View source for Loch Ness Monster

{{Short description|Mythical creature in Scotland}}
{{Redirect|Nessie|other uses|Loch Ness Monster (disambiguation)|and|Nessie (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox mythical creature
|name = Loch Ness Monster
|image = Loch Ness Monster Surgeon's photograph.jpg
|image_size = 230px
|caption = The "surgeon's photograph" of 1934, now known to have been a hoax<ref>{{Cite web |last=Krystek |first=Lee |title=The Surgeon's Hoax |url=http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508042212/http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |archive-date=8 May 2019 |access-date=21 April 2015 |website=unmuseum.org |publisher=UNMuseum}}</ref>
|AKA = Nessie, Niseag, ''Nessiteras rhombopteryx''
|Similar_entities=[[Champ (folklore)|Champ]], [[Ogopogo]], [[Altamaha-ha]], [[Tahoe Tessie]]
|Sub_Grouping=[[Lake monster]]
|Country = Scotland
|Region = [[Loch Ness]], [[Scottish Highlands]]
|First_Attested = 1933{{efn|In modern form, the oldest written source reporting a monster near Loch Ness dates to 565.<ref>[http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T201040/index.html Life of St. Columba] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817062133/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T201040/index.html |date=17 August 2016 }} (chapter 28).</ref>}}
}}
{{Paranormal}}
The '''Loch Ness Monster''' ({{langx|gd|Uilebheist Loch Nis}}),<ref>{{cite web|title=(Ann) an tòir air uilebheist Loch Nis|publisher=Am Faclair Beag|url=https://www.faclair.com/ViewEntry.aspx?ID=7940189A327507BAA76DB1A58BAACDB9|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803112129/https://www.faclair.com/ViewEntry.aspx?ID=7940189A327507BAA76DB1A58BAACDB9 |archive-date=3 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> known affectionately as '''Nessie''', is a mythical creature in [[Scottish folklore]] that is said to inhabit [[Loch Ness]] in the [[Scottish Highlands]]. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protruding from the water. Popular interest and belief in the creature has varied since it was brought to worldwide attention in 1933. Evidence of its existence is anecdotal, with a number of disputed photographs and [[sonar]] readings.

The scientific community explains alleged sightings of the Loch Ness Monster as [[hoax]]es, [[wishful thinking]], and the misidentification of mundane objects.<ref>{{Citation |last=Carroll |first=Robert Todd |title=The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&q=%22The%20Skeptic's%20Dictionary%3A%20A%20Collection%20of%20Strange%20Beliefs%2C%20Amusing%20Deceptions%2C%20and%20Dangerous%20Delusions%22&pg=PA201 |pages=200–201 |year=2011 |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016052116/https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&q=%22The%20Skeptic's%20Dictionary:%20A%20Collection%20of%20Strange%20Beliefs,%20Amusing%20Deceptions,%20and%20Dangerous%20Delusions%22&pg=PA201 |url-status=live |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |isbn=978-0-471-27242-7 |archive-date=16 October 2021 |orig-year=2003}}</ref> The [[pseudoscience]] and [[subculture]] of [[cryptozoology]] has placed particular emphasis on the creature.
{{TOC limit|3}}
{{Cryptidbox
| image = Nessie.jpg
| image_caption = Alleged image of Nessie
| parent = [[Reptilia]], [[Plesiosaurs]](?)
| taxon = Loch Ness Monster
| first_sighting = 1933
| subdivision_ranks = Variants
| subdivisions = Nessie (lake), Nessie (stream)
}}

==Origin of the name==
In August 1933, the ''Courier'' published the account of George Spicer's alleged sighting. Public interest skyrocketed, and countless letters were sent detailing different sightings.<ref name="Binns33">R. Binns ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' pp&nbsp;19–27</ref> The letters described a "monster fish," "sea serpent," or "dragon."<ref name="DMAug33">''Daily Mirror'', 11 August 1933 "Loch Ness, which is becoming famous as the supposed abode of a dragon..."</ref> Ultimately, the final name settled on was the "Loch Ness monster."<ref name=":0">The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] gives 9 June 1933 as the first usage of the exact phrase ''Loch Ness monster''</ref> Since the 1940s, the creature has been affectionately called Nessie ({{langx|gd|Niseag}}).<ref name="Morag28">Campbell, Elizabeth Montgomery & David Solomon, ''The Search for Morag'' (Tom Stacey 1972) {{ISBN|0-85468-093-4}}, page 28 gives ''an-t-Seileag'', ''an-Niseag'', ''a-Mhorag'' for the monsters of Lochs Shiel, Ness and Morag, adding that they are feminine diminutives</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=14 May 1945 |title=Up Again |page=1 |work=Edinburgh Scotsman |quote=So "Nessie" is at her tricks again. After a long, she has by all accounts bobbed up in home waters...}}</ref>

==Sightings==

=== Early precursors ===

==== Saint Columba (565) ====
The earliest report of a monster in the vicinity of Loch Ness appears in the ''Life of St. Columba'' by [[Adomnán]], written in the 7th century AD.<ref name="Carruth">J. A Carruth ''Loch Ness and its Monster'', (1950) Abbey Press, Fort Augustus, cited by Tim Dinsdale (1961) ''Loch Ness Monster'' pp. 33–35</ref> According to Adomnán, writing about a century after the events described, Irish monk [[Columba|Saint Columba]] was staying in the land of the [[Picts]] with his companions when he encountered local residents burying a man by the [[River Ness]]. They explained that the man was swimming in the river when he was attacked by a "water beast" that mauled him and dragged him underwater despite their attempts to rescue him by boat. Columba sent a follower, Luigne moccu Min, to swim across the river. The beast approached him, but Columba made the [[sign of the cross]] and said: "Go no further. Do not touch the man. Go back at once."<ref name="Adomnan176">Adomnán, p. 176 (II:27).</ref> The creature stopped as if it had been "pulled back with ropes" and fled, and Columba's men and the Picts gave thanks for what they perceived as a miracle.<ref name="Adomnan176" />

Believers in the monster point to this story, set in the River Ness rather than the loch itself, as evidence for the creature's existence as early as the 6th century.<ref name="Adomnan330">Adomnán p. 330.</ref> Skeptics question the narrative's reliability, noting that water-beast stories were extremely common in medieval [[hagiography|hagiographies]], and Adomnán's tale probably recycles a common motif attached to a local landmark.<ref name="BinnsColumba">R. Binns ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'', pp. 52–57</ref> According to skeptics, Adomnán's story may be independent of the modern Loch Ness Monster legend and became attached to it by proximity and by believers seeking to bolster their claims.<ref name="Adomnan330" /> Ronald Binns considers that this is the most serious of various alleged early sightings of the monster, but all other claimed sightings before 1933 are dubious and do not prove a monster tradition before that date.<ref name="Binns">R. Binns ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' pp. 11–12</ref> Christopher Cairney uses a specific historical and cultural analysis of Adomnán to separate Adomnán's story about St. Columba from the modern myth of the Loch Ness Monster, but finds an earlier and culturally significant use of Celtic "water beast" folklore along the way. In doing so he also discredits any strong connection between [[kelpie]]s or water-horses and the modern "media-augmented" creation of the Loch Ness Monster. He also concludes that the story of Saint Columba may have been impacted by earlier Irish myths about the Caoránach and an [[Oilliphéist]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bro |first1=Lisa |title=Monsters of Film, Fiction and Fable, the Cultural Links Between the Human and Inhuman |last2=O'Leary-Davidson |first2=Crystal |last3=Gareis |first3=Mary Ann |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=9781527510890 |pages=377–399}}</ref>

==== D. Mackenzie (1871 or 1872) ====
In October 1871 (or 1872), D. Mackenzie of [[Balnain]] reportedly saw an object resembling a log or an upturned boat "wriggling and churning up the water," moving slowly at first before disappearing at a faster speed.<ref name="Mackal" /><ref name="Mammoth" /> The account was not published until 1934, when Mackenzie sent his story in a letter to [[Rupert Gould]] shortly after popular interest in the monster increased.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last=Bignell |first=Paul |date=14 April 2013 |title=Monster mania on Nessie's anniversary |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/monster-mania-on-nessies-anniversary-8572148.html |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211084013/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/monster-mania-on-nessies-anniversary-8572148.html |archive-date=11 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="Mammoth" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Searle |first=Maddy |date=February 3, 2017 |title=Adrian Shine on making sense of the Loch Ness monster legend |work=[[The Scotsman]] |url=https://www.scotsman.com/200voices/cultural-icons/adrian-shine-making-sense-loch-ness-monster-legend/ |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215183846/https://www.scotsman.com/200voices/cultural-icons/adrian-shine-making-sense-loch-ness-monster-legend/ |archive-date=15 February 2020}}</ref><ref name="Williams2015">{{Cite book |last=Gareth Williams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0zQ6CQAAQBAJ&pg=PR105 |title=A Monstrous Commotion: The Mysteries of Loch Ness |year= 2015 |publisher=Orion Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4091-5875-2 |page=105 |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805075230/https://books.google.com/books?id=0zQ6CQAAQBAJ&pg=PR105 |archive-date=5 August 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Alexander Macdonald (1888) ====
In 1888, mason Alexander Macdonald of [[Abriachan]]<ref name="Gould" /> sighted "a large stubby-legged animal" surfacing from the loch and propelling itself within {{convert|50|yd|abbr=on}} of the shore where Macdonald stood.<ref name="Loch Ness Delrio">{{Cite book |last=Delrio |first=Martin |url=https://archive.org/details/lochnessmonster0000delr/page/48 |title=The Loch Ness Monster |publisher=Rosen Publishing Group |year=2002 |isbn=0-8239-3564-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lochnessmonster0000delr/page/48 48] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Macdonald reported his sighting to Loch Ness [[water bailiff]] Alex Campbell, and described the creature as looking like a [[salamander]].<ref name="Gould" />

=== Aldie Mackay (1933) ===
The best-known article that first attracted a great deal of attention about a creature was published on 2 May 1933 in ''[[The Inverness Courier]]'', about a large "beast" or "whale-like fish". The article by Alex Campbell, water bailiff for Loch Ness and a part-time journalist,<ref>{{Cite news |date=2013-04-12 |title=Loch Ness Monster: Is Nessie just a tourist conspiracy? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-22125981 |access-date=2024-01-25 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> discussed a sighting by Aldie Mackay of an enormous creature with the body of a whale rolling in the water in the loch while she and her husband John were driving on the A82 on 15 April 1933. The word "monster" was reportedly applied for the first time in Campbell's article, although some reports claim that it was coined by editor Evan Barron.<ref name="Binns" /><ref name="monster1933">{{Cite news |url=https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000446/19330502/110/0005 |title=Strange spectacle on Loch Ness |date=2 May 1933 |access-date=7 July 2025 |newspaper=The Inverness Courier |page=5 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription |quote=Loch Ness has for generations been credited with being the home of a fearsome-looking monster}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Steuart |date=14 April 2013 |title=Say goodbye to Loch Ness mystery |work=The Scotsman |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/steuart-campbell-say-goodbye-to-loch-ness-mystery-1-2893334 |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211081757/https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle-2-15039/steuart-campbell-say-goodbye-to-loch-ness-mystery-1-2893334 |archive-date=11 December 2019}}</ref>

''The Courier'' in 2017 published excerpts from the Campbell article, which had been titled "Strange Spectacle in Loch Ness".<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2017 |title=Report of strange spectacle on Loch Ness in 1933 leaves unanswered question – what was it? |url=https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/report-of-strange-spectacle-on-loch-ness-in-1933-leaves-unanswered-question-what-was-it-139582/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221183348/https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/report-of-strange-spectacle-on-loch-ness-in-1933-leaves-unanswered-question-what-was-it-139582/ |archive-date=21 February 2020 |website=The Inverness Courier}}</ref><blockquote> "The creature disported itself, rolling and plunging for fully a minute, its body resembling that of a whale, and the water cascading and churning like a simmering cauldron. Soon, however, it disappeared in a boiling mass of foam. Both onlookers confessed that there was something uncanny about the whole thing, for they realised that here was no ordinary denizen of the depths, because, apart from its enormous size, the beast, in taking the final plunge, sent out waves that were big enough to have been caused by a passing steamer."</blockquote>

