Finding Nessie - The Loch Ness Monster

Dear Diary,

It was the year 2004, in September. Early in the morning, my 11-year-old self and my parents embarked on a journey up North to Loch Ness. 

It was a typically dreich Scottish day, the drizzle slowly soaking our coats and wetting our hair. Mist was covering the Loch. A slight wind was blowing over the water, producing tiny waves that broke at shore. 

The scene was set perfectly for my mission.

I was overly excited. Of course, I had heard of the famous Loch Ness Monster or Nessie like the locals call it.

And I was determined to spot it. Equipped with binoculars and a camera (smartphones weren’t invented yet …), I couldn’t wait to board the boat that should take us on a trip over the lake.

And so our journey began.

Spoiler alert - Nessie is a very shy creature and decided not to show up that day.

Boy, I was disappointed. Little did I know that Nessie was nothing more than a myth. I mean, you could have told me … 

But let’s introduce Nessie.

Meet Nessie

Nessie is probably the most well-known marine creature inhabiting Loch Ness.

She’s as closely linked to Scotland as bagpipes and kilts. People from all over the world pilgrimage to Loch Ness to try their luck of spotting her.

But what does she look like? Nessie is long and thin. Green in colour with black humps and a tail and snake-like head.

You can usually only see her iconic body breaking through when she emerges from the water. And as mentioned before, she doesn’t like to be in the spotlight.

Nessie sightings over the years

Early reports date back at least a thousand years. The first written account was recorded in 565 AD by St. Columbus. The legend goes that a swimmer was bitten by the monster and St. Columbus came to rescue and drove the beast back into the water. 

It wasn’t until 1933 that Nessie’s legend took off and became a worldwide sensation. 

A couple reported an enormous animal, like a dragon or large serpent, that crossed their path before disappearing into the water. The Scottish newspaper got wind of the story and numerous sightings followed suit.

In December, Marmaduke Wetherell got commissioned to locate the monster, without success. He did spot some 6m footprints at the shore which turned out to be human-made.

Not much later, the doctor Robert Kenneth Wilson captured Nessie in the now iconic black and white image, referred to as “Surgeon’s Photograph”. As it turned out later, his photograph was also a hoax, his monster was a head he had attached to a toy submarine. 

Over the years, many sonar explorations followed, but yet again Nessie refused to show up.

So far, the search for Nessie has been inconclusive, with more than 1100 sightings recorded. But maybe one day …

Till then, make sure to take enough time to explore the area around Loch Ness. It’s worth a visit!