Latest news with #LochNess
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
Nessie hunters are telling the truth! Bombshell study says those who spot the monster really are seeing something in the loch
Nessie spotters are telling the truth and really do see something in the loch, a jaw-dropping new study has revealed. But those who describe a monster with a long body forming hoops above the water may be telling porkies, the paper suggests. Experts made their findings while examining whether Nessie sightings were influenced by popular depictions of the mythical monster. What they discovered was that the stereotypical Nessie – with her body looping above the loch – is only described in a small number of sightings. And that suggests that most witnesses are being truthful, according to Charles Paxton, a statistician at the University of St Andrews, and co-author of the study. Dr Paxton said: 'The wider conclusion is that it would be wrong for people to assume that people are just making up their experiences 'I'm sure there are liars and exaggerators and things like that, but I also think that most people are reporting their own experiences. 'That doesn't mean there actually is a Loch Ness Monster, but I think witnesses, broadly speaking, are telling the truth as they've experienced it.' The loch, in the Scottish Highlands, has become synonymous with the legendary creature. The modern fascination with Nessie began in April 1933, when Aldie Mackay reported seeing a whale-like creature in the loch To see how Nessie is portrayed in popular culture, the team examined postcards depicting the mythical monster. They found that roughly 30 per cent of the sample group depicted the creature with its body looping in and out of the water. Yet only 1.5 per cent of sightings described Nessie this way. Dr Paxton said: 'There is a mismatch there. 'And that kind of implies to me that the witnesses aren't necessarily being influenced by this imagery that they see in every souvenir shop around the loch.' Those few sightings which do describe a 'hooped' Nessie are false, the researchers believe. For one thing, such a creature is 'biologically impossible', Dr Paxton said. 'It's a really inefficient way to move through water,' he explained. Some people, such as Alan McKenna, founder of Loch Ness Exploration (LNE), believes elusive 'standing waves' might explain sightings of the mythical monster Nessie sightings might just be 'standing waves' Some experts say 'standing waves' might explain sightings of the mythical monster. Alan McKenna, founder of Loch Ness Exploration, said: 'A standing wave occurs when two boat wakes of the exact same frequency and amplitude are moving in opposite directions on the loch surface. When the two boat wakes finally meet and interfere with one another the results have the potential to create a standing wave.' The peaks of standing waves, rising above the calm waters, could be mistaken for 'humps' above the surface. 'And so if people report that, they're at best mistaken or they're telling untruths.' Dr Paxton's co-author, the naturalist Adrian Shine, added: 'Basically serpents undulate laterally – horizontally – as they move through the water. 'And of course they can derive some traction from that, but not if these loops are coming out of the water. 'As a means of progression in water, it's impossible. There's nothing to push against.' Mr Shine, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and founder of the Loch Ness Project, says he is a 'sympathetic sceptic' when it comes to the monster. But he says the study lends credibility to those who claim to have seen Nessie. He said: 'Since they are not reporting the loops, which are the stereotypical depiction, their testimony is more likely to be true, sincere and well-observed than not.' He added: 'Our findings lend credibility to the witnesses. The burden of the paper is that the witnesses are not being influenced by the popular stereotype.' The mythical creature has captured the attention of people around the world for decades (artist's impression) Yet he remains doubtful that any mythical monster is behind the sightings. The true cause could be a mixture of boat wakes and birds, among other things. Dr Paxton was more circumspect on the Nessie debate. 'I think the Loch Ness Monster exists as a reported phenomenon,' he said. The new study was published in the journal Endeavour. What IS the Loch Ness Monster? Rumours of a strange creature living in the waters of Loch Ness have abounded over the decades, yet scant evidence has been found to back up these claims. One of the first sightings, believed to have fuelled modern Nessie fever, came in May 2, 1933. On this date the Inverness Courier carried a story about a local couple who claim to have seen 'an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface'. Another famous claimed sighting is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson. It was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged. Other sightings James Gray's picture from 2001 when he and friend Peter Levings were out fishing on the Loch, while namesake Hugh Gray's blurred photo of what appears to be a large sea creature was published in the Daily Express in 1933. The first reported sighting of the monster is said to have been made in AD565 by the Irish missionary St Columba when he came across a giant beast in the River Ness. But no one has ever come up with a satisfactory explanation for the sightings - although in 2019, 'Nessie expert' Steve Feltham, who has spent 24 