According to a 2013 article,<ref name="auto" /> Mackay said that she had yelled, "Stop! The Beast!" when viewing the spectacle. In the late 1980s, a naturalist interviewed Aldie Mackay and she admitted to knowing that there had been an oral tradition of a "beast" in the loch well before her claimed sighting.<ref name="auto" /> Alex Campbell's 1933 article also stated that "Loch Ness has for generations been credited with being the home of a fearsome-looking monster".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hoare |first=Philip |date=2 May 2013 |title=Has the internet killed the Loch Ness monster? |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/02/internet-killed-loch-ness-monster |url-status=live |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212145304/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/02/internet-killed-loch-ness-monster |archive-date=12 December 2019}}</ref>

===George Spicer (1933)===
Modern interest in the monster was sparked by a sighting on 22 July 1933, when George Spicer and his wife saw "a most extraordinary form of animal" cross the road in front of their car.<ref name="CourierSpicer">{{Cite news |date=4 August 1933 |title=Is this the Loch Ness Monster? |work=Inverness Courier}}</ref> They described the creature as having a large body (about {{convert|4|ft}} high and {{convert|25|ft}} long) and a long, wavy, narrow neck, slightly thicker than an elephant's trunk and as long as the {{convert|10|-|12|ft|adj=on|0}} width of the road. They saw no limbs.<ref name="Spicer">T. Dinsdale (1961) ''Loch Ness Monster'' p. 42.</ref> It lurched across the road toward the loch {{convert|20|yd|m}} away, leaving a trail of broken undergrowth in its wake.<ref name="Spicer" /> Spicer described it as "the nearest approach to a dragon or pre-historic animal that I have ever seen in my life,"<ref name="CourierSpicer" /> and as having "a long neck, which moved up and down in the manner of a scenic railway."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Are Hunters Closing in on the Loch Ness Monster? |url=https://www.scotsman.com/interactive/are-hunters-closing-in-on-the-loch-ness-monster#main-page-section-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729173701/https://www.scotsman.com/interactive/are-hunters-closing-in-on-the-loch-ness-monster#main-page-section-1 |archive-date=29 July 2019 |access-date=15 March 2022 |website=The Scotsman}}</ref> It had "an animal" in its mouth<ref name="CourierSpicer" /> and had a body that "was fairly big, with a high back, but if there were any feet they must have been of the web kind, and as for a tail I cannot say, as it moved so rapidly, and when we got to the spot it had probably disappeared into the loch."<ref name=":1" /> Though he was the first to describe the creature as a [[plesiosaur]]-like dinosaur, evidence suggested by researchers at [[Columbia University]] in 2013 proved his story to be fake. The university and [[Daniel Loxton]] suggested that Spicer's sighting was fictionalized and inspired by a long-necked dinosaur that rises out of a lake in ''[[King Kong (1933 film)|King Kong]]'', a film that was extremely popular in cinemas in his home city of London during August 1933, when Spicer reported the sighting.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 August 2014 |title=Did King Kong inspire Nessie? |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/did-king-kong-inspire-the-myth-of-the-loch-ness-monster/J5UR3D5VNKF6U6KQU6P76EYSJ4/ |access-date=20 July 2023 |website=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720080557/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/did-king-kong-inspire-the-myth-of-the-loch-ness-monster/J5UR3D5VNKF6U6KQU6P76EYSJ4/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Loxton and [[Donald Prothero]] later cited ''King Kong'' as evidently an influence on the Loch Ness Monster myth.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Edwards |first=Phil |date=2015-04-21 |title=How scientists debunked the Loch Ness Monster |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/21/8459353/loch-ness-monster |access-date=2023-08-13 |website=Vox |language=en |archive-date=13 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813070500/https://www.vox.com/2015/4/21/8459353/loch-ness-monster |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 4 August 1933 the ''Courier'' published a report of Spicer's sighting. This sighting triggered a massive amount of public interest and an uptick in alleged sightings, leading to the solidification of the actual name "Loch Ness Monster."<ref name=":0" />

It has been claimed that sightings of the monster increased after a road was built along the loch in early 1933, bringing workers and tourists to the formerly isolated area.<ref>R. Mackal (1976) "The Monsters of Loch Ness" p. 85.</ref> However, Binns has described this as "the myth of the lonely loch", as it was far from isolated before then, due to the construction of the [[Caledonian Canal]]. In the 1930s, the existing road by the side of the loch was given a serious upgrade.<ref name="Binns" />

===Hugh Gray (1933)===
Hugh Gray's photograph taken near [[Foyers, Highland|Foyers]] on 12 November 1933 was the first photograph alleged to depict the monster. It was slightly blurred, and it has been noted that if one looks closely the head of a dog can be seen. Gray had taken his [[Labrador Retriever|Labrador]] for a walk that day and it is suspected that the photograph depicts his dog fetching a stick from the loch.<ref>[[Daniel Loxton|Loxton, Daniel]]; [[Donald Prothero|Prothero, Donald]]. (2015). ''Abominable Science! Origins of the Yeti, Nessie, and Other Famous Cryptids''. [[Columbia University Press]]. pp. 142–144. {{ISBN|978-0-231-15321-8}}</ref> Others have suggested that the photograph depicts an [[Eurasian otter|otter]] or a [[swan]]. The original [[Negative (photography)|negative]] was lost. However, in 1963, [[Maurice Burton]] came into "possession of two lantern slides, contact positives from th[e] original negative" and when projected onto a screen they revealed an "otter rolling at the surface in characteristic fashion."<ref>[[Maurice Burton|Burton, Maurice]]. ''A Ring of bright water?'' ''[[New Scientist]]''. 24 June 1982. p. 872</ref>

===Arthur Grant (1934)===
[[File:Arthur Grant loch ness sketch.png|thumb|Sketch of the Arthur Grant sighting]]

On 5 January 1934 a motorcyclist, Arthur Grant, claimed to have nearly hit the creature while approaching [[Abriachan]] (near the north-eastern end of the loch) at about 1&nbsp;a.m. on a moonlit night.<ref>[[Steuart Campbell|Campbell, Steuart]]. (1997). ''The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence''. Prometheus Books. p. 33. {{ISBN|978-1573921787}}</ref> According to Grant, it had a small head attached to a long neck; the creature saw him, and crossed the road back to the loch. Grant, a veterinary student, described it as a cross between a seal and a plesiosaur. He said he dismounted and followed it to the loch, but saw only ripples.<ref name="Gould">{{Cite book |last=Gould |first=Rupert T. |title=The Loch Ness Monster and Others |publisher=Geoffrey Bles |year=1934 |location=London}}</ref><ref name="GrantTD">Tim Dinsdale ''Loch Ness Monster'' pp.&nbsp;44–45</ref>

Grant produced a sketch of the creature that was examined by zoologist [[Maurice Burton]], who stated it was consistent with the appearance and behavior of an otter.<ref>[[Maurice Burton|Burton, Maurice]]. ''A Fast Moving, Agile Beastie''. ''[[New Scientist]]''. 1 July 1982. p. 41.</ref> Regarding the long size of the creature reported by Grant, it has been suggested that this was a faulty observation due to the poor light conditions.<ref>[[Maurice Burton|Burton, Maurice]]. (1961). ''Loch Ness Monster: A Burst Bubble?'' ''[[The Illustrated London News]]''. May, 27. p. 896</ref> Paleontologist [[Darren Naish]] has suggested that Grant may have seen either an otter or a [[Pinniped|seal]] and exaggerated his sighting over time.<ref>[[Darren Naish|Naish, Darren]]. (2016). [https://books.google.com/books?id=mN2oCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22arthur+grant%22+seal&pg=PT77 "Hunting Monsters: Cryptozoology and the Reality Behind the Myths"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805033613/https://books.google.com/books?id=mN2oCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT77&dq=%22arthur+grant%22+seal&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5-ujUlfzTAhUjLcAKHflzAoE4ChC7BQg1MAM#v=onepage&q=%22arthur%20grant%22%20seal&f=false |date=5 August 2020 }}. Arcturus.</ref>

==={{anchor|"Surgeon's Photograph" (1934)|Surgeon's photograph}}"Surgeon's photograph" (1934)===

<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Hoaxed photo of the Loch Ness monster.jpg|thumb|left|"Surgeon's photograph"]] -->
The "surgeon's photograph" is perhaps the most famous alleged photo of the creature, and the first to portray its head and neck. It is attributed to [[Robert Kenneth Wilson]], a London [[gynaecology|gynaecologist]].<ref>R. P. Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'' p. 208</ref> On 20 April 1934, multiple British newspapers reported Wilson's claim to have seen the monster while driving near Loch Ness the day before, but the stories do not mention the existence of a photograph.<ref>{{cite news |title=LOCH NESS AGAIN ! London Surgeon Sees Denizen with Small Head and Swan-Like Neck |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror/165409641/ |work=Daily Mirror |date=20 April 1934 |pages=3 |archive-date=26 April 2025 |access-date=13 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426180014/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-mirror/165409641/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=western>{{cite news |title=LOCH NESS MONSTER SEEN AGAIN ! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/western-morning-news/165409555/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=Western Morning News |date=20 April 1934 |pages=8 |archive-date=14 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414133141/https://www.newspapers.com/article/western-morning-news/165409555/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SURGEON SEES 'MONSTER' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/165409528/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=20 April 1934 |pages=16 |archive-date=26 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426180016/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/165409528/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SURGEON SEES MONSTER London Visitor's Luck At Loch Ness |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-record/165409506/ |access-date=13 February 2025 |work=Daily Record |date=20 April 1934 |pages=7 |archive-date=26 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250426180012/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-record/165409506/ |url-status=live }}</ref> "Dr. Wilson described the monster as having a small head and a swan-like neck protruding three feet above the surface of the water," the ''Western Morning News'' reported.<ref name=western />

The following day, April 21, the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' announced it has purchased exclusive rights to a photo it attributed to "Mr. Robert Kenneth Wilson, M.A., M.B., Ch.B.Camb., F.R.C.S., of Queen Anne-street, W., who has been touring the Loch Ness countryside." Along with the photo, it ran an interview with Wilson about "his remarkable luck in being able to secure such a photograph." Wilson said he was looking at the loch when he saw the monster, grabbed his camera, and snapped four photos. Only two exposures came out clearly; the first reportedly shows a small head and back, and the second shows a similar head in a diving position. The first photo became well known, and the second attracted little publicity because of its blurriness.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=D. W. T. |date=April 1962 |title=The Loch Ness Monster. By R. T. Gould. Geoffrey Bles, 1934. (out of print.) - More than a Legend. By Constance Whyte. Hamish Hamilton, 1961. 21<i>s</i>. - Loch Ness Monster. By Tim Dinsdale. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1961. 25<i>s</i>. - The Elusive Monster. By Maurice Burton. Windmill Press, 1961. 21<i>s</i>. |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605300001630 |journal=Oryx |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=241–242 |doi=10.1017/s0030605300001630 |issn=0030-6053}}</ref>

For 60 years, the photo was considered evidence of the monster's existence, although skeptics dismissed it as driftwood,<ref name="Mammoth" /> an elephant,<ref name="Fresh" /> an otter or a bird. The photo's scale was controversial; it is often shown cropped (making the creature seem large and the ripples like waves), while the uncropped shot shows the other end of the loch and the monster in the centre. The ripples in the photo were found to fit the size and pattern of small ripples, rather than large waves photographed up close. Analysis of the original image fostered further doubt. In 1993, the makers of the [[Discovery, Inc.|Discovery Communications]] documentary ''Loch Ness Discovered'' analyzed the uncropped image and found a white object visible in every version of the photo (implying that it was on the negative). It was believed to be the cause of the ripples, as if the object was being towed, although the possibility of a blemish on the negative could not be ruled out. An analysis of the full photograph indicated that the object was small, about {{convert|60|to|90|cm|ft|0|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="museumofhoaxes_nessie" />

