Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have hit a record high after the beast was spotted for a ninth time this year.
Diana Turner, from Michigan in the US, was watching a live stream of the loch, which scans the water near Urquhart Castle – purportedly a favourite haunt of Nessie.
Several recent sightings had already been made at the same spot in the afternoon she spotted a strange ‘wake movement’ on the water.
Gary Campbell, the recorder and keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, said: ‘The sighting lasted about two minutes and other than a boat in the distance, she saw no other traffic on the loch.
The image capture by Diana Turner who claims to have spotted the mythical beast while viewing Loch Ness through a webcam from the US
‘She saw a wake and it does not appear to be that of a boat.’
‘She made the recording on September 29, but has only notified us of it now.
‘But we have accepted it and it means the number of sightings [this year] is the most we have had this century.’
It comes after genetics expert Dr Jo Knight, a lecturer at Lancaster University, was staggered to see an unexplained strange ‘fin’ shape when looking through her and nine-year-old son Sam’s holiday snaps.
In June a Canadian woman also took two videos from the Loch Ness Webcam while watching the water from more than 5,000 miles away.
Genetics expert Dr Jo Knight, a lecturer at Lancaster University, was staggered to see an unexplained strange ‘fin’ shape when looking through her and nine-year-old son Sam’s holiday snaps
Mr Campbell said two of last year’s sightings were also by webcam, including one from an online watcher in America.
‘It means that there are more people than ever before are looking for Nessie,’ said Mr Campbell.
‘In recent years the most sightings in a year we have had is 17 – and that was in 1996. Before that the 1960s and 1930s were the times that had most sightings – sometimes more that 20 in a year.’
Previously newly wed Rebecca Stewart was touring with husband Paul on October 2 when she became the seventh person to spot Nessie this year.
Dr Jo Knight was staggered to see an unexplained strange “fin” shape when looking through her and son Sam’s holiday snaps
Mrs Stewart from Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire, photographed and saw a large fin shape for five minutes. Her husband also saw the creature which gatecrashed their honeymoon.
Mr Campbell said 2017 was a ‘fantastic’ year for Nessie sightings.
‘This year is turning out to be a vintage one for Nessie and we have a few more weeks left for any more sightings.’
Sam Knight, with his grandfather Steve, after the youngster and his mother say they spotted the Loch Ness Monster
After fears that the world’s most famous monster had gone ‘missing,’ the first official sighting of Nessie this year was logged on April 28 – to the relief of her worldwide fans. The last previous sighting was August 21, 2016.
Mr Campbell stressed that the majority of claimed sightings do not get included on the register – as most can be explained.
‘Anything that is later proved to a hoax or can be subsequently explained is removed from the register,’ said Mr Campbell, 51, a chartered accountant from Inverness.
It was in 1996, Mr Campbell saw something resembling a ‘mini whale’ – with a black shiny back – at the south end of the loch.
‘I have spent the last 21 years trying to explain it,’ admitted Mr Campbell.. ‘Like most sightings I only saw it for a few seconds. When I went to record it, I found there was no register, so I started one, the following May.’
Since then Mr Campbell has logged over 1080 sightings.
According to Google, there are around 200,000 searches each month for the Loch Ness Monster, and around 120,000 for information and accommodation close to Loch Ness. The monster mystery is said to be worth £30m to the region.
Irish missionary St Columba is first said to have encountered a beast in the River Ness in 565AD.
Gary Campbell, the recorder and keeper of the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register, said 2017 has been a ‘fantastic’ year for sightings
Among the most famous claimed sightings is a photograph taken in 1934 by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson.
The image was later exposed as a hoax by one of the participants, Chris Spurling, who, on his deathbed, revealed that the pictures were staged.
The Home Office recently rejected a cheeky bid by a group of artists from Glasgow to grant the Loch Ness Monster permanent UK residency after Brexit.
And a scientist has revealed his plans to DNA test the waters of Loch Ness in another bid to determine once and for all if Nessie exists.
Professor Neil Gemmell will look for traces of unusual DNA by gathering water samples from the Scottish loch before analysing them using police forensic techniques.
Professor Gemmell, of New Zealand’s University of Otago, thinks this could solve the monster mystery.