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Loch Ness monster 'might be real' after scientists make 'surprising' discovery

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Professor Neil Gemmell has been examining the DNA of creatures taken from the famous Loch Ness - home of the mythical monster, Nessie.

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The Loch Ness Monster is a mythical animal that allegedly lives in Loch Ness, a large freshwater lake near Inverness, Scotland. Although accounts of an aquatic beast living in the lake date back 1,500 years, all efforts to find any credible evidence of the animal have failed. That hasn't dampened the public's enthusiasm, however, for any news about "Nessie."

Earliest References

Loch Ness, located in the Scottish Highlands, has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain; the body of water reaches a depth of nearly 800 feet and a length of about 23 miles.

Scholars of the Loch Ness Monster find a dozen references to "Nessie" in Scottish history, dating back to around A.D. 500, when local Picts carved a strange aquatic creature into standing stones near Loch Ness.

The earliest written reference to a monster in Loch Ness is a 7th-century biography of Saint Columba, the Irish missionary who introduced Christianity to Scotland. In A.D. 565, according to the biographer, St. Columba was on his way to visit the king of the northern Picts near Inverness when he stopped at Loch Ness to confront a beast that had been killing people in the lake.

Seeing a large beast about to attack another man, St. Columba intervened, invoking the name of God and commanding the creature to "go back with all speed." The monster retreated and never harmed another man.

1933 Sightings

In 1933, a new road was completed along Loch Ness' shore, affording drivers a clear view of the loch. On May 2, 1933, the Inverness Courier reported that a local couple claimed to have seen "an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface."

The story of the Loch Ness Monster became a media phenomenon, with London newspapers sending correspondents to Scotland and a circus offering a 20,000 pound reward for capture of the beast.

After the 1933 sighting, interest steadily grew, especially after another couple claimed to have seen the beast on land, crossing the shore road. Several British newspapers sent reporters to Scotland, including London's Daily Mail, which hired big-game hunter Marmaduke Wetherell to capture the beast.

After a few days searching the loch, Wetherell reported finding footprints of a large four-legged animal. In response, the Daily Mail carried the dramatic headline: "MONSTER OF LOCH NESS IS NOT LEGEND BUT A FACT."

Nessie

Scores of tourists descended on Loch Ness and sat in boats or decks chairs waiting for an appearance by the beast. Plaster casts of the footprints were sent to the British Natural History Museum, which reported that the tracks were that of a hippopotamus, specifically one hippopotamus foot, probably stuffed. The hoax temporarily deflated Loch Ness Monster mania, but stories of sightings continued.

A famous 1934 photograph seemed to show a dinosaur-like creature with a long neck emerging out of the murky waters, leading some to speculate that "Nessie" was a solitary survivor of the long-extinct plesiosaurs. The aquatic plesiosaurs were thought to have died off with the rest of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

Loch Ness was frozen solid during recent ice ages, however, so this creature would have had to have made its way up the River Ness from the sea in the past 10,000 years. And the plesiosaurs, believed to be cold-blooded, would not long survive in the frigid waters of Loch Ness.

More likely, others suggested, it was an archeocyte, a primitive whale with a serpentine neck that is thought to have been extinct for 18 million years. Skeptics argued that what people were seeing in Loch Ness were "seiches"-oscillations in the water surface caused by the inflow of cold river water into the slightly warmer loch.

The Search Continues

Amateur investigators kept an almost constant vigil, and in the 1960s several British universities launched expeditions to Loch Ness, using sonar to search the deep. Nothing conclusive was found, but in each expedition the sonar operators detected large, moving underwater objects they could not explain.

In 1975, Boston's Academy of Applied Science combined sonar and underwater photography in an expedition to Loch Ness. A photo resulted that, after enhancement, appeared to show the giant flipper of a plesiosaur-like creature. Further sonar expeditions in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in more tantalizing, if inconclusive, readings.

Revelations in 1994 that the famous 1934 photo was a hoax hardly dampened the enthusiasm of tourists and professional and amateur investigators to the legend of the Loch Ness Monster.