Since 1994, most agree that the photo was an elaborate [[hoax]].<ref name="museumofhoaxes_nessie">{{Cite web |title=The Loch Ness Monster and the Surgeon's Photo |url=http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/nessie.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806122015/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/nessie.html |archive-date=6 August 2014 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Museumofhoaxes.com}}</ref> It had been described as fake in a 7 December 1975 ''[[The Sunday Telegraph|Sunday Telegraph]]'' article that fell into obscurity.<ref>[http://www.strangemag.com/strangemag/strange21/reviews21/surgeonsphoto21.html Book review of Nessie – The Surgeon's Photograph – Exposed] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114122012/http://www.strangemag.com/strangemag/strange21/reviews21/surgeonsphoto21.html |date=14 January 2012 }} Douglas Chapman.</ref> Details of how the photo was taken were published in the 1999 book, ''Nessie – the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed'', which contains a facsimile of the 1975 ''Sunday Telegraph'' article.<ref>David S. Martin & Alastair Boyd (1999) ''Nessie – the Surgeon's Photograph Exposed'' (East Barnet: Martin and Boyd). {{ISBN|0-9535708-0-0}}</ref> The creature was reportedly a toy submarine built by Christian Spurling, the stepson of actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and -- perhaps most saliently -- big-game hunter [[M. A. Wetherell]]. Spurling admitted the photograph was a hoax in January 1991.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://moderskeppet.se/live/klassiska-fotomanipulationer-odjuret-i-loch-ness/ | title=Loch Ness-odjuret – Historien bakom bilden » Moderskeppet }}</ref> Wetherell had been publicly ridiculed by his employer, the ''Daily Mail'', after he found "Nessie footprints" that turned out to be a hoax. To get revenge on the ''Mail'', Wetherell perpetrated his hoax with co-conspirators Spurling (sculpture specialist), [[Ian Colin|Ian Colin Marmaduke Wetherell]] (his son, himself a future actor, who bought the material for the fake), and Maurice Chambers (an insurance agent).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Loch Ness Hoax Photo |url=http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508042212/http://www.unmuseum.org/nesshoax.htm |archive-date=8 May 2019 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=The UnMuseum}}</ref> 

The toy submarine was bought from [[F. W. Woolworth Company|F. W. Woolworth]], and its head and neck were made from [[wood putty]]. After testing it in a local pond the group went to Loch Ness, where Ian Marmaduke Wetherell took the photos near the Altsaigh Tea House. When they heard a [[water bailiff]] approaching, Wetherell sank the model with his foot and it is "presumably still somewhere in Loch Ness".<ref name="Mammoth">''The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved''</ref> Chambers gave the photographic plates to Wilson, a friend of his who enjoyed "a good practical joke". Wilson brought the plates to Ogston's, an Inverness chemist, and gave them to George Morrison for development. He sold the first photo to the ''Daily Mail'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nessie's Secret Revealed |url=http://home.yowieocalypse.com/Nessies_Secret_Revealed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150104013839/http://home.yowieocalypse.com/Nessies_Secret_Revealed/ |archive-date=4 January 2015 |access-date=3 January 2015 |website=yowieocalypse.com}}</ref> who then announced that the monster had been photographed.<ref name="Mammoth" />

Little is known of the second photo; it is often ignored by researchers, who believe its quality too poor and its differences from the first photo too great to warrant analysis. It shows a head similar to the first photo, with a more turbulent wave pattern, and possibly taken at a different time and location in the loch. Some believe it to be an earlier, cruder attempt at a hoax,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tony Harmsworth |title=Loch Ness Monster Surface Photographs. Pictures of Nessie taken by Monster Hunters and Loch Ness Researchers |url=http://www.loch-ness.com/surfacepictures.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213112232/http://loch-ness.com/surfacepictures.html |archive-date=13 February 2015 |access-date=3 January 2015 |website=loch-ness.com}}</ref> and others (including [[Roy Mackal]] and Maurice Burton) consider it a picture of a diving bird or otter that Wilson mistook for the monster.<ref name="Mackal">Mackal, Roy. ''The Monsters of Loch Ness''.</ref> According to Morrison, when the plates were developed, Wilson was uninterested in the second photo; he allowed Morrison to keep the negative, and the photo was rediscovered years later.<ref>''The Loch Ness Story'', revised edition, Penguin Books, 1975, pp. 44–45</ref> When asked about the second photo by the ''Ness Information Service Newsletter'', Spurling "...&nbsp;was vague, thought it might have been a piece of wood they were trying out as a monster, but [was] not sure."<ref>''Ness Information Service Newsletter'', 1991 issue</ref>

===Taylor film (1938)===
On 29 May 1938, South African tourist G. E. Taylor filmed something in the loch for three minutes on [[16 mm film|16&nbsp;mm colour film]]. The film was obtained by [[popular science]] writer [[Maurice Burton]], who did not show it to other researchers. A single frame was published in his 1961 book, ''The Elusive Monster''. His analysis concluded it was a floating object, not an animal.<ref>[[Maurice Burton|Burton, Maurice]]. (1961). ''The Elusive Monster: An Analysis of the Evidence From Loch Ness''. Hart-Davis. pp. 83–84</ref>

==={{anchor|Chief Constable William Fraser (1938)}}William Fraser (1938)===
On 15 August 1938, William Fraser, [[chief constable]] of [[Inverness-shire]], wrote a letter that the monster existed beyond doubt and expressed concern about a hunting party that had arrived (with a custom-made [[harpoon gun]]) determined to catch the monster "dead or alive". He believed his power to protect the monster from the hunters was "very doubtful". The letter was released by the [[National Archives of Scotland]] on 27 April 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Casciato |first=Paul |date=28 April 2010 |title=Loch Ness Monster is real, says policeman |publisher=reuters |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-scotland-lochness-monster-idUKTRE63Q1ZQ20100427 |url-status=dead |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602230652/http://uk.reuters.com/article/oukoe-uk-scotland-lochness-monster-idUKTRE63Q1ZQ20100427 |archive-date=2 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Police chief William Fraser demanded">{{Cite web |date=27 April 2010 |title=Police chief William Fraser demanded protection for Loch Ness Monster |url=http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/world/police-chief-william-fraser-demanded-protection-for-loch-ness-monster/story-e6frg1p3-1225859084997 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028121156/https://www.perthnow.com.au/static/css/main.23cd5183.chunk.css |archive-date=28 October 2021 |access-date=7 February 2012 |website=Perth Now}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Sonar contact (1954)}}Sonar readings (1954)===
In December 1954, sonar readings were taken by the fishing boat ''Rival III''. Its crew noted a large object keeping pace with the vessel at a depth of {{convert|146|m|0}}. It was detected for {{convert|800|m|abbr=on}} before contact was lost and regained.<ref name="sansilike_search">{{Cite web |title=Searching for Nessie |url=http://www.sansilke.freeserve.co.uk/nessie/search.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531220500/http://www.sansilke.freeserve.co.uk/nessie/search.html |archive-date=31 May 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Sansilke.freeserve.co.uk}}</ref> Previous sonar attempts were inconclusive or negative.

===Peter MacNab (1955)===

Peter MacNab at [[Urquhart Castle]] on 29 July 1955 took a photograph that depicted two long black humps in the water.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-07-28 |title=The Loch Ness monster: Nessie sightings throughout history |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/8665776/The-Loch-Ness-monster-Nessie-sightings-throughout-history.html |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=The Telegraph |language=en |archive-date=23 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423115353/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/8665776/The-Loch-Ness-monster-Nessie-sightings-throughout-history.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The photograph was not made public until it appeared in Constance Whyte's 1957 book on the subject. On 23 October 1958 it was published by the ''Weekly Scotsman''. Author Ronald Binns wrote that the "phenomenon which MacNab photographed could easily be a wave effect resulting from three trawlers travelling closely together up the loch."<ref>Binns, Ronald. (1983). ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved''. [[Prometheus Books]]. p. 102</ref>

Other researchers consider the photograph a hoax.<ref>[[Steuart Campbell|Campbell, Steuart]]. (1991). ''The Loch Ness Monster: The Evidence''. Aberdeen University Press. pp. 43–44.</ref> Roy Mackal requested to use the photograph in his 1976 book. He received the original negative from MacNab, but discovered it differed from the photograph that appeared in Whyte's book. The tree at the bottom left in Whyte's was missing from the negative. It is suspected that the photograph was doctored by re-photographing a print.<ref>[http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_macnab_photograph "The MacNab Photograph"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419192638/http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_macnab_photograph |date=19 April 2017 }}. The Museum of Hoaxes.</ref>

===Dinsdale film (1960)===
Aeronautical engineer [[Tim Dinsdale]] filmed what he believed to be a dark hump that left a wake crossing Loch Ness on 23 April 1960.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2007 |title=The Loch Ness Monster |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVOyo-OwDYM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226053746/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVOyo-OwDYM |archive-date=26 December 2017 |access-date=8 July 2009 |publisher=YouTube}}</ref> Dinsdale, who reportedly had the sighting on his final day of search, described it as mahogany red with a blotch on its side when viewed through binoculars. He said that when he mounted his camera the object began to move, and he shot {{convert|40|ft|abbr=on}} of film. According to the [[Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre]] (JARIC) who published a 1966 report analyzing the film, the object was "probably animate".<ref name="filmandvideo">{{Cite web |title=Loch Ness movie film & Loch Ness video evidence |url=http://www.loch-ness.org/filmandvideo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317145110/http://www.loch-ness.org/filmandvideo.html |archive-date=17 March 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |publisher=Loch-ness.org}}</ref>{{third-party inline|reason=Source has apparent conflict of interest.|date=April 2016}} After the film, Dinsdale continued to pursue finding the Loch Ness Monster but while he claimed to have had additional sightings he was unable to produce more photographic evidence.

In 1993, Discovery Communications produced a documentary, ''Loch Ness Discovered'', with a digital enhancement of the Dinsdale film. A person who enhanced the film noticed a shadow in the negative that was not obvious in the developed film. By enhancing and overlaying frames, he found what appeared to be the rear body of a creature underwater: "Before I saw the film, I thought the Loch Ness Monster was a load of rubbish. Having done the enhancement, I'm not so sure."<ref name="Discovery">Discovery Communications, Loch Ness Discovered, 1993</ref>

However, additional analyses of the Dinsdale film have indicated that his sighting was a case of mistaken identity and that he likely filmed a boat under poor lighting conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Shine |first=Adrian J. |date=2003 |title=The Dinsdale Loch Ness Film. An Image Analysis. |url=http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/dinsdale%20paper%202003%20V2.pdf |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=lochnessinvestigation.com |archive-date=5 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105051710/http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/dinsdale%20paper%202003%20V2.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Although Dinsdale attempted to rule this out by organizing for a fishing boat to sail a similar route later that morning, this comparison was filmed under different lighting conditions, with a white boat. JARIC's estimates of the size and speed of the object are now believed to be overestimates, due to miscalculations of the angle of the camera and cuts in the film, and overlaying multiple frames seems to show a pale blob towards the rear end of the object, which appears in multiple frames and matches with the position of the helmsman of a boat as demonstrated in Dinsdale's boat comparison. It has also been noted that the object in his film does not actually submerge as often perceived but blends into the greyer reflections on the water. Additionally, Dick Raynor has noted that Dinsdale's binoculars were actually a wider field of view than his telephoto camera.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raynor |first=Dick |date=23 April 2010 |title=Reflections on Tim Dinsdale's 1960 film. |url=http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/remembered.html |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=lochnessinvestigation.com |archive-date=5 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231105051709/http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/remembered.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, critics consider the dark shape noticed by the Discovery documentary analysis unlikely to be the shadow or a body underwater due to the low angle of view, and it is more likely to be reflections of the shore behind the object.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Raynor |first=Dick |title=Views from Cyberspace a sort of f.a.q. |url=http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/cyberspace.html#seeunderwater |access-date=4 November 2023 |website=lochnessinvestigation.com |archive-date=24 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424012220/http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/cyberspace.html#seeunderwater |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although most researchers do not believe Dinsdale to be a hoaxer, his susceptibility to [[confirmation bias]] and trusting dubious sources as evidence has been criticized.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Naish |first=Darren |title=Books on the Loch Ness Monster 3: The Man Who Filmed Nessie: Tim Dinsdale and the Enigma of Loch Ness |url=https://tetzoo.com/blog/2019/8/24/books-on-the-loch-ness-monster-3-the-man-who-filmed-nessie-tim-dinsdale-and-the-enigma-of-loch-ness |access-date=6 November 2023 |website=Tetrapod Zoology |date=24 August 2019 |archive-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106232722/https://tetzoo.com/blog/2019/8/24/books-on-the-loch-ness-monster-3-the-man-who-filmed-nessie-tim-dinsdale-and-the-enigma-of-loch-ness |url-status=live }}</ref>