years watching the Loch, said he thought it was actually a giant Wels Catfish, native to waters near the Baltic and Caspian seas in Europe. An online register lists more than 1,000 total Nessie sightings, created by Mr Campbell, the man behind the Official Loch Ness Monster Fan Club and is available at So what could explain these mysterious sightings? Many Nessie witnesses have mentioned large, crocodile-like scutes sitting atop the spine of the creature, leading some to believe an escaped amphibian may be to blame. Native fish sturgeons can also weigh several hundred pounds and have ridged backs, which make them look almost reptilian. Some believe Nessie is a long-necked plesiosaur - like an elasmosaur - that survived somehow when all the other dinosaurs were wiped out. Others say the sightings are down to Scottish pines dying and flopping into the loch, before quickly becoming water-logged and sinking. While submerged, botanical chemicals start trapping tiny bubbles of air.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Loch Ness monster spotters don't see the humps, experts say
The image of Nessie as a long, thin, three-humped monster has featured in Scottish culture for Ness Monster memorabilia in Highland gift shops and children's books depict a snakelike aquatic monster above the surface of the water with distinct new research has found the sea monster's undulating physique rarely features in reports by those who claim to have spotted revealed only 1.5% of people who have claimed to see Nessie over the past 100 years have reported hoops or humps in their description. The research by Dr Charles Paxton from the University of St Andrews and Adrian Shine of the Loch Ness Centre looked at the history of hooped sea monster imagery and its cultural examined how often the imagery of Nessie's arched body appeared in postcards and said that between 25% and 32% showed her with visible humps trailing behind her head and also showed the creature with a clear distance between her body and the surface of the water, which researchers said was "biologically impossible".To start with, they said, the swimming method would be very inefficient, so the chances of her looking like that at the surface would be unlikely. The findings go against previous studies that suggest eyewitnesses are usually influenced by popular portrayals of mythical creatures they see in the to the research, the majority of sighting reports are actually based on some underlying physical reality."Scholars often assume that monsters are generated by cultural expectations, but it is always useful to test obvious hypotheses," Dr Paxton said."In this case it really seems witnesses do not generally report the impossible, even though the hooped monster is a common portrayal of Nessie." How many times has Nessie been spotted? Tales of a monster date back to the Middles Ages when Irish monk St Columba is said to have encountered a creature in the Ness, a river that flows from Loch Ness. But the first modern sighting - which has continued to capture public imagination ever since - was more than 90 years ago. In April 1933, hotel manageress Aldie Mackay reported seeing a whale-like creature "churning" in the loch while she was on a car ride around the Inverness Courier newspaper reported the sighting and the editor at the time, Evan Barron, suggested the beast be described as a "monster".Sightings have continue to be made in recent times, with the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register receiving more than 1,000 reports since its launch in were three last year and two so far in 2025, according to the first sighting this year described two humps moving across the loch, while the second, in May, reported a long, thin creature. The search for the Loch Ness Monster In 1933, it was believed the creature looked like the plesiosaur - an aquatic dinosaur with a long neck thought to have become extinct about 66 million years ago. Critics have since said the plesiosaur was likely a cold-blooded creature and would not have survived in the cold Loch Ness waters. And if it was warm-blooded, it would need more food than the loch could provide. People have debated all kinds of theories as to whether a creature lives in the loch. The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau carried out searches in the 1960s and the late 1980s, Operation Deepscan saw more than 20 boats make a sonar sweep of the man, Steve Feltham, dedicated his life to solving the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster, giving up his job and selling his Dorset home to move to the shores of Loch Ness in 2019, a team of scientists who had visited the loch said giant eels could be behind researchers from New Zealand catalogued all living species in the loch from DNA extracted from water analysis, they ruled out the presence of large animals said to be behind reports of a monster - including the prehistoric plesiosaur or a wandering Greenland shark, which have been known to appear near Scotland. Two years ago, a search billed as the biggest Nessie hunt in more than 50 years saw volunteers help record natural - and any unusual - sights from vantage points on the quest, observers on a boat using acoustic equipment reported four unidentified "gloops" but then realised their recording device wasn't plugged event, which involved searches on the loch and from shore, was held for a third year in vehicles captured underwater photographs of salmon, pike, and a piece of cabling from camera equipment used in a 1970s search.