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Loch Ness Monster - Real vs Myth, Location & Lake

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Loch Ness expert Adrian Shine discusses his involvement with the Loch Ness Project and recaps his decades spent working to uncover the truth behind the Loch Ness monster.

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Loch Ness Researcher Adrian Shine
A reference site for general scientific information concerning the research, exploration and investigationof Loch Ness and its famous monster controversy. Archives also include work of : "The Loch Ness Investigation", and "Loch Morar Survey".

Disclaimer - I don't subscribe to 'the eel theory' as shown in Fantastic Beasts, the meaning was lost in the edit.

Adrian Shine
Group Lectures
& Meetings

Explore Loch Ness Guide
Fully IllustratedGuide to places and events, latest exploration: Operation Groundtruth Explore places and events, a guided tour around the Loch and beneath the surface, an exploration of the underwater world, and some of the results of our ongoing search in the deep water with "Operation Groundtruth".

Research.and exploration of Loch Ness - authors and scientific papers. An historical list of contemporary documents and investigation of the Loch Ness Monster. Loch Ness Research and The Archive Room

The Timeline
Mainly the investigations of the Loch Ness Monster controversy and as its name suggests, is a chronological history with the source references inserted and linked where possible. Because it is designed to show the evolution of method and thought, departures are made from the historical chronology where it seems relevant.

Alphabetical Author List
Simply a list and the quickest way to find a publication or study where the author is known. Links are provided where possible. University course dissertations are included, though links are currently to abstracts only. Copies are generally held by the Loch Ness Project Library at Loch Ness 2000.

The archive is restricted to expeditions or other studies where authoritative reports or published papers have been produced. Thus, newspaper material is only used where it is authored by the investigators themselves and in one case where a newspaper reporter was himself a principal investigator.

Sometimes it has not been possible, for copyright or other reasons, to include an important item. Books, for example, or some journal publications have simply been referenced. For the same reason most items are reproduced in a PDF secure (read only) form. Where possible the material retains its original appearance but some is rearranged for screen viewing. If necessary, documents have been digitally retouched for legibility. The kind assistance given by the copyright holders is gratefully acknowledged.

Editorial bias: T he inclusion of items mostly reflects whether material is considered "diligent" and it is hoped that no injustice has been done. The remaining scope for bias lies within those passages which attempt to link the pages of the archive and to demonstrate interaction or debate within them. These passages may reflect the author's personal opinions.

" Loch Ness"

A 32 page booklet "Loch Ness", is Adrian Shine's account of everything about Loch Ness from Continental Drift to Loch Ness Monster Hoaxes . As a naturalist he takes an environmental perspective which sheds unnexpected light into the controversy.

It was recently announced that Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) was forming a Loch Ness Environment Panel........ with a view to developing a code of practice for visiting Loch Ness monster hunters who might inadvertently cause damage to the loch's habitats, or individual creatures within it. This move was prompted by the proposal of a Swedish monster hunter and ufologist Jan Sundberg, to place a 6m long creel trap in Loch Ness. The SNH area manager Jonathan Stacey, made it clear that they had noNessie Dead or Alive - Reflections
policy on Nessie as such and the prime aim was to "protect the known from those pursuing the unknown".

Hoax
On the 2nd July 2003 a Mr. Gerald McSorley came to Loch Ness 2000 and reported finding some bones on the shore of Loch Ness below the most northerly lay-by on the A82 road. The material was examined by Adrian Shine and found to consist of four fossil vertebrae embedded in a limestone material not found at the loch. It was felt most likely that the fossil had been exposed in a marine environment and had been placed at the lay-by in order to be found. Shine then referred Mr. Mc Sorley to the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and briefed the palaeontology department. Here, Dr. Lyall Anderson determined that the vertebrae were from a plesiosaur and were about 150 million years old. He confirmed however, that the matrix was foreign to Loch Ness and contained evidence of marine borers. Plesiosaur fossils have occasionally been collected on the Black Isle.

John Cobb and Crusader

, the famous Brooklands racing hero, holder of many speed records, died after his boat Crusader disintegrated after hitting a boat-wake during a world water speed record attempt on Loch Ness. He became the fastest man on water (206.89mph) though did not achieve the record since the accident occurred before he could complete a second run over the measured mile. On September 29 1952 John Cobb
At the end of the measured mile Crusader nose-dived into the deep dark waters of Loch Ness. John Cobb's body was swiftly pulled from the water by his support team and the wreckage from crusader sank to depths of over 200m.