==="Loch Ness Muppet" (1977)===

On 21 May 1977, [[Anthony "Doc" Shiels]], camping next to Urquhart Castle, took what were alleged to be the clearest picture of the monster then available.<ref name="TonyShields">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/jul/30/tony-shiels-obituary |first=Charles|last=Darwent|title=Tony Shiels obituary |access-date=2024-09-25|date=2024-07-31|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Shiels, a magician, claimed to have summoned the animal out of the water. He later described it as an "elephant squid", claiming the long neck shown in the photograph is the squid's "trunk" and that a white spot at the base of the neck is its eye. Due to the lack of ripples and translucent look, it has been declared a hoax by many people and received its name because of its staged look.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Naish |first=Darren |title=Photos of the Loch Ness Monster, revisited |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-revisited/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423234921/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-revisited/ |archive-date=23 April 2015 |access-date=21 April 2015 |website=Scientific American}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nessie sightings |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/10776095/In-pictures-Loch-Ness-Monster-sightings-through-the-years.html?frame=2887222 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510124508/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/10776095/In-pictures-Loch-Ness-Monster-sightings-through-the-years.html?frame=2887222 |archive-date=10 May 2019 |access-date=21 April 2015 |website=The Telegraph| date=21 April 2015 }}</ref>

===Holmes video (2007)===
On 26 May 2007, 55-year-old laboratory technician Gordon Holmes videotaped what he said was "this jet black thing, about {{convert|14|m}} long, moving fairly fast in the water.",<ref name=Fox/> Loch Ness monster watchers described it as among "the best footage ever seen."<ref name="Fox">{{Cite news |date=1 June 2007 |title=Tourist Says He's Shot Video of Loch Ness Monster |work=Fox News |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/tourist-says-hes-shot-video-of-loch-ness-monster |url-status=live |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514022520/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,276793,00.html |archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref> [[BBC Scotland]] broadcast the video on 29 May 2007.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 June 2007 |title=Fabled monster caught on video |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/31/britain.lochness.ap/index.html |access-date=28 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618230827/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/05/31/britain.lochness.ap/index.html |archive-date=18 June 2007}}</ref> ''[[STV (TV channel)|STV]] News North Tonight'' aired it on 28 May 2007 and interviewed Holmes. Adrian Shine, a [[marine biologist]] at the Loch Ness 2000 Centre in [[Drumnadrochit]], suggested that the footage was an otter, seal or water bird.<ref>{{Cite web |title=stv News North Tonight – Loch Ness Monster sighting report and interview with Gordon Holmes – tx 28 May 2007 |url=http://video.stv.tv/bc/scotland-nessie-20080530-nessie-caught-on-tape/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100717040727/http://video.stv.tv/bc/scotland-nessie-20080530-nessie-caught-on-tape/ |archive-date=17 July 2010 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Scotlandontv.tv}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Sonar image (2011)}}Sonar image (2011)===
On 24 August 2011, Loch Ness boat captain Marcus Atkinson photographed a [[sonar]] image of a {{convert|1.5|m|ft|adj=mid|-wide}}, unidentified object that seemed to follow his boat for two minutes at a depth of {{convert|23|m|abbr=on}} and ruled out the possibility of a small fish or seal. In April 2012, a scientist from the [[National Oceanography Centre]] said that the image is a bloom of [[algae]] and [[zooplankton]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Love |first=David |date=21 April 2012 |title=Does sonar image show the Loch Ness Monster? |url=https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/sonar-image-show-loch-ness-1119802 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017024730/https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/sonar-image-show-loch-ness-1119802 |archive-date=17 October 2021 |access-date=13 August 2021 |website=Daily Record |language=en}}</ref>

==={{anchor|George Edwards's photograph (2011)}}George Edwards photograph (2011)===
On 3 August 2012, skipper George Edwards claimed that a photo he took on 2 November 2011 shows "Nessie". Edwards claims to have searched for the monster for 26 years, and reportedly spent 60 hours per week on the loch aboard his boat, ''Nessie Hunter IV'', taking tourists for rides.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McLaughlin |first=Erin |date=15 August 2012 |title=Scottish Sailor Claims To Have Best Picture Yet of Loch Ness Monster &#124; ABC News Blogs – Yahoo! |url=http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/scottish-sailor-claims-best-picture-yet-loch-ness-100057921--abc-news-topstories.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307172658/https://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/scottish-sailor-claims-best-picture-yet-loch-ness-100057921--abc-news-topstories.html |archive-date=7 March 2016 |access-date=11 April 2013 |publisher=Gma.yahoo.com}}</ref> Edwards said, "In my opinion, it probably looks kind of like a [[manatee]], but not a [[mammal]]. When people see three [[List of animals with humps|hump]]s, they're probably just seeing three separate monsters."<ref>McLaughlin, Erin, "[http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/scottish-sailor-claims-best-picture-yet-loch-ness-100057921--abc-news-topstories.html Scottish Sailor Claims To Have Best Picture Yet Of Loch Ness Monster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307172658/https://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/scottish-sailor-claims-best-picture-yet-loch-ness-100057921--abc-news-topstories.html |date=7 March 2016 }}", [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]/[[Yahoo! News]], 16 August 2012</ref>

Other researchers have questioned the photograph's authenticity,<ref name="naish">{{Cite web |last=Naish |first=Darren |date=10 July 2013 |title=Photos of the Loch Ness Monster, revisited |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-revisited/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423234921/http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/07/10/photos-of-the-loch-ness-monster-revisited/ |archive-date=23 April 2015 |access-date=14 November 2019 |website=[[Scientific American]]}}</ref> and Loch Ness researcher Steve Feltham suggested that the object in the water is a fibreglass hump used in a [[National Geographic Channel]] documentary in which Edwards had participated.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Roland |date=20 August 2012 |title=Follow up to the George Edwards Photo |url=http://lochnessmystery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/follow-up-on-george-edwards-photo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706151201/http://lochnessmystery.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/follow-up-on-george-edwards-photo.html |archive-date=6 July 2017 |access-date=20 August 2012}}</ref> Researcher Dick Raynor has questioned Edwards' claim of discovering a deeper bottom of Loch Ness, which Raynor calls "Edwards Deep". He found inconsistencies between Edwards' claims for the location and conditions of the photograph and the actual location and weather conditions that day. According to Raynor, Edwards told him he had faked a photograph in 1986 that he claimed was genuine in the National Geographic documentary.<ref name="Edwardsclaims">{{Cite web |last=Raynor |first=Dick |title=An examination of the claims and pictures taken by George Edwards |url=http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/georgeedwardsclaims.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008035058/http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/georgeedwardsclaims.html |archive-date=8 October 2018 |access-date=1 September 2012 |website=lochnessinvestigation.com/}}</ref> Although Edwards admitted in October 2013 that his 2011 photograph was a hoax,<ref name="Edwards hoax">{{Cite web |last=Alistair |first=Munro |title=Loch Ness Monster: George Edwards 'faked' photo |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/loch-ness-monster-george-edwards-faked-photo-1-3126919 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150511053841/http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/loch-ness-monster-george-edwards-faked-photo-1-3126919 |archive-date=11 May 2015 |access-date=5 June 2015 |website=The Scotsman}}</ref> he insisted that the 1986 photograph was genuine.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gross |first=Jenny |date=5 October 2013 |title=Latest Loch Ness 'Sighting' Causes a Monstrous Fight |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304795804579099051192907582 |url-status=live |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710004252/http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304795804579099051192907582 |archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>

A survey of the literature about other supposed sightings, including photographs, published in ''[[The Scientific American]]'' blog network on 10 July 2013, indicates none of them are actual sightings.<ref name="naish" />

==={{anchor|David Elder's video (2013)}}David Elder video (2013)===
On 27 August 2013, tourist David Elder presented a five-minute video of a "mysterious wave" in the loch. According to Elder, the wave was produced by a {{convert|4.5|m|abbr=on}} "solid black object" just under the surface of the water.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jauregui |first=Andres |date=26 August 2013 |title=Loch Ness Monster Sighting? Photographer Claims 'Black Object' Glided Beneath Lake's Surface |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/loch-ness-monster-sighting-photo_n_3817842 |url-status=live |access-date=8 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028130728/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/loch-ness-monster-sighting-photo_n_3817842 |archive-date=28 October 2020}}</ref> Elder, 50, from [[East Kilbride]], [[South Lanarkshire]], was taking a picture of a swan at the [[Fort Augustus]] pier on the south-western end of the loch, when he captured the movement.<ref name="sightaug13">{{Cite news |last=Baillie |first=Claire |date=27 August 2013 |title=New photo of Loch Ness Monster sparks debate |work=The Scotsman |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/new-photo-of-loch-ness-monster-sparks-debate-1-3062880 |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125904/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/new-photo-of-loch-ness-monster-sparks-debate-1-3062880 |archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref> He said, "The water was very still at the time and there were no ripples coming off the wave and no other activity on the water."<ref name="sightaug13" /> Sceptics suggested that the wave may have been caused by a wind gust.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 August 2013 |title=Finally, is this proof the Loch Ness monster exists? |publisher=news.com.au |url=http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/finally-is-this-proof-the-loch-ness-monster-exists/story-e6frfq80-1226705466799 |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928111650/http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/finally-is-this-proof-the-loch-ness-monster-exists/story-e6frfq80-1226705466799 |archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref>

===Apple Maps photograph (2014)===
On 19 April 2014, it was reported that a satellite image on [[Apple Maps]] showed what appeared to be a large creature (thought by some to be the Loch Ness Monster) just below the surface of Loch Ness.<ref name="Gander">{{Cite news |last=Gander |first=Kashmira |date=19 April 2014 |title=Loch Ness Monster found on Apple Maps? |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/loch-ness-monster-found-on-apple-maps-9271075.html |url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730204210/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/loch-ness-monster-found-on-apple-maps-9271075.html |archive-date=30 July 2018}}</ref> At the loch's far north, the image appeared about {{convert|30|m}} long. Possible explanations were the [[Wake (physics)|wake]] of a boat (with the boat itself lost in [[image stitching]] or low contrast), [[pinniped|seal]]-caused ripples, or floating wood.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McKenzie |first=Steven |date=21 November 2014 |title=Fallen branches 'could explain Loch Ness Monster sightings' |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30053585 |url-status=live |access-date=21 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150422083540/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-30053585 |archive-date=22 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Radford |first=Benjamin |date=22 April 2014 |title=Loch Ness Monster on Apple Maps? Why Satellite Images Fool Us |url=http://www.livescience.com/45014-loch-ness-monster-apple-maps.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405130205/http://www.livescience.com/45014-loch-ness-monster-apple-maps.html |archive-date=5 April 2015 |access-date=21 April 2015 |website=livescience}}</ref>

