Is this Nessie? Latest registered sighting of something unexplained on Loch Ness brings total so far this year to six
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A bumper six Nessie sightings have been reported in the first three months of 2021.
All have been spotted via a live webcam of Loch Ness and have been recorded on the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register.
The latest sighting has been claimed by Roslyn Casey from Leeds.
She spotted something unexplained on the webcam on March 26 at 5.46pm.
Ms Casey, who visited the loch as a child, has been carrying out the search via the webcam since the beginning of lockdown and travel restrictions being implemented in the UK.
She said she was fascinated by phenomena which can occur on the loch such as seiches – standing waves moving in a body of enclosed water.
"I first heard about Loch Ness as a child and I have been fascinated by cryptozoology since," she said.
"I didn't know that there was a live cam for Loch Ness so since the first lockdown I've been watching.
"I've reported a few snapshots previously but most have been explained except this one."
She recalled visiting the loch when she was young.
"I was maybe 10 years old and I had an interest in dinosaurs at the time," she said.
"I was fascinated by 'seiches' and other things that can occur on the loch's surface so I was surprised when I'd captured a photo three months into watching."
The sighting has been recorded on the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register www.lochnesssightings.com which is kept by Gary Campbell.
It joins three sightings reported this year by veteran Nessie watcher Eoin O'Faodhagain, of Ireland and two sightings by Kalynn Wangle, of America.
The first sighting of 2021 was on January 11 at 11.42am when regular webcam watcher Kalynn Wangle noticed a V-shaped wake close to the left front side of the loch shore.
She caught another glimpse of something unknown on March 17 at 4.15pm.
Mr O'Faodhagain captured the footage via a webcam of the loch on January 19 and 22 and again on March 12.
Mr Campbell, the keeper of the register, said access to the loch for Nessie watchers during the first quarter of this year had been almost exclusively by way of the webcam.
"This sixth sighting is typical of the reports that come via the webcam," he said.
"It's important to note that we never say that what folk have captured is the monster – just that what is in the picture or video is unidentified.
"Unfortunately, during lockdown there have been some issues with the resolution of the images from the camera which, through no fault of the operators, has made it more difficult to identify what folk are seeing so there have been more 'unidentified' images as a result."
He said that less than a quarter of the reports made it onto the register as the rest could all be explained.
"However, 2021 is shaping up quite well for Nessie sightings and what has been reported is on a par with previous years," he said.
"Obviously, though, we just want to welcome people back the loch as soon as posssible as there is really no substitute for being on the shore or on the water having a look."
Related story: Watch: Fifth sighting of Loch Ness monster so far in 2021