Times
28-06-2025
- Times
Spectacular Scotland is unusually quiet right now. Make the most of it
Ask Rachael Henley, general manager of the Fife Arms in Braemar, when is the perfect time to visit Scotland, and she'd say now. Well, she would, wouldn't she? 'No midges, no heatwaves, 18 hours of sunshine in which to enjoy the great outdoors,' she counters. 'Plus no small amount of art and culture to discover on the odd rainy day.' As well as the recent clement weather, there's an added attraction this year — anecdotally, at least. It all seems … quieter. Henley, whose luxury boutique hotel is stylishly crammed with art and antiques and, being close to Balmoral, is a honeypot for rich Americans, says that bookings are being made later, ie closer to the departure, rather than being down. But our journalists report that the roads (at least, off the NC500) appear less busy. Campsites — where it's historically hard to find space in during the summer months — have more availability, even popular pitches such as Findhorn at the start of the Moray Malt Whisky Trail. You can even find rooms in the country's upmarket hotels, suggesting that annual block bookings — the preserve of the overseas tour operator and foil of the spur-of-the-moment domestic holidaymaker — have not materialised to the same extent as in previous years. Even though the US schools havenow alreadybroken up for their seemingly endless (ten-week) summer holidays, the lochs, castles and whisky routes usually favoured by American visitors are quiet, and the Glencoe-Fort William-Loch Ness-Inverness-Aviemore-Speyside-St Andrews-Edinburgh circuit feels to have been humming rather than buzzing. This apparent downturn also comes as something of a surprise. Provisional International Passenger Survey (IPS) figures released at the end of last week showed an uptick across the whole of 2024 for overseas visitors to Scotland. The survey, carried out by the Office for National Statistics for Visit Scotland, Visit Britain and Visit Wales, records the number and types of trips made by people travelling to and from the UK, and displayed a new record of 4.38 million visitors. This overtook pre-Covid tourism (the enduring benchmark for peak tourism figures) by 27 per cent, and 2023 by 10 per cent. Combined with a rise in the amount those tourists spend once they've arrived, Scotland outperformed all the other UK nations. What's more, despite the pressures of the cost of living and global market disruption, all indicators pointed towards another stellar year. But look closer, and there are signs of other emerging trends that could be making the country seem quieter while having a positive impact for visitors. There may be more people visiting, but they are spending less, according to VisitBritain's 2025 Inbound Tourism Forecast. 'VisitBritain recorded 39.2 million visits to the UK for 2024, up 3 per cent versus 2023 and just below — minus 4 per cent — pre-Covid levels,' says Frazer Coupland, CEO of West Highland Chamber of Commerce. 'However, it also notes that spend was slow from long-haul markets in particular in the first half of 2024, driven in part by a decline in length of stay. This suggests that even if US visitor numbers are recovering, their spending habits might be more constrained, impacting the West Highlands … where anecdotal evidence points to a decline.' • I love Scotland more than anywhere else. These are my 25 top stays The net result? Overseas visitors taking shorter stays means there are more rooms available, and potentially at lower rates — good news for the canny domestic visitor. That US travellers are booking later could also spell opportunities for UK holidaymakers, who are less likely to find their preferred hotels booked up. 'We are not seeing a dramatic decline in [the number of] Americans travelling to Braemar, what we are seeing is very much last-minute business appearing,' Henley says. 'We have seen a different start to the summer booking season compared to previous years,' agrees Conor O'Leary, managing director of the luxury-hotel-cum-country-estate Gleneagles and its chichi Edinburgh outpost, Gleneagles Townhouse. 'We are seeing a much shorter booking window. April saw strong last-minute uplift, particularly from the US. May was a bit slower, with less group travel business, but the overall picture suggests a shift in travel patterns rather than a decline.' WildLand, a collection of art houses and cottages across three Highland estates, has had a similar experience. 'Lead times have shortened dramatically, now typically three to six months instead of the usual 12 or more, and there's a greater reluctance to commit, even when interest is high,' says Victoria Marlowe, head of guest relations. 'We've had US families stay at Aldourie, the jewel in our portfolio, with as little as a month's notice.' Such new patterns reflect a post-pandemic reluctance among UK travellers to book in advance, having become accustomed during international lockdowns to a more uncertain world and developing more spontaneous travel habits. The unpredictability of the US economy and world events may also be a contributing factor. • 16 of the most beautiful places in Scotland Hoteliers also point to an increase in guests actively seeking ways to save money, opting for in-room dining over restaurant meals, or picnicking in their rooms, which can be good news, keeping tables available for speculative diners. At the opposite end of the market, while the US market isn't key for camping and glamping, those of us looking to visit Scotland under canvas can still benefit from these new booking trends. 'Across the UK, generally the lead time has shortened and bookings are coming in later, especially on [glamping site] Canopy & Stars,'' says Emily Enright of Sawday's. 