===Drone footage (2021)===
In September 2021, it was reported that a {{convert|20|ft|abbr=on}} creature was captured on a live-stream near the loch, though it was quickly described as a digitally altered video by skepticists due to the lack of natural movement, an unlikely degree of ilumination and its resemblance to a stock image of a 'toy plesiosaurus'.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gill |first=Kate |date=2021-09-24 |title='Loch Ness monster' spotted lurking near shore by wild camper |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/lifestyle/loch-ness-monster-spotted-lurking-near-shore-by-wild-camper-b2188218.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710155919/https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/lifestyle/loch-ness-monster-spotted-lurking-near-shore-by-wild-camper-b2188218.html |archive-date=2023-07-10 |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=[[The Independent]] |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Meehan |first=Abbie |last2=Murphy |first2=Sean |date=2021-09-28 |title=Experts debunk latest Loch Ness Monster sighting as a 'hoax' |url=https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/experts-debunk-latest-loch-ness-21704382 |access-date=2025-09-17 |website=Edinburgh Live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=26 August 2013 |title=Do new pictures from amateur photographer prove Loch Ness Monster exists? |work=Metro |url=http://metro.co.uk/2013/08/26/do-new-pictures-from-amateur-photographer-prove-loch-ness-monster-exists-3938074/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730203236/https://metro.co.uk/2013/08/26/do-new-pictures-from-amateur-photographer-prove-loch-ness-monster-exists-3938074/ |archive-date=30 July 2018}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Searches for the monster|Andrew Carroll's sonar study (1969)|Submersible investigations|"Big Expedition" of 1970|Discovery Loch Ness (1993)}}Searches==

==={{anchor|Sir Edward Mountain expedition (1934)}}Edward Mountain expedition (1934)===
[[File:LochNessUrquhart.jpg|thumb|alt=The loch on a cloudy day, with ruins of a castle in the foreground|Loch Ness, reported home of the monster]]
After reading [[Rupert Gould]]'s ''The Loch Ness Monster and Others'',<ref name="Gould" /> [[Edward Mountain]] financed a search. Twenty men with binoculars and cameras positioned themselves around the loch from 9&nbsp;am to 6&nbsp;pm for five weeks, beginning on 13 July 1934. Although 21 photographs were taken, none was considered conclusive. Supervisor James Fraser remained by the loch, filming, on 15 September 1934; the film is now lost.<ref>R. Binns (1983)'' The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' {{ISBN|0-7291-0139-8}}, pp. 36–39</ref> Zoologists and professors of natural history concluded that the film showed a seal, possibly a grey seal.<ref name="TimesSeal">''The Times'' 5 October 1934, p. 12 Loch Ness "Monster" Film</ref>

===Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau (1962–1972)===
The ''Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau'' (LNPIB) was a UK-based society formed in 1962 by [[Norman Collins]], [[R. S. R. Fitter]], politician [[David James (British politician)|David James]], [[Peter Scott]] and Constance Whyte<ref>Henry H. Bauer, ''The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery'', p. 163 (University of Illinois Press, 1986). {{ISBN|0-252-01284-4}}</ref> "to study Loch Ness to identify the creature known as the Loch Ness Monster or determine the causes of reports of it".<ref>Rick Emmer, ''Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction?'', p. 35 (Infobase Publishing, 2010). {{ISBN|978-0-7910-9779-3}}</ref> In 1967 it received a grant of $20,000 from [[World Book Encyclopedia]] to fund a 2-year programme of daylight watches from May to October.  The principal equipment was 35&nbsp;mm movie cameras on mobile units with 20-inch lenses, and one with a 36-inch lens at [[Achnahannet, Loch Ness|Achnahannet]], near the midpoint of the loch. With the mobile units in laybys about 80% of the loch surface was covered.<ref name="Machine">{{Cite magazine |last=Spector |first=Leo |date=14 September 1967 |title=The Great Monster Hunt |magazine=Machine Design |location=Cleveland, Ohio |publisher=The Penton Publishing Co.}}</ref> The society's name was later shortened to the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau (LNIB), and it disbanded in 1972.<ref name=DMirror1972>{{Cite news |last=<!-anonymous letter commenting on news: name and address supplied--> |date=1 June 1972 |title=Take a Lesson from Nessie |work=Daily Mirror |location=London}}</ref> The LNIB had an annual subscription charge, which covered administration. Its main activity was encouraging groups of self-funded volunteers to watch the loch from vantage points with film cameras with telescopic lenses. From 1965 to 1972 it had a caravan camp and viewing platform at Achnahannet, and sent observers to other locations up and down the loch.<ref name="HolidayLNIB">{{Cite book |last=Holiday |first=F. W. |title=The Great Orm of Loch Ness: A Practical Inquiry into the Nature and Habits of Water-monsters |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1968 |isbn=0-571-08473-7 |location=London |pages=30–60, 98–117, 160–173}}</ref><ref>Tim Dinsdale (1973) ''The Story of the Loch Ness Monster'' Target Books {{ISBN|0-426-11340-3}}</ref> According to the bureau's 1969 annual report<ref>{{Cite web |title=1969 Annual Report: Loch Ness Investigation |url=http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/paperspdfs/LOCH_NESS_LNI69.PDF |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210326050640/https://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/paperspdfs/LOCH_NESS_LNI69.PDF |archive-date=26 March 2021 |access-date=8 July 2009}}</ref> it had 1,030 members, of whom 588 were from the UK.

==={{anchor|LNPIB sonar study (1967–1968)}}Sonar study (1967–1968)===
D. Gordon Tucker, chair of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the [[University of Birmingham]], volunteered his services as a sonar developer and expert at Loch Ness in 1968.<ref name="Herald1968">{{Cite web |title=The Glasgow Herald - Google News Archive Search |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19681220&id=OX9AAAAAIBAJ&pg=3828,3632069 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028121050/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19681220&id=OX9AAAAAIBAJ&pg=3828%2C3632069 |archive-date=28 October 2021 |access-date=15 November 2020 |website=news.google.com}}</ref> His gesture, part of a larger effort led by the LNPIB from 1967 to 1968, involved collaboration between volunteers and professionals in a number of fields. Tucker had chosen Loch Ness as the test site for a prototype sonar [[transducer]] with a maximum range of {{convert|800|m|abbr=on}}. The device was fixed underwater at Temple Pier in Urquhart Bay and directed at the opposite shore, drawing an acoustic "net" across the loch through which no moving object could pass undetected. During the two-week trial in August, multiple targets were identified. One was probably a shoal of fish, but others moved in a way not typical of shoals at speeds up to 10 knots.<ref name="NS1968">''New Scientist'' 40 (1968): 564–566;  "Sonar Picks Up Stirrings in Loch Ness"</ref>

==={{anchor|Robert Rines's studies (1972; 1975; 2001; 2008)}}Robert Rines studies (1972, 1975, 2001, 2008)===
In 1972, a group of researchers from the Academy of Applied Science led by [[Robert H. Rines]] conducted a search for the monster involving sonar examination of the loch depths for unusual activity. Rines took precautions to avoid murky water with floating wood and peat.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilford |first=John Noble |date=1976-05-28 |title=Scientists Plan All-Out Loch Ness Search |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/28/archives/scientists-plan-allout-loch-ness-search-scientists-are-organizing.html |access-date=2024-05-15 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=15 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515225633/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/28/archives/scientists-plan-allout-loch-ness-search-scientists-are-organizing.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A submersible camera with a floodlight was deployed to record images below the surface. If Rines detected anything on the sonar, he turned the light on and took pictures.

On 8 August, Rines' [[Raytheon]] DE-725C sonar unit, operating at a frequency of 200&nbsp;kHz and anchored at a depth of {{convert|11|m}}, identified a moving target (or targets) estimated by echo strength at {{convert|6|to|9|m|0}} in length. Specialists from Raytheon, Simrad (now [[Kongsberg Maritime]]), Hydroacoustics, Marty Klein of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) and Klein Associates (a [[side-scan sonar]] producer) and Ira Dyer of MIT's Department of Ocean Engineering were on hand to examine the data. P. Skitzki of Raytheon suggested that the data indicated a {{convert|3|m|0|adj=on}} protuberance projecting from one of the echoes. According to author Roy Mackal, the shape was a "highly flexible laterally flattened tail" or the misinterpreted return from two animals swimming together.<ref>Roy Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'' p. 307, see also appendix E</ref>

Concurrent with the sonar readings, the floodlit camera obtained a pair of underwater photographs. Both depicted what appeared to be a [[rhomboid]] flipper, although sceptics have dismissed the images as depicting the bottom of the loch, air bubbles, a rock, or a fish fin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-08-18 |title=The 1972 Loch Ness Monster Flipper Photos |url=https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/8/17/loch-ness-monster-flipper-photos |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=Tetrapod Zoology |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250701154131/https://tetzoo.com/blog/2020/8/17/loch-ness-monster-flipper-photos |url-status=live }}</ref> The apparent flipper was photographed in different positions, indicating movement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Photographic image |url=http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Nessie_Rines%20flipper.gif |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829140111/http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Nessie_Rines%20flipper.gif |archive-date=29 August 2011 |access-date=18 April 2017 |format=GIF}}</ref> The first flipper photo is better-known than the second, and both were enhanced and retouched from the original negatives. According to team member [[Charles Wyckoff]], the photos were retouched to superimpose the flipper; the original enhancement showed a considerably less-distinct object. No one is sure how the originals were altered.<ref name="Loch">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/471348/loch-ness-monster-the-search-for-the-truth |title=Loch Ness Monster: Search for the Truth |year=2001 |people=Townend, Lorne (writer/director) |access-date=19 April 2018 |archive-date=20 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420010513/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/471348/Loch-Ness-Monster-The-Search-For-the-Truth/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During a meeting with Tony Harmsworth and Adrian Shine at the Loch Ness Centre & Exhibition, Rines admitted that the flipper photo may have been retouched by a magazine editor.<ref name="Harmsworth">Harmsworth, Tony. ''Loch Ness, Nessie & Me: Loch Ness Understood and Monster Explained''.</ref>

British naturalist [[Peter Scott]] announced in 1975, on the basis of the photographs, that the creature's scientific name would be ''Nessiteras rhombopteryx'' (Greek for "Ness inhabitant with diamond-shaped fin").<ref name="scott1975">{{Cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Peter |last2=Rines |first2=Robert |year=1975 |title=Naming the Loch Ness monster |journal=Nature |volume=258 |issue=5535 |page=466 |bibcode=1975Natur.258..466S |doi=10.1038/258466a0 |doi-access=free |issn = 0028-0836 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lawton |first=John H. |date=1996 |title=''Nessiteras Rhombopteryx'' |journal=Oikos |volume=77 |issue=3 |pages=378–380 |doi=10.2307/3545927 |jstor=3545927|bibcode=1996Oikos..77..378L }}</ref> Scott intended that the name would enable the creature to be added to the British register of protected wildlife. Scottish politician [[Nicholas Fairbairn]] called the name an [[anagram]] for "Monster hoax by Sir Peter S".<ref name="Dinsdalep171">Dinsdale, T. "Loch Ness Monster" (Routledge and Kegan Paul 1976), p. 171.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Fairbairn |first=Nicholas |date=18 December 1975 |title=Loch Ness monster |page=13 |work=The Times |issue=((59,581)) |department=Letters to the Editor |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 December 1975 |title=Loch Ness Monster Shown a Hoax by Another Name |volume=125 |page=78 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=Reuters |issue=((43,063)) |quote=<!---London, 18 December (Reuters) – A Scottish member of Parliament has discovered an anagram for Nessiteras rhombopteryx...Nicholas Fairbairn, the MP, announced the anagram in a letter to The Times: 'Monster hoax by Sir Peter S.'--->}}</ref> However, Rines countered that when rearranged, the letters could also spell "Yes, both pix are monsters – R."<ref name="Dinsdalep171" />

Another sonar contact was made, this time with two objects estimated to be about {{convert|9|m|0}}. The strobe camera photographed two large objects surrounded by a flurry of bubbles.<ref name="LochNess76">{{Cite web |title=Martin Klein Home |url=http://www.martinklein.com/about-me/ewExternalFiles/MIT-Technology-A%20-Review-Search%20for%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster%201976-03.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803112032/http://www.martinklein.com/about-me/ewExternalFiles/MIT-Technology-A%20-Review-Search%20for%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster%201976-03.pdf |archive-date=3 August 2020 |access-date=24 February 2020}}</ref> Some interpreted the objects as two [[plesiosaur]]-like animals, suggesting several large animals living in Loch Ness. This photograph has rarely been published.

