The legend of the Loch Ness Monster has fascinated locals and tourists for nearly 100 years. The first reported sighting of the mythical beast came in August 1933 when holidaymaker George Spicer told a local newspaper he had seen a "whale-like fish" in the lake.
Later that year, a blurry photograph appeared in a local newspaper said to depict the fabled creature, sparking further intrigue. Though that photo has since been debunked, Nessie hunters continue to flock to the loch and report more than 1,000 sightings.
There have been six reported so far this year in the loch, near Inverness – the same amount as reported in total last year. Five have been reported by eyewitness, while one was made through a webcam. Here, your Daily Star takes a look at them.
First Sighting of 2026
On March 1, US tourist Tony Inhorn claimed to have seen dark-greenish or grey body of what appeared to be Nessie emerge from the water. He said he thought it was either the top of Nessie or the side, suggesting it was positioned at a 45 degree angle.
He told the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register: "She came about two feet out of the water and her exposed portion was about 5-10 feet in length, suggesting it was just her very top. She was about 15 feet from the boat I was on."
"Nessie hovered for about 5 seconds, then dipped back into the water. Her body emerged against the chop of the surf, but appeared clearly defined against the waves, leading me to believe it wasn't just the current."
Three Sightings in April
Three further sightings were reported within a week in April. First, American visitor Sara Gubicza reported seeing what looked like white shark fin moving in the water at 7.55am on April 21.
She said: "The fin size was about an 18 inch triangle and it was whitish gray. As far as how fast it was moving, I’m not really sure as I was on a bus riding by when I saw it. It seemed to be right in the middle of the loch. It wasn’t close to any shore line."
Two days later, Canadians Margaret Sunstrum and Joan Sweeney reported seeing a "large shape crest" in the water that they thought looked like a whale.
And again on April 25, Holly Palmer, of Worcestershire, saw something from a cruise boat and snatched a photo of an unidentified object on the surface of the water.
May Sighting and Webcam Capture
Nickolas Wiegand, who was visiting from the USA, captured a brief clip on May 18 during a bus tour in which he says he caught the creature deep in the water quite far away from shore.
He said: "You can clearly see a dark image of something breaking the water surface as we drove by. The object is relatively large, gauging the distance from where we were on the bus to the distance of the water, using road signs on shore to gauge what was the size of whatever was in the water."
A further sighting was made through one of the live webcams which cover the waters of Loch Ness around the clock. Eoin O’Faodhagain recorded a webcam feed operated by Visit Inverness Loch Ness and located at the Clansman Hotel on the loch’s coast.
He wrote in the description of a YouTube video: "Black object rises and sinks 4 times against the current, captured on VILN Clansman Webcam at 17.20pm on the 05/03/2026. There was calm conditions with a slight ripple current moving north, object moving south."