'There is a marked increase in bookings 2-4 weeks out and even those within seven days, pointing to greater availability.' According to Dan Yates, founder and MD of the camping booking site while it might seem quiet, it's really not. 'Some 66,000 people have already booked for Scotland this year — 23 per cent up on last year,' he says. 'However, booking value has not spiked, pointing both to lower prices and people booking lower-priced accommodation and taking their own tent or tourer rather than glamping.' • These are my favourite almost-secret beauty spots in Scotland If this has whet your appetite for an early summer Scottish sortie, don't get carried away and turn up on spec expecting a bargain (or an empty pitch!). Buck the trend and book ahead, but push for the best deal, especially midweek, when you might find you can negotiate added extras. The same goes for booking tickets forvisitor attractions, for which demand remains high among day-trippers as well as overseas visitors. And arm yourself with ideas from our list of oft-overlooked beautiful places that are quiet even at peak times. Where's your favourite place to visit in Scotland? Let us know in the comments below
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Highland councillors oppose hydro project on Loch Ness
Councillors have objected to plans for a new hydro scheme that would draw water from Loch Ness to generate Energy's pumped storage hydro project would involve constructing a power station and tunnels at Loch Kemp near Whitebridge, about 10 miles (16km) north of Fort Scottish government, which has a say on whether it eventually goes ahead or not, has consulted Highland Council on the local authority's south planning applications voted 8-2 in favour of a motion opposing the project due to a number of concerns, including impacts on wildlife and tourism. Highland Council officials had recommended councillors raised no Energy has been approached for comment. Aird and Loch Ness councillor Chris Ballance, who put forward the motion, said ancient woodlands along the loch's shores could be adversely affected by changes in water said wildlife, such as otters, and the "special qualities" of Loch Ness could be put at Ballance also argued that a tourism impact assessment had not been carried out, and his motion also raised concerns about construction traffic on local and Strathspey councillor Bill Lobban tabled an amendment supporting the officials' recommendation. The amendment was defeated in the District Salmon Fishery Board, which opposes new pumped storage hydro on Loch Ness, welcomed the committee's Brian Shaw said: "This was absolutely the right decision. "The councillors rejected out of hand the planning officer's conclusion that this was the 'right development in the right place'." What is pumped storage hydro? Pumped storage hydro involves two bodies of water at different water flows from one to the other through tunnels, passing through a power station to generate there is low demand for electricity from consumers and/or when surplus power is available from wind farms, electricity is used to pump water from the lower level to fill a reservoir further up the water can then be released from the upper reservoir, flowing down the tunnels to drive turbines which generate hydro-electricity. This happens at times of high demand, or when there is not enough wind to power wind Kemp Storage Ltd, which is owned by Statera Energy, has proposed damming Loch Kemp, the upper reservoir of its scheme, to raise water also plans to construct an underground waterway systems and tunnels, and powerhouse on the shores of Loch Ness. The south planning applications committee granted consent for a separate electricity-related approved plans SSEN Transmission's plans to replace three 1960s-built substations at Deanie and Culligran in Glen Strathfarrar, and at Kilmorack.
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Sauna plan for Loch Ness pub owned by Scotland's richest man
A sauna, shop and beach café have been proposed for a pub and restaurant taken over by a company owned by Scotland's richest billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen's WildLand purchased the Dores Inn on Loch Ness last property in the village of Dores, about 10 miles (16km) south of Inverness, is currently plans outlined to Highland Council, WildLand has also proposed renovating and expanding the inn, revamping its car park and public toilets. Mr Holch Povlsen made his fortune in retail and is worth almost £8bn, according to the latest The Sunday Times Rich List. WildLand, a conservation and hospitality business, already owns the nearby 300-year-old Aldourie Castle and 500 acres of grounds and Category A-listed castle was among 11 buildings named as winners of the annual Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) awards last said in October the Dores Inn would be closed for about 24 months for restoration work and should reopen in company is holding public exhibitions on its plans at the inn on 27 and 28 executive Tim Kirkwood said: "The Dores Inn sits at the heart of a much-loved community setting. "As we explore options for its restoration and long-term operation, we're committed to involving the community from the outset." A full planning application is expected to be submitted with Highland Council before the end of the Turner, head of region at WildLand Loch Ness, said: "The Dores Inn has always been more than a pub - it's a gathering place, a gateway to the loch, and an important part of local life. "We want to restore that role and build on it, creating something that works year-round for the area."The Dores Inn pub and restaurant is a landmark on the southern shore of Loch was visited by Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Phillip in the years, owners of the Dores Inn have included local community stalwart Ella Macrae.
