History of a legend

The first recorded sighting of a creature in Loch Ness dates back to the 6th century.

An ancient text tells how Saint Columba, the man credited with introducing Christianity to Scotland, saw the monster about to attack someone. He bravely made the sign of the cross and banished it to the loch, converting many locals to Christianity at the same time, believing they had seen a miracle.

In 1933, a manager of a local hotel was driving with her husband along the road to Inverness when she spotted a “whale-like fish” in the water that was “black, wet, with the water rolling off it”. It is widely regarded as the first modern sighting of a monster in the loch.

It led to a flood of people claiming they’d seen the beast and it became a boost for tourism in the area. The most famous photograph was taken in 1934 by highly respected British surgeon, Colonel Robert Wilson, showing a creature’s head and neck reaching out of the water.

For decades the “surgeon’s photo” was considered evidence of the monster’s existence, although many dismissed it as driftwood, an elephant, an otter or a bird. It was later revealed to be a hoax – a toy submarine fitted with a sea-serpent head.

There have been at least four recorded sightings this year so far, including one by a couple in their 50s who saw a mysterious creature swimming just below the surface of the water around 150 yards from the shore, with a strong wake of water behind it.

“I really don’t know what it was in the water. It was something large. It was propelling itself with something.

“It wasn’t how a fish would do it,” the woman said.

The legend lives on.