A second search was conducted by Rines in 1975. Some of the photographs, despite their obviously murky quality and lack of concurrent sonar readings, did indeed seem to show unknown animals in various positions and lightings. One photograph appeared to show the head, neck, and upper torso of a plesiosaur-like animal,<ref name="LochNess76" /> but sceptics argue the object is a log due to the lump on its "chest" area, the mass of sediment in the full photo, and the object's log-like "skin" texture.<ref name="Harmsworth" /> Another photograph seemed to depict a horned "gargoyle head", consistent with that of some sightings of the monster;<ref name="LochNess76" /> however, sceptics point out that a tree stump was later filmed during Operation Deepscan in 1987, which bore a striking resemblance to the gargoyle head.<ref name="Harmsworth" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gust at Sea |url=http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/gust_at_sea.html |access-date=2025-06-24 |website=www.lochnessinvestigation.com |archive-date=23 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723213402/http://www.lochnessinvestigation.com/Gust_at_Sea.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Robert Rines |url=https://www.economist.com/obituary/2009/11/19/robert-rines |access-date=2025-06-24 |work=The Economist |issn=0013-0613 |archive-date=27 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250527183052/https://www.economist.com/obituary/2009/11/19/robert-rines |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2001, Rines' Academy of Applied Science videotaped a V-shaped wake traversing still water on a calm day. The academy also videotaped an object on the floor of the loch resembling a carcass and found marine clamshells and a fungus-like organism not normally found in freshwater lochs, a suggested connection to the sea and a possible entry for the creature.<ref name="AAS">Robert H. Rines. [http://www.aas-world.org/sparks/V1-four/lochness.html Loch Ness Findings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823232005/http://www.aas-world.org/sparks/V1-four/lochness.html|date=23 August 2006}}. Academy of Applied Science.</ref>

In 2008, Rines theorised that the creature may have become [[extinction|extinct]], citing the lack of significant sonar readings and a decline in eyewitness accounts. He undertook a final expedition, using sonar and an underwater camera in an attempt to find a carcass. Rines believed that the animals may have failed to adapt to temperature changes resulting from [[global warming]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 February 2008 |title=Veteran Loch Ness Monster Hunter Gives Up – The Daily Record |url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/13/veteran-loch-ness-monster-hunter-gives-up-86908-20317853/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324030911/http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/02/13/veteran-loch-ness-monster-hunter-gives-up-86908-20317853/ |archive-date=24 March 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |publisher=Dailyrecord.co.uk}}</ref>

===Operation Deepscan (1987)===
Operation Deepscan was conducted in 1987.<ref name="Operation Deepscan Description">{{Cite web |title=Operation Deepscan |url=http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/papershtml/loch_ness_scottish_naturalist.HTM |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424181733/http://www.lochnessproject.org/adrian_shine_archiveroom/papershtml/loch_ness_scottish_naturalist.HTM |archive-date=24 April 2015 |access-date=29 January 2015 |website=www.lochnessproject.com}}</ref> Twenty-four boats equipped with [[echo sounding]] equipment were deployed across the width of the loch, and simultaneously sent [[acoustic wave]]s. According to [[BBC News]] the scientists had made sonar contact with an unidentified object of unusual size and strength.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''educational.rai.it'' (p. 17) |url=http://www.educational.rai.it/materiali/file_lezioni/58054_635980660759241554.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311140936/http://www.educational.rai.it/materiali/file_lezioni/58054_635980660759241554.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2018 |access-date=11 March 2018}}</ref> The researchers returned, re-scanning the area. Analysis of the echosounder images seemed to indicate debris at the bottom of the loch, although there was motion in three of the pictures. Adrian Shine speculated, based on size, that they might be seals that had entered the loch.<ref name="firstscience1">{{Cite web |title=What is the Loch Ness Monster? |url=http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/mysteries/what-is-the-loch-ness-monster-page-2-1_13093.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604052901/http://www.firstscience.com/home/articles/mysteries/what-is-the-loch-ness-monster-page-2-1_13093.html |archive-date=4 June 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Firstscience.com}}</ref>

Sonar expert Darrell Lowrance, founder of [[Lowrance Electronics]], donated a number of echosounder units used in the operation. After examining a sonar return indicating a large, moving object at a depth of {{convert|180|m}} near Urquhart Bay, Lowrance said: "There's something here that we don't understand, and there's something here that's larger than a fish, maybe some species that hasn't been detected before. I don't know."<ref>''Mysterious Creatures'' (1988) by the Editors of Time-Life Books, p. 90</ref>

===''Searching for the Loch Ness Monster'' (2003)===
In 2003, the BBC sponsored a search of the loch using 600 sonar beams and satellite tracking. The search had sufficient resolution to identify a small buoy. No animal of substantial size was found and, despite their reported hopes, the scientists involved admitted that this proved the Loch Ness Monster was a myth. ''Searching for the Loch Ness Monster'' aired on [[BBC One]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 July 2003 |title=BBC 'proves' Nessie does not exist |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096839.stm |url-status=live |access-date=4 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728024613/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3096839.stm |archive-date=28 July 2018}}</ref>

=== Adrian Shine and Kongsberg Maritime (2016) ===
Adrian Shine of The Loch Ness Project and [[VisitScotland]] supported a survey of the Loch using an underwater robot operated by [[Kongsberg Maritime]].<ref name="mckenzie">{{cite web|last=McKenzie|first=Steven|title=Film's lost Nessie monster prop found in Loch Ness|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36024638|work=[[BBC News]]|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024|archive-date=20 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120061601/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36024638|url-status=live}}</ref> While investigating the depths of the loch, they found the resting place of a Nessie prop created for [[Billy Wilder]]'s 1970 film ''[[The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes]]''.<ref name="mckenzie"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Victor|first=Daniel|title=Loch Ness Monster Is Found! (Kind of. Not Really.)|website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/europe/loch-ness-monster-found-kind-of-not-really.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417013841/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/14/world/europe/loch-ness-monster-found-kind-of-not-really.html|date=13 April 2016|archivedate=17 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> Wally Veevers had designed the prop<ref name="siddique">{{cite web|last=Siddique|first=Haroon|title=Loch Ness monster: remains of film model discovered by robot|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/13/loch-ness-monster-remains-discovered-by-robot|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=13 April 2016|access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> initially with a neck and two humps but Wilder disliked the humps and ordered them removed.<ref name="mckenzie"/> This change altered the buoyancy and the prop promptly sank into the loch during a filming test.<ref name="siddique"/>

===DNA survey (2018)===
An international team consisting of researchers from the universities of Otago, Copenhagen, Hull and the Highlands and Islands, did a [[DNA]] survey of the lake in June 2018, looking for unusual species.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gemmell |first1=Neil |last2=Rowley |first2=Ellie |date=28 June 2018 |title=First phase of hunt for Loch Ness monster complete |work=[[University of Otago]] |url=https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago690003.html |url-status=live |access-date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421091013/https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/releases/otago690003.html |archive-date=21 April 2019}}</ref> The results were published in 2019; no DNA of large fish such as sharks, sturgeons and catfish could be found. No otter or seal DNA were obtained either, though there was a lot of eel DNA. The leader of the study, Prof [[Neil Gemmell]] of the [[University of Otago]], said he could not rule out the possibility of eels of extreme size, though none were found, nor were any ever caught. The other possibility is that the large amount of eel DNA simply comes from many small eels. No evidence of any reptilian sequences were found, he added, "so I think we can be fairly sure that there is probably not a giant scaly reptile swimming around in Loch Ness".<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 5, 2019 |title=Loch Ness Monster may be a giant eel, say scientists |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |url-status=live |access-date=September 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906050356/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |archive-date=6 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weaver |first=Matthew |date=September 5, 2019 |title=Loch Ness monster could be a giant eel, say scientists |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/05/loch-ness-monster-could-be-a-giant-eel-say-scientists |url-status=live |access-date=September 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906074243/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/sep/05/loch-ness-monster-could-be-a-giant-eel-say-scientists |archive-date=6 September 2019}}</ref>

===High-Tech 2023 90th Anniversary Search===
In August 2023, a weekend of high-tech searching was done in observance of the 90th anniversary of the 1933 Aldie Mackay sighting. The event was coordinated by Loch Ness Exploration volunteers in collaboration with the Loch Ness visitor’s centre. The technology used included "sonar for mapping the loch bed; [[thermal imaging]] drones to scan the surface; and [[Hydrophone|hydrophones]] (underwater microphones)" which did record some sounds, but were "probably ducks". Despite a large turnout of searchers onsite and hundreds more viewing Internet livestream cameras pointed at the loch, there were no conclusive sightings.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grossman |first1=Wendy |author-link=Wendy Grossman|title=Letter to America: The Benefit of Doubt |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/letter-to-america-the-benefit-of-doubt/ |website=skepticlainquirer.org |publisher=Center for Inquiry |access-date=17 February 2024 |date=September 11, 2023}}</ref>

==Explanations==
A number of explanations have been suggested to account for sightings of the creature. According to Ronald Binns, a former member of the Loch Ness Phenomena Investigation Bureau, there is probably no single explanation of the monster. Binns wrote two skeptical books, the 1983 ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'', and his 2017 ''The Loch Ness Mystery Reloaded''. In these he contends that an aspect of human psychology is the ability of the eye to see what it wants, and expects, to see.<ref name="Binns" /> They may be categorised as misidentifications of known animals, misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects, reinterpretations of Scottish folklore, [[hoax]]es, and exotic species of large animals. A reviewer wrote that Binns had "evolved into the author of ... the definitive, skeptical book on the subject". Binns does not call the sightings a hoax, but "a myth in the true sense of the term" and states that the "'monster is a sociological ... phenomenon. ...After 1983 the search ... (for the) possibility that there just ''might'' be continues to enthrall a small number for whom eye-witness evidence outweighs all other considerations".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nickell |first=Joe |author-link=Joe Nickell |date=2017 |title=Loch Ness Solved – Even More Fully! |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry |volume=41 |issue=6 |pages=59, 61}}</ref>

===Misidentification of known animals===

====Eels====
A large [[European eel]] was an early suggestion for what the "monster" was. Eels are found in Loch Ness, and an unusually large one would explain many sightings.<ref>European Eels may reach an estimated maximal length of 1–1.3 meters. R. P. Mackal (1976) The Monsters of Loch Ness page 216, see also chapter 9 and appendix G</ref> Dinsdale dismissed the hypothesis because eels undulate side to side like snakes.<ref>Tim Dinsdale (1961) ''Loch Ness Monster'' p. 229</ref> Sightings in 1856 of a "sea-serpent" (or [[kelpie]]) in a freshwater lake near [[Leurbost]] in the [[Outer Hebrides]] were explained as those of an oversized eel, also believed common in "Highland lakes".<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 June 1856 |title=Varieties |page=3 |work=[[Colonial Times]] |publisher=National Library of Australia |location=Hobart, Tas. |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8784575 |url-status=live |access-date=16 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028121125/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8784575 |archive-date=28 October 2021}}</ref>

From 2018 to 2019, scientists from New Zealand undertook a massive project to document every organism in Loch Ness based on DNA samples. Their reports confirmed that European eels are still found in the Loch. No DNA samples were found for large animals such as catfish, Greenland sharks, or [[Plesiosaurus|plesiosaurs]]. Many scientists now believe that giant eels account for many, if not most of the sightings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 5, 2019 |title=Loch Ness Monster may be a giant eel, say scientists |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906050356/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495145 |archive-date=6 September 2019 |access-date=September 9, 2019 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2019 |title=New DNA evidence may prove what the Loch Ness Monster really is |url=https://www.popsci.com/loch-ness-monster-dna-mystery/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911064735/https://www.popsci.com/loch-ness-monster-dna-mystery/ |archive-date=11 September 2019 |access-date=10 September 2019 |website=www.popsci.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Tom Metcalfe |date=9 September 2019 |title=Loch Ness Contains No 'Monster' DNA, Say Scientists |url=https://www.livescience.com/loch-ness-monster-dna-study.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190910032328/https://www.livescience.com/loch-ness-monster-dna-study.html |archive-date=10 September 2019 |access-date=10 September 2019 |website=livescience.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Knowles |title=The Loch Ness Monster is still a mystery. |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://beta.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/06/loch-ness-monster-is-still-mystery-scientists-have-some-new-evidence-theory/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922070759/https://beta.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/09/06/loch%2Dness%2Dmonster%2Dis%2Dstill%2Dmystery%2Dscientists%2Dhave%2Dsome%2Dnew%2Devidence%2Dtheory/ |archive-date=2019-09-22}}</ref>