The search for Crusader 2002
Skipper, John Minshull and Adrian Shine spent many long nights sweeping the plotted line with sonar and mapping the site.
By June the Loch Ness Project was satisfied they had found the debris field. At this point the American Academy of Applied Science, on expedition at the loch, announced an interest in finding the Cobb wreck during the last 2 days of their visit and were to be assisted by Gordon Menzies, a resident, owner of Temple Pier and as a child witness of the record attempt.

FOUND !
Latest .... 2019 Kongsberg and Loch Ness Project find the wreck of Crusader. More info to come .... A Key to Loch Ness Monster Sightings

and many would hold that a predisposition to see monsters is, in itself, a sufficient explanation for the controversy surrounding this enigmatic expanse of water. Indeed, it was the subject's first author, It is fair to say that no visitor to Loch Ness passes by without some sense of expectation Rupert Gould (1934) who discussed what he called "expectant attention". However, it was to be thirty years before a proper investigation of the monster sightings phenomena was undertaken. In some ways this research was to provide verification for some quite bizarre experiences and to confirm that there was indeed something special about Loch Ness.

Definition
Bearing the foregoing in mind, perhaps the broadest definition of a monster "sighting" maybe,"anythingseen at Loch Ness which the observer does not recognise". Some may seek explanation; others find revelation within the experience. For some, a sighting may be a life-altering event.

Copyright this Site: The Loch Ness Project

Loch Ness Research with Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness and Morar Project
Drumnadrochit IV63 6UW

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Adrian Shine Copyright from 1985  All rights reserved

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Loch Ness Researcher Adrian Shine A reference site for general scientific information concerning the research, exploration and investigationof Loch Ness and its famous monster controversy. Archives also include work of : "The Loch Ness Investigation", and "Loch Morar Survey". Disclaimer - I don't subscribe to 'the eel theory' as shown in Fantastic Beasts, the meaning was lost in the edit.

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Website - Operation Deepscan - Hunt for the Loch Ness Monster

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Website - Operation Deepscan - Hunt for the Loch Ness Monster

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Operation Deepscan: The hunt for the Loch Ness Monster

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In 1987, Adrian Shine led Operation Deepscan – disproving once and for all the myths of the Loch Ness Monster

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Welcome to the Loch Ness Monster's Officially Original Website. Filled with facts, fun, photos, videos, the legendary live cams and pseudo scientific research projects from leading experts.

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Nessie on the Net! The Official and Ultimate Nessie Loch Ness Monster Web Site and Live Cams - Highlands, Scotland.

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Loch Ness Monster and Nessie's ultimate official and live top award winning camera site - Nessie on the Net. DNA research, Loads of Loch Ness monster information, fun and webcams, boatcam and livecam from lochness and lock ness.

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Webcam images from 2021 onwards - 10 recorded to date
REPORT A SIGHTING "While there are many people who do not believe that the Loch Ness Monster exists, there is practically no one who would not be overjoyed to find out that it did" - Daniel Cohen 1970
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Have a look here at the details of the sightings reported to date including the nine from 2023.

Look here for the webcam images reported from 2021 onwards.

If you want to work out where and when is best to see Nessie if you're in the area, have a look here for some tips

From 2021 on we've decided it was only fair to show the reports of webcam images in a separate list from those reported by people at the loch - this we feel gives a proper feel for the global reach of the Loch Ness phenomenon. If you see something on a webcam please tell the operator first as it's their image - if they think it's worthy, they'll pass it to us.

