 (1).png){kind=spacer}
13 hours ago
1
A monster hunter says 'the only possibility is Nessie' after catching a double-humped creature on camera in what's been called the first sighting of the year.
Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching Loch Ness via webcam when he spotted something rising and sinking in the water, estimated to be up to 20 feet long.
He said: 'I noticed a disturbance in the middle of Loch Ness, to the right of the screen.
'I saw a shape rise up out of the water, then submerge, four times in the same spot, which I considered to be highly unusual.'
He continued: 'I thought it could be Nessie, but first wanted to look at other options.
'I've ruled out a log – I've never seen a log emerging and submerging in the same spot, ever.
'And waves move along, they do not stay in the one place.
'It's far too large for any wildfowl or seals, and I've also ruled out divers or swimmers. The only possibility is Nessie.'
A monster hunter says 'the only possibility is Nessie' after catching a double-humped creature on camera in what's been called the first sighting of the year
Eoin O'Faodhagain was watching Loch Ness via webcam when he spotted something rising and sinking in the water, estimated to be up to 20 feet long
The footage, taken on Sunday around 1pm, was captured using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN).
It's an unusually early time of year for the mythical monster to appear.
The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register recorded only a handful of entries last year – the first of them in April.
'It could be the first genuine Nessie Sighting of 2025,' said Mr O'Faodhagain, 60.
'January would not be a popular month for Nessie sightings, maybe because there are fewer pleasure craft out on the loch.'
In Eoin's footage, which lasts only a few seconds, a pair of black humps can be seen rising and sinking in the water.
The monster hunter believes this could be the head and body of the beast.
He said: 'There was one long hump and a smaller hump to the right of this, which I surmised to be the possible head of the creature.
The footage, taken on Sunday around 1pm, was captured using a webcam at the Clansman Hotel maintained by Visit Inverness Loch Ness (VILN)
The Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register recorded only a handful of entries last year – the first of them in April
'That would mean it's positioned to move against the current.'
He added that the mysterious creature's behaviour, emerging and submerging repeatedly, was characteristic of other Nessie encounters.
He said: 'This type of behaviour has been documented in other live sightings at Loch Ness over the years, so you could call this a classic sighting.
'There is a strong resemblance to my only registered sighting last year, also captured on the Clansman webcam in July.
'That consisted of two humps as well – one small at the front, followed by a large hump behind it.'
Mr O'Faodhagain often logs on to watch the water from his home in County Donegal, Ireland.
Over the years, he's racked up multiple entries in the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.
The VILN webcams can be watched live online at visitinvernesslochness.com
What IS the Loch Ness Monster?
Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims.
One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933.
On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'.
Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.
Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933.
Robert Kenneth Wilson, a London physician, captured arguably the most famous image of the Loch Ness Monster. The surgeon’s photograph was published in the Daily Mail on April 21, 1934 - however it was later proven to be a fake
The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness.
But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe.
An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at www.lochnesssightings.com.
So what could explain these mysterious sightings?
Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame.
Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian.
Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out.
Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking.
While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.
Eventually, enough of these are gathered to propel the log upward as deep pressures begin altering its shape, giving the appearance of an animal coming up for air.
