lake Champlain.

In 1985, as a correspondent for GENERAL AVIATION NEWS, Zarzynski reported on the recovery of a sunken World War II British Wellington bomber from Loch Ness. That project inspired him to return to college to become a maritime archaeologist. From 1987–2011, the Endicott, New York native was executive director of Bateaux Below. For a quarter-of-a-century, the not-for-profit team studied Lake George, New York shipwrecks, primarily French & Indian War (1755–1763) vessels. In 1990, Zarzynski directed the group that used a Klein side scan sonar to discover Lake George's 1758 LAND TORTOISE radeau shipwreck, called "North America's Oldest Intact Warship." The British warship, a type of floating gun battery, is a National Historic Landmark, the sixth shipwreck in American waters with that prestigious historic designation.

The author has collaborated on four shipwreck documentaries produced by Pepe Productions (Glens Falls, New York). He's had published over 500 newspaper stories, newsletter articles, professional journal papers, and scientific reports. Zarzynski is author or co-author of seven books, four on maritime archaeology topics and three about underwater mysteries. Two of those books are LAKE GEORGE SHIPWRECKS AND SUNKEN HISTORY (2011), co-written by Bob Benway, and GHOST FLEET AWAKENED--LAKE GEORGE'S SUNKEN BATEAUX OF 1758 (2019).