Did you know that if you spot Nessie, you could win 1500 GBP (around $1980.00 USD)? That’s right. Every year, the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register takes reports of Nessie sightings at their website. Some of these are credible enough to be accepted into the registry Then, every year, the Register chooses the best sighting and awards the prize.
So far, they have registered 1105 sightings in Scotland total. 2018 has had ten sightings so far in Loch Ness. The number will almost certainly surpass 2017’s record of eleven sightings. There have been sightings in other lochs as well.
Loch Lomond seems to be a favorite with critter-spotters, who call their local critter Lomie. Loch Lochy has its Lizzie. Morag lives in Loch Morar. And then there’s Garry (of course) of Loch Garry. There’s a critter in Loch Morlich, as well, though they haven’t seemed to have got around to naming it. Maury, perhaps? Hmmm, statistically, Scotland’s Loch-lizards seem more likely to be female.
2017’s prize went to Rebecca Stewart of Lancashire, who snapped a shot of Nessie on her honeymoon that October. You can see the photo on the Register’s website.
The ninth accepted sighting of 2018 to be accepted into the registry was a high-tech achievement. Lisa Stout of Ohio sighted Nessie via Google Earth. Recently unemployed, Stout had been using her free time to search for Nessie from afar. She found Nessie, whom she believes to be female, in a cluster of photos taken by a user in Fort Augustus. Interestingly, Stout has experience of a local monster, Bessie, who lives in nearby Lake Erie.
Lake monsters are pretty common the world around. Many cryptozoologists believe them to be either undiscovered species, or species thought to be extinct, like the coelocanth, that have actually survived.
One thing’s for sure, though — they’re great for tourism.
Do you have a local lake monster or another cryptid? Do you think it’s a hoax, a relic, an undiscovered species, or something different altogether?
Featured Image: CC BY 2.0 by M&R Glasgow via Flickr
Jess Faraday 