If you're staying in accommodation around the loch look out for the 'report a sighting' cards issued by the Cobbs group If you want to see the Nessie in the picture below then head to the Dores Inn by the loch. If you can't make it in person, have a look at the Nessie on the Net! Webcam

To see the loch in all its glory, drive the MONSTER 66 - all the best places to see Nessie

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The total count includes all those reported and recorded since 565AD - the very first sighting report can be seen here. The register is split into three sections: However, it's not just Nessie that fascinates people - did you know that in Scotland alone, there are 23 other lochs (in addition to Loch Ness) where sightings of unknown creatures have been noted - we've also decided to record those where we can. So, if you see something in Loch Ness or elsewhere, let us know and we'll add it to the list. Pictures are especially welcome as they help prove what you saw. As you'll also appreciate, there are also many historical sightings - we're adding them to the register as we find them so if you know of any old unreported sightings, please tell us so that we can update the lists. Paige Daley, Registrar of Sightings, Loch Ness To report a sighting, follow this link : REPORT A SIGHTING or get in touch on any Nessie matter at

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The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register

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Webcam images from 2021 onwards - 10 recorded to date REPORT A SIGHTING "While there are many people who do not believe that the Loch Ness Monster exists, there is practically no one who would not be overjoyed to find out that it did" - Daniel Cohen 1970 Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest....News....Latest Have a look here at the details of the sightings reported to date including the nine from 2023.

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The Great Glen Fault from space: © NASA
Visible from space, the Great Glen is a huge valley in the Scottish Highlands, eroded by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. These glaciers carved the valley below present day sea level, forming a series of deep lakes, the largest and most famous of which is Loch Ness.

The Great Glen hosts the most prominent fault in the British Isles, the Great Glen Fault. It originated towards the end of the Caledonian Orogeny (around 430-390 million years ago), and cuts diagonally across the Highlands from Fort William to Inverness.

Like other major fault zones around the world, the Great Glen has a long history of reactivation. Although it is known that the north west and south east sides of the

fault are moving in opposite directions, there is currently no agreement on how far they have moved. Because the geology on either side of the fault cannot be matched up prior to the Devonian period, it is thought that the displacement could be at least as far as the exposed length of the fault on mainland Scotland.

The Great Glen has been recognized as a major fault zone for well over a century, but it was not until the work of William Kennedy in the 1930s (published in 1946) that its significance was recognized.

Kennedy showed that the fault had moved sideways - as a so-called strike-slip (or wrench) fault. It was one of the first such structures to gain wide acceptance and in the years before plate tectonics was established, was important evidence for large-scale lateral earth movements.

Podcast: Listen to Rob Butler, University of Aberdeen, and Tim Wright, University of Leeds, discussion the Great Glen Fault

Further reading:

Kennedy, W.Q. 1946. The Great Glen Fault. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, London, 102 (1946), pp. 41-76

Bluck, B.J. 1995. W. Q. Kennedy, the Great Glen Fault and strike-slip motion. In: Le Bas, M. J. (ed.), 1995, Milestones in Geology, Geological Society, London, Memoir No. 16, 57-65.

Twinned with: North Anatolian Fault, Turkey

The North Anatolian fault stretches across northern Turkey and its movement is strike-slip in nature just like the ancient movement seen at the Great Glen Fault in Scotland. The fault runs along the boundary between ...continue reading

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The Geological Society of London - The Great Glen Fault, Scotland

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The Great Glen Fault from space: © NASA Visible from space, the Great Glen is a huge valley in the Scottish Highlands, eroded by glaciers more than 10,000 years ago. These glaciers carved the valley below present day sea level, forming a series of deep lakes, the largest and most famous of which is Loch Ness.

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Article - Is Nessie just a Tourist Conspiracy?

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Article - Is Nessie just a Tourist Conspiracy?

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It is 80 years since hotel manageress Mrs Aldie Mackay first reported seeing a "whale-like fish" in the waters of Loch Ness.

Now an academic at St Andrew's University is trawling through 1,000 eye-witness accounts since to see what they can tell us.

He wryly notes more than a few hotel proprietors among typical spotters. So is "Nessie" just a conspiracy to boost tourism?

It was 14 April 1933 and Mrs Mackay, manageress of the Drumnadrochit Hotel, was driving with her husband along the road to Inverness.

As they drove, she glanced out across the still calm waters of Loch Ness towards Aldourie Castle. There, in the water, she saw something.

In a rare interview years later, she described the moment to marine biologist and founder of The Loch Ness Project, Adrian Shine.

"She said it was black, wet, with the water rolling off it," he says.

