It’s been 90 years since the very first recorded Loch Ness Monster sighting took the world by storm.
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Stories about a mysterious creature living in a freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands have been around since 500 A.D. However, the legend of Loch Ness was not brought to the world’s attention until May 1933, when a hotel manager named Aldie Mackay and her husband spotted what they thought to be a giant sea creature in the water.
Though there has been no solid evidence of the Loch Ness Monster’s existence in the nine decades since Mackay’s report , there’s been no shortage of trying.
And recently there’s been several new reports, leading to a renewal in hopes for Nessie apologists.
April 5: 13-year-old logs first Nessie sighting of 2023
A 13-year-old girl from the Paisley district of Scotland, Francesca McGarvey, was visiting the Loch during her Easter vacation when, late in the morning on April 5, said she spotted the monster in the water. According to the keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, Gary Campbell, McGarvey reported seeing a dark shape with humps and that was about 20 feet in total.
The family “confirmed that there was no sign of boat activity,” on the water. This was the first sighting of the monster since October of 2022.
April 12: Two tourist spots creature with a large neck
A recent sighting mid-April by a Welsh vacationer, John Payne, stated he saw an animal in the water with a “huge neck.” According to Wales Online, Payne began to take photos of the creature on the Loch and continued to photograph it as it traveled across the body of water. “It must have been something very large,” he said. “Because we were about a mile away from the loch and I could see it clearly.”
May 12: Monster hunter captures video footage
Last Friday, May 12, 2023, there was another sighting by Loch Ness Monster hunter, Eoin O’Faodhagin. O’Faodhigain said it was the most compelling evidence of Nessie yet. Caught on a live video feed, he picked up an image of something floating through the water that was estimated to be roughly 25 feet in length.
Chasing Nessie: Not easy
Though these are exciting moments for Nessie hunters, it has not always been easy.
Steve Feltham, a Loch Ness Monster hunter who has spent 30 years chasing the legendary serpent, recently told the BBC that he thought the task would be easier. Beginning his hunt in 1991, Feltham got a glimpse of the monster right away. However, that was the last time he saw the monster.
“I did think this job was going to easier…,” he told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland. “I thought it wouldn’t be long until a second sighting would come along.”
What is the Loch Ness Monster, anyway?
While it’s clear people believe they are seeing something in the dark waters of Loch Ness, it remains unknown what that is. When the first photographs were published of Nessie, it was thought to be a plesiosaur– an extinct, long-necked marine reptile that was alive from the Triassic Period until the Cretaceous Period.
According to a Washington Post article from 2019, scientists research DNA found in the lake and though there was no evidence of the plesiosaur, what tourists could be seeing is very large eels. Though they aren’t sure if these large eels are common, there has previously been a sighting of a 4-meter (13 feet) eel on the surface of the water.
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