====Elephant====
In a 1979 article, California biologist Dennis Power and geographer Donald Johnson claimed that the "surgeon's photograph" was the top of the head, extended trunk and flared nostrils of a swimming elephant photographed elsewhere and claimed to be from Loch Ness.<ref name="Fresh">"A Fresh Look at Nessie", ''New Scientist'', v. 83, pp. 358–359</ref> In 2006, palaeontologist and artist Neil Clark suggested that travelling circuses might have allowed elephants to bathe in the loch; the trunk could be the perceived head and neck, with the head and back the perceived humps. In support of this, Clark provided an example painting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=National Geographic News |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720053414/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0309_0603009_loch_ness.html |archive-date=20 July 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |work=National Geographic}}</ref>

====Greenland shark====
Zoologist, angler and television presenter [[Jeremy Wade]] investigated the creature in 2013 as part of the series ''[[River Monsters]]'', and concluded that it is a [[Greenland shark]]. The Greenland shark, which can reach up to 20 feet in length, inhabits the North Atlantic Ocean around [[Canada]], [[Greenland]], [[Iceland]], [[Norway]], and possibly [[Scotland]]. It is dark in colour, with a small dorsal fin.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 May 2013 |title='River Monsters' Finale: Hunt For Loch Ness Monster And Greenland Shark (Video) |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/river-monsters-finale-hun_n_3346187.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143357/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/28/river-monsters-finale-hun_n_3346187.html |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=28 December 2014 |website=The Huffington Post}}</ref> According to biologist Bruce Wright, the Greenland shark could survive in fresh water (possibly using rivers and lakes to find food) and Loch Ness has an abundance of salmon and other fish.<ref>{{Cite web |date=3 May 2012 |title=Scientist wonders if Nessie-like monster in Alaska lake is a sleeper shark |url=http://www.adn.com/article/scientist-wonders-if-nessie-monster-alaska-lake-sleeper-shark |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150123060711/http://www.adn.com/article/scientist-wonders-if-nessie-monster-alaska-lake-sleeper-shark |archive-date=23 January 2015 |access-date=5 March 2015 |website=Alaska Dispatch News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 May 2012 |title='Alaska lake monster' may be a sleeper shark, biologist says |url=https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/alaska-lake-monster-may-sleeper-shark-biologist-says-233211614.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305050132/http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/alaska-lake-monster-may-sleeper-shark-biologist-says-233211614.html |archive-date=5 March 2016 |access-date=14 January 2017 |website=Yahoo! News}}</ref>

====Wels catfish====
In July 2015 three news outlets reported that Steve Feltham, after a vigil at the loch that was recognized by the [[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book of Records]], theorised that the monster is an unusually large specimen of [[Wels catfish]] (''Silurus glanis''), which may have been released during the late 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Loch Ness Monster 'Most Likely Large Catfish' |url=http://news.sky.com/story/1520208/loch-ness-monster-most-likely-large-catfish |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150717104605/http://news.sky.com/story/1520208/loch-ness-monster-most-likely-large-catfish |archive-date=17 July 2015 |access-date=17 July 2015 |website=Sky News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nessie hunter believes Loch Ness monster is 'giant catfish' |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/nessie-hunter-believes-loch-ness-monster-is-giant-catfish-1-3832402 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718212514/http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/nessie-hunter-believes-loch-ness-monster-is-giant-catfish-1-3832402 |archive-date=18 July 2015 |access-date=17 July 2015 |website=scotsman.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 July 2015 |title=Loch Ness Monster is just a 'giant catfish' – says Nessie expert |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/loch-ness-monster-just-giant-catfish-says-nessie-expert-1511239 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718030807/http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/loch-ness-monster-just-giant-catfish-says-nessie-expert-1511239 |archive-date=18 July 2015 |access-date=17 July 2015 |website=International Business Times UK}}</ref>

====Other resident animals====
It is difficult to judge the size of an object in water through a telescope or binoculars with no external reference. Loch Ness has resident [[Eurasian otter|otters]], and photos of them and deer swimming in the loch, which were cited by author Ronald Binns,<ref>R. Binns (1983) ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' plates 15(a)–(f)</ref> may have been misinterpreted. According to Binns, birds may be mistaken for a "head and neck" sighting.<ref>R. Binns (1983) ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'' plates 16–18</ref>

===Misidentifications of inanimate objects or effects===

====Boat wakes====
Wakes have been reported when the loch is calm, with no boats nearby. Bartender David Munro reported a wake he believed was a creature zigzagging, diving, and reappearing; there were reportedly 26 other witnesses from a nearby car park.<ref name="Loch" />{{Better source needed|reason=Source unknown.|date=April 2016}} Although some sightings describe a V-shaped wake similar to a boat's,<ref name="AAS" /> others report something not conforming to the shape of a boat.<ref name="Discovery" />

====Trees====
In 1933, the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' published a picture with the caption: "This queerly-shaped tree-trunk, washed ashore at [[Foyers, Highland|Foyers]] [on Loch Ness] may, it is thought, be responsible for the reported appearance of a 'Monster{{'"}}.<ref>''Daily Mirror'' 17 August 1933 p. 12</ref> 

In a 1982 series of articles for ''[[New Scientist]]'', [[Maurice Burton]] proposed that sightings of Nessie and similar creatures may be fermenting [[Scots pine]] logs rising to the surface of the loch. A decomposing log could not initially release gases caused by decay because of its high [[resin]] level. Gas pressure would eventually rupture a resin seal at one end of the log, propelling it through the water (sometimes to the surface). According to Burton, the shape of tree logs (with their branch stumps) closely resembles descriptions of the monster.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burton |first=Maurice |year=1982 |title=The Loch Ness Saga |journal=New Scientist |volume=06-24 |page=872}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burton |first=Maurice |year=1982 |title=The Loch Ness Saga |journal=New Scientist |volume=07-01 |pages=41–42}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burton |first=Maurice |year=1982 |title=The Loch Ness Saga |journal=New Scientist |volume=07-08 |pages=112–113}}</ref>

====Seiches and wakes====
Loch Ness, because of its long, straight shape, is subject to unusual ripples affecting its surface. A [[seiche]] is a large oscillation of a lake, caused by water reverting to its natural level after being blown to one end of the lake (resulting in a [[standing wave]]); the Loch Ness oscillation period is 31.5&nbsp;minutes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Movement of Water in Lakes: Long standing waves (Seiches) |url=http://www.biology.qmul.ac.uk/research/staff/s-araya/currents.htm#Internal%20progressive%20waves |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531050301/http://www.biology.qmul.ac.uk/research/staff/s-araya/currents.htm#Internal%20progressive%20waves |archive-date=31 May 2009 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Biology.qmul.ac.uk}}</ref> Earthquakes in Scotland are too weak to cause observable seiches, but extremely massive earthquakes far away could cause large waves. The seiche created in Loch Ness by the catastrophic [[1755 Lisbon earthquake]] was reportedly "so violent as to threaten destruction to some houses built on the sides of it", while the [[1761 Lisbon earthquake|1761 aftershock]] caused two-foot (60&nbsp;cm) waves. However, no sightings of the monster were reported in 1755.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Muir-Wood |first1=Robert |title=The 1755 Lisbon Earthquake: Revisited |last2=Mignan |first2=Arnaud |date=2009 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-8608-3 |editor-last=Mendes-Victor |editor-first=Luiz A. |pages=130, 138 |chapter=A Phenomenological Reconstruction of the Mw9 November 1st 1755 Earthquake Source |editor-last2=Sousa Oliveira |editor-first2=Carlos |editor-last3=Azevedo |editor-first3=João |editor-last4=Ribeiro |editor-first4=António}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bressan |first=David |date=30 June 2013 |title=The Earth-shattering Loch Ness Monster that wasn't |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/the-earth-shattering-loch-ness-monster-that-wasnt/ |access-date=12 April 2022 |website=Scientific American Blog Network |language=en |archive-date=4 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404132705/https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/history-of-geology/the-earth-shattering-loch-ness-monster-that-wasnt/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Optical effects====
Wind conditions can give a choppy, [[Diffuse reflection|matt]] appearance to the water with calm patches appearing dark from the shore (reflecting the mountains and clouds).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Oliver |date=2023 |title=Nessie and Noctilucent Clouds: A Meteorological Explanation for Some Loch Ness Monster Sightings |url=https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/43171 |journal=Coolabah |issue=34 |pages=25–45 |doi=10.1344/co20233425-45 |access-date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=6 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230706161005/https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/43171 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1979, W. H. Lehn showed that atmospheric [[refraction]] could distort the shape and size of objects and animals,<ref>W. H. Lehn (1979) ''Science'' vol 205. No. 4402 pages&nbsp;183–185 "Atmospheric Refraction and Lake Monsters"</ref> and later published a photograph of a [[mirage]] of a rock on [[Lake Winnipeg]] that resembled a head and neck.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lehn, W. H. |last2=Schroeder |first2=I. |year=1981 |title=The Norse merman as an optical phenomenon |journal=Nature |volume=289 |issue=5796 |page=362 |bibcode=1981Natur.289..362L |doi=10.1038/289362a0 |s2cid=4280555}}</ref>

====Seismic gas====
Italian geologist Luigi Piccardi has proposed geological explanations for ancient legends and myths. Piccardi noted that in the earliest recorded sighting of a creature (the ''[[Vita Columbae|Life of Saint Columba]]''), the creature's emergence was accompanied "''cum ingenti fremitu''" ("with loud roaring"). The Loch Ness is along the [[Great Glen Fault]], and this could be a description of an earthquake. Many reports consist only of a large disturbance on the surface of the water; this could be a release of gas through the fault, although it may be mistaken for something swimming below the surface.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seismotectonic Origins of the Monster of Loch Ness |url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2001ESP/finalprogram/abstract_7279.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515091035/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2001ESP/finalprogram/abstract_7279.htm |archive-date=15 May 2010 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Gsa.confex.com}}</ref>

===Folklore===
In 1980 Swedish [[natural history|naturalist]] and author Bengt Sjögren wrote that present beliefs in [[lake monster]]s such as the Loch Ness Monster are associated with [[kelpie]] legends. According to Sjögren, accounts of loch monsters have changed over time; originally describing horse-like creatures, they were intended to keep children away from the loch. Sjögren wrote that the kelpie legends have developed into descriptions reflecting a modern awareness of [[plesiosaur]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sjögren |first=Bengt |title=Berömda vidunder |publisher=Settern |year=1980 |isbn=91-7586-023-6 |language=sv}}</ref>

The kelpie as a [[water horse]] in Loch Ness was mentioned in an 1879 Scottish newspaper,<ref>''Aberdeen Weekly Journal'', Wednesday, 11 June 1879 "This kelpie had been in the habit of appearing as a beautiful black horse... No sooner had the weary unsuspecting victim seated himself in the saddle than away darted the horse with more than the speed of the hurricane and plunged into the deepest part of Loch Ness, and the rider was never seen again."</ref> and inspired [[Tim Dinsdale]]'s ''Project Water Horse''.<ref>Tim Dinsdale (1975) ''Project Water Horse. The true story of the monster quest at Loch Ness'' (Routledge & Kegan Paul) {{ISBN|0-7100-8030-1}}</ref> A study of pre-1933 Highland folklore references to kelpies, water horses and [[water bull]]s indicated that Ness was the loch most frequently cited.<ref>Watson, Roland,''The Water Horses of Loch Ness'' (2011) {{ISBN|1-4611-7819-3}}</ref>

===Hoaxes===
A number of hoax attempts have been made, some of which were successful. Other hoaxes were revealed rather quickly by the perpetrators or exposed after diligent research. A few examples follow.