"It went in a circle, round and down. She yelled at her husband "Stop! The beast!"

It is an interesting remark, Mr Shine says.

Mrs Mackay's sighting was reported in the Inverness Courier on 2 May 1933 by Alex Campbell, the water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist.

It is widely regarded as the first "modern sighting" of a monster in the loch.

"But the fact that she said "the beast"... It's as though she knew there was something strange in the loch," Mr Shine says.

There was already one account of a monster in the area dating back to the Middle Ages.

According to Adamnan's account of the life of Saint Columba, believed to have been written in the 7th century, the Irish monk saw a "water beast" in the River Ness.

But Mrs Mackay's sighting opened the floodgates.

Police inspectors, bank managers, students, town clerks, lorry drivers, clergymen, forestry workers, office workers, water bailiffs and fishermen were all among the people who claimed to have seen the monster.

Tourists and 'Nessie hunters' flocked to the area. There were traffic jams around the loch.

There were even a few celebrity spotters such as authors Gavin Maxwell and Sir Compton Mackenzie.

Dr Charles Paxton, a research fellow and statistical ecologist at St Andrew's University, has so far sifted through 800 of the 1,000 recorded sightings.

And, he adds, a sizeable number came from cafe and hotel proprietors, including Mrs Mackay herself.

Certainly there was much to be gained from the legend.

According to Visit Scotland, Nessie tourism brings in more than £1m to the area per year.

So was Mrs Mackay motivated by cynical thoughts of her bank balance?

Mr Shine believes not.

"She was far from a self-publicist. It was her husband who told the water bailiff, and she stayed anonymous in the newspaper report.

"She didn't say anything for two reasons. Firstly, because she thought she would be seen as self-advertising.

"But also because they used to say for people who had seen something in the loch "take more water with it"... suggesting they were drunks."

But there are plenty of people who have made a living from Nessie, including Mr Shine himself, who now runs the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition out of Mrs Mackay's old hotel.

"I don't conceal that I first came seeking fame and fortune, that there was a wildlife mystery and I was the one to solve it," he says.

"I have become more sceptical over the years, but oddly enough I have made a living out of being a fairly sceptical investigator.

"But I do believe the vast majority of witnesses are sincere...and not drunk," he adds.

What does Dr Paxton - who is using the Loch Ness phenomenon to analyse how science handles anecdotal and low frequency data - think?

He has trawled through old newspaper clippings, reports, books and records from the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau of the 1960s and 1970s, for all recorded sightings that peaked especially after the infamous 'surgeon's photograph' of 1934.

Highly respected British surgeon, Colonel Robert Wilson, claimed he took his photograph on 19 April 1934, while driving along the northern shore of Loch Ness. It was later revealed to be a toy submarine outfitted with a sea-serpent head.

"I suppose it is possible that people have an agenda," Dr Paxton says.

"But I stress that I believe the vast majority of people are reporting the truth. They believe they have seen something strange.

"Now there might be a lot of people who are mistaken, but I think they are sincere."

In fact, Dr Paxton says, analysing the eye-witness accounts may tell us more about ourselves than whether or not the Loch Ness monster exists. He is due to publish the results of his study later this year.

"I am carrying out a statistical analysis of Loch Ness monster accounts since 1933, specifically looking for clusters in terms of what is reported," he says.

"In some cases there are multiple witnesses, or witnesses giving multiple accounts of the same event, which allow us to test eyewitness consistency.

"These cases are very interesting because they allow us to consider whether certain witnesses have a tendency to see Nessie more than might be expected by chance alone."

He could have chosen another unexplained phenomenon to analyse - ghost sightings or Big Foot, for example - but as a former aquatic biologist, Nessie appealed to him.

On Sunday, a boat will set sail onto the still calm waters of Loch Ness.

Onboard will be Dr Paxton, Mr Shine, and a number of other 'monster hunters', Loch Ness experts, and Visit Scotland representatives.

They may not agree when it comes to Nessie, but there on the loch they will raise a glass of whisky to Mrs Mackay and 80 years of the legend of Loch Ness.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

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Loch Ness Monster: Is Nessie just a tourist conspiracy?

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