Loch Ness Monster 'officially' spotted three times so far this year
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Three Nessie sightings have been reported so far this year – even before the end of January.
The first sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was spotted by an American woman via a live webcam of Urquhart Bay.
The other two sightings, also seen on the webcam, have been reported by veteran Nessie watcher Eoin O'Faodhagain, of Ireland.
All three have been recorded on the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register at Lochnesssightings which is kept by Gary Campbell.
It follows a strong year for sightings in 2020 with 12 being recorded despite the coronavirus pandemic.
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.
Less than 10 seconds later, she saw something black surface for about a second before it disappeared.
She watched the footage a few times, and reported it as looking like black object swimming out from behind the trees which cover the view of the shore.
The second sighting was on January 19 when hospital worker Eoin O'Faodhagain, of County Donegal, spotted something unexplained on the webcam at 2.20pm.
He said it was visible for about 20 minutes but he managed to get a recording of it for three-and-a-half minutes.
He caught sight of something again on January 22 when he noticed what appeared to be two objects splashing around in the bay about 100 feet apart.
He said one of them submerged and then came up again and then the other did the same thing intermittently.
The keeper of the register, Gary Campbell, hopes that more sightings will be recorded despite coronavirus restrictions.
"It’s great to see that even though we’re still in lockdown Nessie is popping up for others to see," he said.
"We had a fantastic year in 2020 even though there were very few people able to visit and it looks that this’ll continue
"The webcam has been a real boon. It’s allowed folk from all over the world to join in the search for Nessie.
"As can be seen from the first three sightings, the online platform has also built up a following amongst regular loch watchers."
Related story: Fresh monster sighting brings total to 12 in 2020 despite coronavirus pandemic