In August 1933, Italian journalist Francesco Gasparini submitted what he said was the first news article on the Loch Ness Monster. In 1959, he reported sighting a "strange fish" and fabricated eyewitness accounts: "I had the inspiration to get hold of the item about the strange fish. The idea of the monster had never dawned on me, but then I noted that the strange fish would not yield a long article, and I decided to promote the imaginary being to the rank of monster without further ado."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 January 2009 |title=Invention of Loch Ness monster |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0126/1232474680305.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227115951/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/0126/1232474680305.html |archive-date=27 December 2011}} [http://monstersandmyths.com/italian-journalist-claims-he-invented-nessie/ Alt URL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113092838/http://monstersandmyths.com/italian-journalist-claims-he-invented-nessie/ |date=13 November 2013 }}</ref>

In the 1930s, big-game hunter [[M. A. Wetherell|Marmaduke Wetherell]] went to Loch Ness to look for the monster. Wetherell claimed to have found footprints, but when casts of the footprints were sent to scientists for analysis they turned out to be from a [[hippopotamus]]; a prankster had used a hippopotamus-foot umbrella stand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Birth of a legend: Famous Photo Falsified? |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/legend.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604144704/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/legend.html |archive-date=4 June 2011 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Pbs.org}}</ref>

In 1972, a team of zoologists from Yorkshire's Flamingo Park Zoo, searching for the monster, discovered a large body floating in the water. The corpse, {{convert|4.9|-|5.4|m|abbr=on}} long and weighing as much as 1.5 tonnes, was described by the [[Press Association]] as having "a bear's head and a brown scaly body with clawlike fins." The creature was placed in a van to be carried away for testing, but police seized the cadaver under an act of parliament prohibiting the removal of "unidentified creatures" from Loch Ness. It was later revealed that Flamingo Park education officer John Shields shaved the whiskers and otherwise disfigured a bull [[elephant seal]] that had died the week before and dumped it in Loch Ness to dupe his colleagues.<ref name="NYT">{{Cite news |date=2 April 1972 |title=Loch Ness 'Monster' Is an April Fool's Joke |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/02/archives/loch-ness-monster-is-an-april-fools-joke.html |url-status=live |access-date=19 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624214049/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/02/archives/loch-ness-monster-is-an-april-fools-joke.html |archive-date=24 June 2021}}</ref>

On 2 July 2003, Gerald McSorely discovered a fossil, supposedly from the creature, when he tripped and fell into the loch. After examination, it was clear that the fossil had been planted.<ref name="museum">{{Cite web |title=Loch Ness Monster Hoaxes |url=http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/display/category/loch_ness_monster/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421041436/http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/archive/display/category/loch_ness_monster/ |archive-date=21 April 2010 |access-date=28 April 2010 |publisher=Museumofhoaxes.com}}</ref>

[[File:Cryptoclidus.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Long-necked dinosaur model|''[[Cryptoclidus]]'' model used in the Five TV programme, ''Loch Ness Monster: The Ultimate Experiment'']]
In 2004, a [[Channel 5 (UK)|Five TV]] documentary team, using cinematic special-effects experts, tried to convince people that there was something in the loch. They constructed an [[animatronic]] model of a [[plesiosaur]], calling it "Lucy". Despite setbacks (including Lucy falling to the bottom of the loch), about 600 sightings were reported where she was placed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Loch Ness monster: The Ultimate Experiment |url=http://www.crawley-creatures.com/recent/lucy.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503060547/http://www.crawley-creatures.com/recent/lucy.htm |archive-date=3 May 2008 |access-date=28 May 2009 |publisher=Crawley-creatures.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=16 August 2005 |title=Nessie swims in Loch for TV Show |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4156070.stm |url-status=live |access-date=12 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829114553/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4156070.stm |archive-date=29 August 2007}}</ref>

In 2005, two students claimed to have found a large tooth embedded in the body of a deer on the loch shore. They publicised the find, setting up a website, but expert analysis soon revealed that the "tooth" was the antler of a [[muntjac]]. The tooth was a publicity stunt to promote a horror novel by [[Steve Alten]], ''[[The Loch (novel)|The Loch]].''<ref name="museum" />

{{clear}}

==={{anchor|Exotic species of large animals}}Exotic large-animal species===
{{Undue weight section|date=July 2023|to=fringe sources and hypotheses|section=yes}}

====Plesiosaur====
[[File:Lochneska poboba museumofnessie.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Model of a dinosaur in water|Reconstruction of Nessie as a plesiosaur outside the Museum of Nessie]]
In 1933, it was suggested that the creature "bears a striking resemblance to the supposedly extinct [[Plesiosauria|plesiosaur]]",<ref>R. J. Binns (1983) ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'', p, 22</ref> a long-necked aquatic reptile that became [[extinction|extinct]] during the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]]. A popular explanation at the time, the following arguments have been made against it:
* In an October 2006 ''[[New Scientist]]'' article, "Why the Loch Ness Monster is no plesiosaur", Leslie Noè of the [[Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences|Sedgwick Museum]] in [[Cambridge]] said: "The [[osteology]] of the neck makes it absolutely certain that the plesiosaur could not lift its head up swan-like out of the water".<ref>{{Cite journal |year=2006 |title=Why the Loch Ness Monster is no plesiosaur |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225764.900-why-the-loch-ness-monster-is-no-plesiosaur.html |url-status=live |journal=New Scientist |volume=2576 |page=17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070223214947/http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19225764.900-why-the-loch-ness-monster-is-no-plesiosaur.html |archive-date=23 February 2007 |access-date=8 April 2007}}</ref>
* The loch is only about 10,000&nbsp;years old, dating to the end of the last ice age. Before then, it was frozen for about 20,000&nbsp;years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Legend of Nessie – Ultimate and Official Loch Ness Monster Site – About Loch Ness |url=http://www.nessie.co.uk/htm/about_loch_ness/nessgeo.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929200634/http://www.nessie.co.uk/htm/about_loch_ness/nessgeo.html |archive-date=29 September 2018 |access-date=31 October 2007 |website=www.nessie.co.uk}}</ref>
* If creatures similar to plesiosaurs lived in Loch Ness they would be seen frequently, since they would have to surface several times a day to breathe.<ref name="firstscience1" />
* Due to the lack of plankton, there is not enough food in Loch Ness to sustain a family of Plesiosaurs.

In response to these criticisms, [[Tim Dinsdale]], Peter Scott and Roy Mackal postulate a trapped marine creature that evolved from a plesiosaur directly or by [[convergent evolution]].<ref>Roy P. Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'', p. 138</ref> Robert Rines explained that the "horns" in some sightings function as breathing tubes (or nostrils), allowing it to breathe without breaking the surface. Newer discoveries of plesiosaurs such as [[Leptocleididae]] could handle fresh water, along with [[Morturneria]] which thrived in Antarctic waters. While this supports the idea that a Plesiosaur could handle the environment of Loch Ness, it doesn't support the idea that Nessie is one.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-08-01 |title=Freshwater plesiosaur fossils spark Loch Ness Monster questions |url=https://earthsky.org/earth/freshwater-plesiosaur-fossils-spark-loch-ness-monster-questions/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=earthsky.org |language=en-US |archive-date=9 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241209184215/https://earthsky.org/earth/freshwater-plesiosaur-fossils-spark-loch-ness-monster-questions/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Long-necked giant amphibian====
[[R. T. Gould]] suggested a long-necked [[newt]];<ref name=Gould/><ref>''The Times'' 9 December 1933, p. 14</ref> Roy Mackal examined the possibility, giving it the highest score (88 percent) on his list of possible candidates.<ref>R. P. Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'', pp. 138–139, 211–213</ref>

====Invertebrate====
In 1968 [[Fredrick William Holiday|F. W. Holiday]] proposed that Nessie and other lake monsters, such as [[Morag (lake monster)|Morag]], may be a large [[invertebrate]] such as a [[Polychaete|bristleworm]]; he cited the extinct ''[[Tullimonstrum]]'' as an example of the shape.<ref>Holiday, F.T. ''The Great Orm of Loch Ness'' (Faber and Faber 1968)</ref> According to Holiday, this explains the land sightings and the variable back shape; he likened it to the medieval description of [[dragon]]s as "worms". Although this theory was considered by Mackal, he found it less convincing than eels, amphibians or plesiosaurs.<ref>R. P. Mackal (1976) ''The Monsters of Loch Ness'' pp. 141–142, chapter XIV</ref>

=={{anchor|Popular culture}}See also==
{{Portal|Lakes}}
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Bear Lake Monster]]
* [[Beithir]]
* [[Bigfoot]]
* [[Bunyip]]
* [[Champ (folklore)]]
* [[Chessie (sea monster)]]
* [[Gaasyendietha]]
* [[Lake Ikeda#Issie|Issie]]
* [[Jiaolong]]
* [[Lake Bumbunga#Tourism|Lake Bumbunga]]
* [[Lake Tianchi Monster]]
* [[Lake Van Monster]]
* [[Lariosauro]]
* [[Leviathan]]
* [[List of reported lake monsters]]
* [[List of topics characterised as pseudoscience]]
* [[Living fossils]]
* [[Loch Ness Monster in popular culture]]
* [[Lukwata]]
* [[Manipogo]]
* [[Memphre]]
* [[Mishipeshu]]
* [[Mokele-mbembe]]
* [[Morag (lake monster)|Morag]]
* [[Nahuel Huapi Lake Monster]]
* [[Ogopogo]]
* [[Plesiosauria]]
* [[Sea monster]]
* [[Selma (lake monster)]]
* [[Stronsay Beast]]
* [[Wani (dragon)]]
* [[Zegrze Reservoir Monster]]
{{div col end}}

==Footnotes==
===Notes===
{{Notelist}}

===References===
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* Bauer, Henry H. ''The Enigma of Loch Ness: Making Sense of a Mystery'', Chicago, University of Illinois Press, 1986
* Binns, Ronald, ''The Loch Ness Mystery Solved'', Great Britain, Open Books, 1983, {{ISBN|0-7291-0139-8}} and Star Books, 1984, {{ISBN|0-352-31487-7}}
* Binns, Ronald, ''The Loch Ness Mystery Reloaded'', London, Zoilus Press, 2017, {{ISBN|9781999735906}} 
* Burton, Maurice, ''The Elusive Monster: An Analysis of the Evidence from Loch Ness'', London, Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961
* Campbell, Steuart. ''The Loch Ness Monster – The Evidence'', Buffalo, New York, Prometheus Books, 1985.
* Dinsdale, Tim, ''Loch Ness Monster'', London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1961, SBN 7100 1279 9
* Harrison, Paul ''The encyclopaedia of the Loch Ness Monster'', London, Robert Hale, 1999
* Gould, R. T., ''The Loch Ness Monster and Others'', London, Geoffrey Bles, 1934 and paperback, Lyle Stuart, 1976, {{ISBN|0-8065-0555-9}}
* Holiday, F. W., ''The Great Orm of Loch Ness'', London, Faber & Faber, 1968, SBN 571 08473 7
* Perera, Victor, ''The Loch Ness Monster Watchers'', Santa Barbara, Capra Press, 1974.
* Whyte, Constance, ''More Than a Legend: The Story of the Loch Ness Monster'', London, Hamish Hamilton, 1957

==Documentary==
* ''Secrets of Loch Ness''. Produced & Directed by Christopher Jeans ([[ITN]]/[[Channel 4]]/[[A&E Network]], 1995).

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lochness/legend.html Nova Documentary On Nessie]
*[http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/lochness.htm Smithsonian Institution]
*{{Cite news |last=Darnton |first=John |date=20 March 1994 |title=Loch Ness: Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/20/weekinreview/loch-ness-fiction-is-stranger-than-truth.html |access-date=29 May 2009}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Loch Ness Monster| ]]
[[Category:Lake monsters]]
[[Category:Mythological aquatic creatures]]
[[Category:Scottish legendary creatures]]