The Loch Ness creature since 2002

 With the summer almost upon us, can we expect more sightings to be reported from Loch Ness? The number of sightings of the Loch Ness creatures varies on whose work you read. Some say as little as 2000 sightings since 1930’s , some say as many as 4000. Since 2002 I can only find a recorded number of 20 sightings. It may be that people aren’t reporting it any more of course or it may just be there are less sightings. Possibly less people are looking for anything, certainly there aren’t the expeditions there used to be. I would have thought with modern technology there would  have been more photos people had taken on mobile phones etc.  Here are some examples of the sightings:

August 2002 A man travelling on the A82 towards Fort Augustus saw an unknown object going at speed through the water across the loch

February 2002 Two local residents of Dores saw something move quickly from Tor point to the Clansman Hotel They said that it created a wake and there was definite splashing from the head of whatever the creature was.

June 2003 The captain of local cruise boat “The Royal Scot” reported seeing a fast moving v-shaped wake on the surface of the loch at 2.10pm. The water was very calm at the time.

May 2003 Local coastguard skipper George Edwards saw a six foot long creature surface for about 2-3 minutes close to Urquhart Castle at around 1.00 in the afternoon. He said it was dark grey in colour and had a rough texture to its skin .

August 2004 At 4pm, Tom Clegg of Worcestershire saw three dark humps  out from the shore between Invermoriston and Fort Augustus. He said there were no boats in the vicinity  at the time.

August 2005  Mr Bell and his family from Newcastle watched what they described as the head of a large animal move through the loch at 6pm in the evening..

May 2007 Gordon Holmes of Shipley, Yorkshire, took a video of an unknown creature at 9.50pm from a layby at the north end of the loch.

March 2007 Sidney and Janet Wilson photographed a strange animal from the back of cruise boat near Urquhart Castle

February 2008 Brenda Ellis from Foyers took four snaps on her mobile phone of a creature moving north in the water near Inverfarigaig on the south side of the loch. She said the creature was black/brown in colour and was moving in the water for 10-15 minutes.

June 2009 Douglas MacDougall spotted a hump in the water near the Clansman Hotel.

 

  I haven’t included them all or all the details, I am sure you can find them on the web They vary from seeing wakes to seeing creatures. There seems to be a lack of interest in Loch Ness but maybe some media hype,(I know of one journalist who is going up there to write a piece ,Good Luck with that!), or some good sightings may persuade people to restart another Loch Ness Investigation and put the mystery to bed once and for all. At the moment there is no compelling evidence either way . There are people I have spoken to, local people, who know what they saw .These are not people who would tell their stories to the media or even tell many people. Most of these sightings are not recorded anywhere. I respect their privacy. I think they are honest and believe they saw something. On the other hand we have the non believers , many who were once believers I might add, who deny existence of anything in the Loch. I think to deny there has ever been anything in the Loch is rather short sighted of them as no one knows what lies in that 25 feet (8 metres)  thick layer of silt at the bottom. I still hope something will be found but suspect it will be much more mundane than the monster people hope for. Like many who have heard the local stories of large eels being caught in the Loch years ago ( up to 16 feet ( 5 metres)  long ) I suspect that may well be the answer. Mundane or not I still would like the answer!